Victorian Gov Support for Winton Raceway

[Matthew Ronke]

BRUMBY SETS UP WINTON RACEWAY TASKFORCE

The Minister for State and Regional Development, John Brumby, today announced a taskforce to build on the success of Winton Raceway in Victoria's North East.



"Motor Racing provides real economic growth opportunities for Benalla and the North East region," Mr Brumby said.



"The taskforce will investigate how we can build on Winton' s successes and gain even greater benefits for the region.”



The taskforce will be made up of Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Joe Helper, and Robert Mitchell MLC.



It will work with the Benalla Auto Club, local government and relevant government agencies, to identify motor sport opportunities for Winton Raceway, Mr Brumby said Winton Motor Raceway was a top sporting drawcard, which already generated significant economic benefits for the region.



"Studies have shown the Raceway generates $24 million a year in visitor spending and supports the equivalent of 160 local full-time jobs," he said.



"The Bracks Government is already a big supporter of the Raceway with $120,000 provided through the Regional infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to create a new entrance to the venue."



The taskforce will consider:



· Opportunities to maximise awareness of motor sports events at Winton;

· Cost effective infrastructure improvements around the Raceway precinct;

· Further developing ongoing stakeholder relationships to maximise economic benefits of Winton Raceway to the region; and

· Generally explore opportunities of collaboration between the State Government and Winton Raceway.



"Both Joe and Rob are motor sport enthusiasts, and are keen to see the sport and the local community get a win-win out of Winton and for Victoria's North East," Mr Brumby said.



The taskforce is expected to report to the Government before the end of the year.

[Onlooker]

Good News. Good to see the efforts of the track being reconised

Joe Helper now there is a bloke who has been groomed to give you a hand

[D.R.T.]

Great news for Winton. Look foward to viewing a race down there in the near future

[275 GTB-4]

I had to check the calender - no not first of April!

Thats great news Matthew - best of luck for the future.

PS is it an election year?? If so, don't count your chickens! )

[pete55]

Great news Matt. Hope it all works out well for Winton Raceway.

[lcfp2297]

Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
PS is it an election year??

Not 'til 2006 in Vic...

Brumby's also the Treasurer down here...so it will happen...

[PVDA]

John Brumby was a guest of the Benalla Auto Club at the recent V8 round and was given a tour of Race Control (including being introduced to me ) and was able to watch the start of one of the Carrera Cup races from up there.

[pete55]

He's still talking about meeting you Paul.

[Matthew Ronke]

here is a pic of Mr Brumby meeting the Malaysian prince Djan Ley at the Winton V8's

[Morris 1100]

Great news for Winton and the Benalla Auto club, thanks for sharing that Matthew.
Does that mean the drag strip is going ahead? (joke)

[Amaroo Park]

Originally posted by Morris 1100
Great news for Winton and the Benalla Auto club, thanks for sharing that Matthew.
Does that mean the drag strip is going ahead? (joke)

I know Morris ahs been a big fan of the work done there for years. I have heard meantion it many times in the past

[Bigguy]

Morris Ahs? Which country does HE race in?

[Sultan]

If only the Pine Rivers city council could do the same with Lakeside....

[marcus]

great news for Winton , I attend there as often as I can as Im only just up the road a bit , probably one of my favorite tracks around (but then I havent attended every track)

They have done a good job over the past few years in upgrading the place but there is still work to be done so i guess this is the best news they could here.

good luck to them I Look forward to seeing what happens out of this

[Willow24]

Congratulations Winton on at last receiving overdue Government support.

The Winton club has put in a lot of effort to build first class facilities out of its own pocket over the past years and it is heartening to read that at last the circuit has been recognised for the value it is to motorsport and the Government is now getting behind it.

Spending many weekends with the V8s whilst we travel around the country it is good to spend the weekend in the best Media centre at any track as well as not having to rubble through a ‘rabbit warren’ of a race control, which other circuits seem to think is what is required to be built. The whole set up at Winton is logical and very much appreciated by those of us who have to use it over the weekend.

Visiting the Corporate Pavilion for the first time this year, it was impressive, we got good feedback and it is one of the only circuits where there were more guests out the front actually watching the racing and not inside watching it on TV.

No boring follow-the-leader racing at Winton that happens at other circuits around the country.

Hope AVESCO does the right thing this time and gives Winton gets a warmer date in 2005 and not the middle of winter again.

