TOWNSVILLE 400: THE LONG HAUL

ON the eve of the Townsville 400 the acting Supercars CEO says the event has a strong future ahead of it.

Despite dropping crowds in the past few years, Shane Howard said Supercars wanted the event to continue.

“When you look at street circuits … they work really well, they’re a proven model of success economically for cities,” he said.

“I see that it has a long term future, absolutely 100 per cent.”

Howard said although numbers had dropped since the halcyon days of the event’s debut in 2009, there were reasons for it.

“We’ve weathered a GFC ( global financial crisis) and a downturn in the resources industry,” he said.

“When we first started going to Townsville, flights were all full with miners and workers going in and out, it was a boom town.

“A bit of a downturn in industry has caused an effect.”

Having the event in the same week as the Townsville Show was also not helpful, Howard admitted.

“It would be good to have a bit more of a gap,” he said.

“When we first went there we had a much bigger gap between the show, and now for it to be in almost the same week is not ideal because they’re both big events and families would like to attend both of them.”

Despite this, Howard said Townsville had been a massive success for Supercars.

“To go into Townsville was perfect timing,” he said.

“We did two street circuits in one year with Sydney as well.”

Howard said unlike the Sydney track, the Townsville one began from scratch, which was good for spectators.

“The best thing about having a greenfield site was in the design they were able to incorporate some fantastic viewing mounds,” he said.

“That has really set Townsville up for great success because the general admission and the families can get in there, sit in an elevated position at a really good section of the circuit and get great viewing of motor racing action.”

Howard, the permanent Supercars chief operating officer, was a key man in bringing the biggest motorsport event to North Queensland 10 years ago.

Although firmly ensconced at Reid Park now, the original plan for the Townsville 400 circuit was to run near the casino along the water.

“We went up there and had a look and I remember originally Dick Johnson was there with us,” Howard said. “It had a number of issues with the land locking of the port, so from that we then started looking at alternatives.”

That’s where the current track layout came from. “The great thing about Townsville is the circuit design is almost the perfect model,” Howard said. “What you’ve got is the street elements near Boundary St, then around the back … it’s like a permanent circuit, and you’ve got a beautiful track.”

Howard credited the race’s existence in Townsville to people power. “The reason it came about was the people wanted it and they were crying out for it,” he said.

“I remember there was a rally for it and I think there were government officials up there … There was an enormous number of people rallying to secure the event.

“So the Government took notice of that and they saw the benefit of bringing a major event to North Queensland.”

Howard said Townsville had something special about it.

“With the city and the surrounding regions getting behind it, that has helped us develop the model for Newcastle,” he said.

Newcastle made its debut at last year’s championship, and with almost 200,000 people across the weekend, it was acknowledged as a huge success.

Asked for a highlight across the last nine Townsville events, Howard said the fans were what made it.

“I remember distinctly the drivers saying just how nice the people were … How friendly and embracing they were,” he said. Some of the music acts throughout the years like INXS were another aspect Howard highlighted.

This year, Howard said ticket sales were looking strong for Townsville and with the amazing entertainment and close racing he was confident North Queensland would embrace it.