Supercars is close to a new contract to continue racing at Perth’s Wanneroo circuit, which has just hosted the most recent event of the 2023 season.
The 2.42km circuit in the West Australian capital’s north played host to Races 7, 8, and 9 of this year’s Repco Supercars Championship, which formed the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.
That was the last event in the current agreement, but a new deal is thought highly likely.
Asked if Supercars is looking at a renewal, championship CEO Shane Howard told Speedcafe and the Parked Up Plus podcast, “Yes, we are.
“We’ve had a good race meeting here with crowds being up, and the relationship with the [state] government’s very strong.
“I’m very confident that we will be here for years to come.”
As that remark suggested, the intent is that the new contract would be for multiple years.
“We would like to do that,” confirmed Howard.
“It’s looking very favourable, and yeah, we’ll get that done.”
Wanneroo Raceway, nowadays also known commercially as Carco.com.au Raceway, has been a frequent, albeit not constant, presence on the Repco Supercars Championship/Australian Touring Car Championship since the late-1970s after first playing host to the competition in 1973.
It missed out in 2010 after disagreement between Supercars and the West Australian Sporting Car Club over facilities but returned in 2011.
The present-day infield pit lane infrastructure was built ahead of the 2012 event as part of a $10 million project, making for a unique set-up considering the Championship and Super2 uses the new lane while support categories operate from the outfield lane for their sessions.
Further improvements followed in the 2018/19 off-season when the entirety of the formerly very abrasive circuit was resurfaced, along with the addition of a bus stop chicane which facilitated the return of motorcycle racing.
Since then, Wanneroo has only missed out on a Supercars event in 2020 and 2021 due to border closures arising in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three races in the 2023 Perth SuperSprint were bookended by Triple Eight Race Engineering victories for Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney respectively, while Will Brown headed championship leader Brodie Kostecki to the chequered flag in a first-ever Erebus Motorsport one-two in the other encounter.
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