Supercars appears intent on a return to Canberra after comments made my RACE Board Member Mark Skaife during coverage of Round 4 of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship.
During the weekend’s broadcast from Symmons Plains, Tasmania, where Skaife was commentating on the Ned Whisky SuperSprint, discussion turned to which venues Supercars should race at, and how many races the calendar should include in 2024, and beyond.
That arose after Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR debut was confirmed ahead of the weekend, among other drivers competing in other categories between the current season’s ‘only 12’ Supercars rounds, raising the question of whether more Supercars events should take place, and if so where.
Additionally, Supercars CEO Shane Howard recently confirmed that Supercars is actively seeking a supporting role at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix and that it would ‘jump at it’ if that opportunity could be realised.
That sparked debate on whether Supercars should focus on domestic races, especially considering the current absence of a New Zealand round, before looking further afield.
Discussion on further suitable venues during Skaife’s weekend commentary included a clear indication that a return to the capital, where the Canberra 400 street race was held on the Queen’s Birthday weekend between 2000 and 2002, is a genuine goal.
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On whether Supercars should hold more than 12 rounds, Skaife responded: “I think we do as long as we can make it affordable and we go to the right places.
“New Zealand for sure we’ve got to get back to, there’s no doubt about it – and I would love to be able to get a Canberra race up in the ACT – we should be able to go to every state and territory,” said Skaife during the Fox Sports broadcast.
“But one of the things you’ve got to do is you’ve got to do it cleverly – and they don’t happen easily,” Skaife added.
“If you’ve got a street race somewhere for instance, it’s a huge amount of money and a huge amount of government assistance [is] required … but we do need to do more racing.”
The Canberra 400’s original staging came with considerable government support, with a reported $4.5 million in funding from the ACT Government.
Speedcafe understands that a consortium has been in dialogue for a number of years with both Supercars and the Australian Capital Territory Government in an effort see racing return to the nation’s capital.
Former Supercars CEO, Sean Seamer, last spoke of a Canberra race in late 2021, describing the prospects of the category’s return as on the ‘medium-term horizon’.
The then-CEO said that he was ‘dead keen’ for Supercars head back to the ACT, however changes to the event’s timing and location would have to be addressed, given that the contract for the original race around the Parliamentary Triangle ended early.
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Locations mooted have included the EPIC (Exhibition Park in Canberra) precinct, a multi-purpose venue north-east of the CBD in the suburb of Watson, currently undergoing significant revitalisation and government investment.
The venue hosts the annual custom car show mecca, Summernats, and has also been used for motorsport, including a super special stage of Rally Canberra in 2000.
The Queen’s Birthday weekend also saw the race being held in the midst of Canberra’s bitterly cold winters, something Supercars is not keen to repeat.
Mark Skaife won the final Canberra 400 in 2002, driving for the Holden Racing Team.
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