Canberra chill sends street carnival into hibernation
20/7/2002 14:54 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
The big freeze has hit the Canberra 400 V8 Supercar street carnival.
The ACT Government took the troubled three-year-old event off life support yesterday, blaming Canberra’s bitterly cold June climate for dwindling crowds and subsequent spiralling costs.
Terminating the five-year contract with V8 governing body AVESCO will come at an undisclosed cost, but the Government refused to adsorb further financial loses.
This year’s event saw a 15 per cent drop in attendance, failing to return the Government’s $4 million annual investment.
ACT Tourism and Sports Minister, Ted Quinlan yesterday blamed the former Liberal Government for originally scheduling the race in June.
"Severe winter conditions have done little to show Canberra at its best and images of freezing fans huddling in the grandstands say it all,” Mr Quinlan said in a statement. “Extensive TV coverage and other publicity is negated by images that reinforce a stereotype that our city is cold and bleak.”
Moving the event to a warmer weekend was not an option, Mr Quinlan said, despite AVESCO’s willingness to accommodate an earlier date.
"Retaining the event in winter posed unacceptable financial risks to the ACT ratepayer,” he said.
The race around capital hill was V8 racing’s most audacious venture and most pretentious affair.
It seemed like a good idea at the time: the V8 Supercars doing battle on the streets of the nation’s capital in a unique racing format, enhancing the sport’s reputation while blowing much of the perceived stuffiness out of Canberra.
But unlike its model, Adelaide’s wildly successful Clipsal 500, the event failed to capture the hearts and minds of the sporting public. Sub-zero temperatures and greatly restricted spectator vantage areas only exacerbated the problem.
AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane said the hole in next year's calendar would be filled by another ‘showcase’ event. Sydney and Townsville are reportedly in the running for a new street race, while AVESCO continues to investigate the possibility of a race at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
"The race formats developed for the Canberra event [including a controversial reverse grid race] received positive reviews from fans in general and generated strong television ratings,” Mr Cochrane said. “These may be used at other rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in the future.”
The ACT Government has left the door slightly ajar for a V8 racing return, taking up a five-year option with AVESCO to explore future event possibilities.
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