[marcus]

I'd like to see them do a bit more work for the spectators , I mean they have done fantastic with the track and the facilities for the drivers and teams but not alot has been done for the spectators , maybe something there could be done which of course would help get more people through the gates , just my opinion anyway

[pete55]

Despite the obstacles AVESCO put up with the calender, Winton is still one of the best tracks in Australia for the V8's. Who cares if the drivers like it, the spectators do.

[PVDA]

The biggest problems that Winton had was the amount of rain in the few days prior to the V8's. Yes spectators got bogged, yes race cars got bogged but there was 2 inches of rain on Saturday alone. They did do some work to improve the spectator access prior to the event and no doubt will do more but they don't have a bottomless bucket of money and it's revenue made from events like the V8's that gets plowed back into the track, unlike most other tracks which look for hand outs to keep afloat.

They also had to arrange for several generators to provide power to the pit and corporate facilites as it was discovered on Friday that even before everything was set up the transformer down that part of the complex was close to being overloaded due to the massive increase in power consumption by the teams compared with previous years.

Stuff like that are ever heard about publicly but they occur at most race meetings. To most casual spectators a race meeting runs smoothly and easily but it takes a lot of work by dedicated staff and volunteers to keep things moving.

You can compare it to a swan swimming on a lake, looks graceful above the surface but by god it's kicking like buggery underneath to make it all happen.

[peckstar]

good on winton

my favorite track.
PI is closer but i love winton because you get to see passing, you get to see the most of the track

and the racing is usally very interesting

i hope the continue to improve it

big screen would be good

[mountainstar]

Originally posted by marcus
I'd like to see them do a bit more work for the spectators , I mean they have done fantastic with the track and the facilities for the drivers and teams but not alot has been done for the spectators , maybe something there could be done which of course would help get more people through the gates , just my opinion anyway

I agree 100%

1. There needs to be better access to food and beverages.
2. Larger spectator mounds on the north side of the track would help.
3. I don't know if they pay for it or not, but people coming in and tying off a section along the track fence is total b.s. especially when they stake out a 30 foot wide stretch for 5 people.

[marcus]

no I dont believe people do pay for that mountainstar but im not sure.

One thing that puzzles me is they spent all this money on a new entrance but i dont think they have ever used it ?

Ive never used it and ive never seen it open but it does look good

The camping thing is a real annoying thing too , its great that some people who want to camp can but at this years V8 event (I only attended on the saturday) they had a huge fence at penrite corner and no one could get through , to me that is crazy , I dunno what it was all about but it looked like that area from Penrite around to the new section was reserved for Campers and campers only , not very good , i pay my money I wanna go where I wanna go , I used to love walking the whole track once during the day and seeing things from different positions but now it seems i cant do that.

im only having a little whinge really because i still love the place and will continue to go there but some of these things seem a little strange to me , maybe Matthew ronke could explain these decisions if he reads this to help us better understand the reasons behind them.

[Average Punter]

After many years of making the trek to Winton from Wagga, I find the place hard to fault.

Usually park on the northern access road near the cemetery (back in so you can drive out forwards...) Stay out of the carparks and walk the last k to the circuit. Easy access available from the Cleavage all the way to pits if you like.

You're right marcus about access down to McConville Corner. I couldn't get through there this year either and I'm sure that's new.

Food? Who cares. Buy a stack of rolls from the Gypsy Cafe in Albury on the way and a 6 pack of coldies. All you need is a chair and a radio.

And on the way home walk back to the car and straight up to Glenrowan and on to the freeway. I've been from the circuit to the car and on the road in 8 minutes. Try that at Oran Park. Or PI. Or just about anywhere...

[Average Punter]

Should have probably read the '05 calendar before I got all sentimental about Winton.

RIP

Thanks AVESCO. Thanks for nuthin'

[mountainstar]

I agree marcus. I pay the same as everyone and I like to walk the entire track throughout the day. If people are not paying for a particular spot, then they shouldn't be roping it off. I guess I'll be bringing bolt cutters/clippers next time for a bit of fun.

[peckstar]

i like to walk the entire track at bathurst, but i cant and i live with it. although i have but not until the track opens late sat arvo.

Marcus the new entrance has been used at the v8 round for the last 3 years, it is awesome, there is little or no waiting
this year we turned up about 7.40 straight up to a ticket window. unfortunatly, once you get through the ticket windows it all funnels into a single lane road, but thats a separate issue