Darwin signs long-term; launch pad for OS campaign
29/3/2001 22:51 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
The Northern Territory Government has signed off on a multi-year agreement with V8 governing body AVESCO to stage a round of the Shell Championship Series until 2007.
The deal takes on added significance for Darwin beyond this year, with plans to use the city as a launch pad into the Asian marketplace.
As the state’s most prolific annual sporting event, NT Chief Minister Denis Burke was delighted to secure the long-term future of the event, held at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway.
"The community has embraced it like no other event on our sporting calendar with more than 35,000 people attending the weekend last year," Mr Burke said.
With an Asian V8 Supercar event in the pipeline for 2002, Darwin will become the platform from which the expansion push will originate. Any Asian race would be scheduled directly after the Hidden Valley weekend, meaning the Supercar circus will spend an extra week in the Northern Territory capital before embarking overseas.
"This will bring a further boost to local businesses in a range of industries as the drivers and teams are predicted to transport their equipment infrastructure to Asia from Darwin,” Mr Burke explained.
A new race format will be a feature of the Hidden Valley round this year, including an extra sprint race on Saturday before Sunday’s two 100km races.
It is believed the Shell Championship Series injects more than $3 million into the Northern Territory economy.
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