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The latest project is to remove the block of open garages that were left to the immediate north of the control tower and replace them with closed garages.
The new garages will be identical to the strip of closed garages that already exist towards pit entry, which are known as the Supercheap Auto garages due to their branding.
With nine closed garages with corporate hospitality suites already constructed on the pit entry side of the control tower, the outcome will be a total of 28 closed garages – enough to host a Supercars event.
“It’s the same garaging as what we’ve done next door where Supercheap is, so that will join up between the tower and Supercheap,” QR general manager Josh McFarlane told Speedcafe.
“It will be single level and will give us 28 garages in total, which is probably the number we need for Supercars. That will give us enough garaging and pit lane.
“The concrete comes up tomorrow, in the next six to eight weeks they will be installed, ready to go.
“There will be a connection from Supercheap to the new garages we are building, then a platform will run on the paddock side [of the control tower] and join up with the corporate section on the other side. Basically, you don’t have to go downstairs, you’ll be able to walk around the landing on Level 1.”
As well as the new garages, the landing will feature a unique permanent podium that will face the paddock from Level 1.
The idea is to involve the public in podium celebrations, which is significantly easier to do on the paddock side of the control centre than the pit lane side, where access is heavily restricted.
“On the back of the tower, where the platform is, it will bow out a bit further out the front and that will be a podium,” McFarlane explained.
“The podium will be looking back into the paddock on Level 1. So the presentations for an event, if you’re in the paddock you can watch the podium up on Level 1.
“We don’t want it in pit lane. It makes the public involved in the presentations and stops private organisations bringing trailers and so forth for podiums, because we’ve got a dedicated podium on that building. That’s getting done at the same time [as the garages].
“All of the concrete slabs have been completed, they are sitting next to [QR-based driver development business] Focus Driver as we speak. The concrete gets ripped up tomorrow and then we’ll do the install.
“By Christmas it will be all paved, done, ready for 2025.”
Circuit owner Tony Quinn recently said he is 99 percent sure QR will make the cut for the 2025 Supercars calendar, with Sandown in the firing line if it remains at 12 rounds.
While these upgrades aren’t being completed specifically for Supercars, they do open the door for a return of the premier class to be sealed.
“Tony’s commitment when he came to the venue was 10 years of investment and spending,” added McFarlane.
“We’re only three years in of the 10 years. Tony’s vision is always that a person who comes out once a year will always be excited to come back to the next year to see what else has been done.
“So this is a program that’s always been in place, it doesn’t matter if it’s Supercars or not. It’s about increasing the appearance of Queensland Raceway. It gets people excited.
“It gives Supercars what it wants, but it gives the venue what people are always asking for. They are always asking for more garaging or more pit lane. That will help us with our own enduros for next year, because we do our own local enduros and as well as the national enduros.
‘Tony is a big fan of enduros, and we can do more of those as a venue next year.”
