Poor spectator facilities at the Queensland Raceway
track have been blamed for poor turn out at this year's event.
THE future of V8 Supercar races in Ipswich is in doubt after only 38,500 spectators turned up to the weekend event, 10,000 down on last year's figure.
The numbers are disappointing considering 2009's event clashed with the Ekka, and even then the attendance is well below the highs of about 70,000 in 2004 and 2005.
Drivers also criticised the Queensland Raceway track, and their complaints were magnified when a spectacular crash in a supporting race left two crowd members hospitalised.
V8 Supercars Australia blamed poor spectator facilities at the track and the late promotion of the race for the bad turn out this year.
The group's acting CEO Shane Howard said it would not return to Ipswich in 2011 unless changes were made to the Queensland Raceway's track.
"We are clearly on the public record as offering Queensland Raceway a 12-month lifeline to commit to improving the facility to meet V8 Supercars and general public standards," he said.
"Until such time as that commitment is met and satisfactory upgrades take place we will not be returning to Queensland Raceway."
The race was initially cancelled due to squabbles over track facilities but Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale negotiated for V8 Supercars Australia to promote the event on a one-off basis.
Queensland Raceway's CEO John Tetley said safety was not a problem at the track and that it could not justify building new facilities at the track to accommodate V8 Supercars.
He said they lost money hosting the 2009 event, and to build a shaded grandstand could cost about $4 million, which was too much for a one-off yearly event that struggled to turn a profit.
"We'll just have to wait and see if they want to come back again – they decide next year's calendar around September and we'll see then," Mr Tetley said.
"When it used to a be a single 300km race we had about 72,000 spectators turn up in 2004 and 2005, but the format has changed."
Holden driver Garth Tander said the V8s could not afford to lose the Ipswich round.
"It is important that we continue to service south-east Queensland and this race and this facility is pivotal to that," he said.
