Quote:
Originally Posted by Purist
I'm aware of the nature of Bathurst as a road circuit dating back to the 1930s, but that does NOT provide an answer regarding the permanent tracks. That is, what about Barbagallo, Hidden Valley, Winton, Sandown, Queensland, Philip Island, Symmons Plains, and Eastern Creek? Are those not privately-held, permanent facilities?
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Barbagallo has had some govt funding and now has some serious upgrades happening funded largely (but not solely) by the WA govt; Hidden Valley is owned and funded by the NT govt; Winton is owned by the local car club but was pitching for some govt assistance a few years ago - not sure if it got that assistance or not; Sandown owned by Melbourne Racing Club but from memory in the past (when it had big building project in 80s) there was some govt assistance; Queensland Raceway was bailed out by the Qld govt after original ownership group went belly up, has local govt and state govt assistance; Philip Island is privately owned but has had state govt assistance due to the MotoGP and world super bikes; Symmons Plains is privately owned but has had large injections of govt money into upgrades and event costs; Eastern Creek is owned by the NSW govt and leased by the ARDC.
The thing is Purist, that in a country such as Australia with a population of only 21 million, pretty much all serious sports facilities rely on and have received substantial govt funding.