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Business mogul and racing enthusiast Quinn has made no secret of his desire to host a Supercars round at the 3.1km venue since purchasing it in late 2021 and begining a series of facility upgrades.
The sticking point for QR’s return in 2025 has long appeared to be economic road blocks impeding efforts to expand the Supercars calendar to 13 events.
Under current agreements with teams and broadcasters, Supercars must fork out more money to the former for an extra event while receiving no extra funds from the latter.
MORE: Doubts grow over 2025 Supercars calendar expansion plans
While Supercars is still working hard to break down those economic barriers and make 13 events happen, it now appears QR could be part of the schedule even if the calendar remains at 12.
Should that be the case, QR’s inclusion would almost certainly come at the expense of Melbourne’s beloved but ageing Sandown Raceway.
Regardless of ever-present questions around the future of Sandown as a race track, there is currently no Victorian government funding for the Supercars event and an upcoming expiry of its track licence could require costly upgrades.
Sandown’s 500km race status is already in doubt beyond 2024 due to a deal for The Bend to host a 500km enduro next year and a resistance amongst teams to have three endurance races.
Uncertainty over the number of events and what it means for Queensland Raceway and Sandown is currently holding up efforts to finalise a 2025 Supercars calendar.
This year’s 12-event schedule was highlighted by a return to New Zealand via Quinn’s Taupo Motorsport Park, which marked the first time a circuit under his ownership hosted a Supercars event.
Asked by Greg Rust on this week’s Rusty’s Garage Podcast whether he’s confident of QR joining Taupo on the calendar, Quinn replied: “Yes.
“Why wouldn’t they? Honestly. What Taupo showed them, I think, is that if you go to the heartland, you fish where the fish are.
“Queensland Raceway always produced good racing and good numbers and good spectators.
“I believe if they came back next year, which if I was a betting man, I’d be 99 percent on the money.
“If they don’t come back, they’re mad, but if they do come back, it’ll be a massive success for them.”
Quinn stressed the need for Supercars to communicate openly with fans about its expansion timeline regardless of the outcome for 2025, which is the last year of the current TV deal.
“I don’t know if for logistical reasons, financial reasons, whatever, we can’t just jump from 12 rounds to 18 (or) 16 rounds, but we should be able to make small steps,” he said.
“If for whatever mad reason we can’t because of the television rights or whatever the story is, we should at least be planning for it and making it happen and at least telling the supporters, the fans, this is what we’re going to do and we will do it.
“It’s important. Otherwise people are going to drift off and watch YouTube or something else.”
Queensland Raceway has not hosted a Supercars round since 2019 but remains the test track for teams based in the Sunshine State.
