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V8 Supercar boss Tony Cochrane has defended plans to hold an annual race around Sydney Olympic Park, saying the event will only make as much noise as the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
The NSW government is understood to have given in-principle support to a proposed V8 Supercar championship race at the Olympic venue at Homebush.
If approved, the three-day event will cost $13 million a year, but V8 Supercar Australia will foot most of the bill, Cochrane said.
He expected the race would draw crowds of up to 100,000 international and domestic spectators to Sydney.
“Structural changes to the Olympic venue will be minimal – three median strips will need to be ripped out – and for every tree that is uprooted three will be planted,” Cochrane said in response to disgruntled environment groups.
“Olympic Park was built as an entertainment and sport precinct after all,” he told AAP.
“Our fan base are very mobile, they love following the sport and we think a marquee event in Sydney will really ignite their passion and we think we’ll get a very very respectable crowd to Olympic Park.”
Cochrane estimated the V8 Supercar championship race, scheduled for as early as next year, would inject between $22 and $30 million into the state’s economy.
“This will be a massive event, it will be our final race of the year, our grand finale.
“It’s in the hands of the government and they’re making their evaluation.
“We’ll just see where this takes us. We remain very committed to bringing a very, very major event to NSW.”
NSW Development Minister Ian Macdonald said the event is worthy of the state’s support.
“It’s believed the net benefit will far outweigh the cost and give Sydney a major event,” Macdonald told ABC online.
The current host of the state’s V8 Supercar events, Eastern Creek Raceway, in Sydney’s west, has never been popular with fans, Cochrane said.
“Eastern Creek has always unfortunately been a very disappointing motor race venue.
“The fans just don’t simply like it, it never draws a very big crowd.”
But the Eastern Creek Raceway’s chief executive, Geoff Arnold, said an expanded Eastern Creek raceway could accommodate the race and save Homebush the hassle.
“If the government was looking at investing $30 million into a street race, we would think that they would be better directed to invest the money in a permanent circuit that is actually used all year, rather than just one week,” Arnold told AAP.
“The benefits to tourism in NSW would be a great deal more by investing in a permanent venue.”
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