‘PERMANENT TRACKS CAN BE MORE VIABLE MOVING FORWARD’
Benalla Auto Club CEO Chris Lewis-Williams has discussed how permanent racing circuits are dealing with the government-enforced shutdown and what their future could hold.
WORDS: Richard Craill
Lewis-Williams (also a successful Porsche 944 racer) joined this week’s On the Grid to discuss how the venues he leads are managing the current period.
The Benalla Auto Club owns and operates both Winton Raceway in country Victoria and Goulburn’s Wakefield Park in New South Wales, Lewis-Williams suggesting that the opportunity exists for permanent venues to bounce back strongly following the easing of current restrictions.
“90% of what we do we can fit in a 500-person limit. We’re a participant-based business. Once or twice a year we’re a crowd-based business but we’re predominantly a participant-based business,” he told On the Grid.
“It’s why there’s no massive grandstand at Winton because I’d look at it for 51 weeks a year! I’d rather have a better surface. We’d rather improve the pit area and the garages and all that stuff because it’s what we use day in and day out.
“I’d like to see that perhaps permanent circuits are seen as the way that motorsport can be more viable going forward, because to ask a government for several millions to set this stuff up, when post Corona people are really suffering in jobs and whatnot.”
Lewis-Williams agreed that finding a balance between the major city-based street events and those at permanent circuits would continue to prove a challenge for major organisers.
“Where governments have been good is that it’s a good news story as well: Towns like Newcastle and Townsville like the big show. Adelaide loves the big show but it’s finding that balance: How many permanents versus how many marquee events.
“There’s so many things in the air and you’d like to think there’s some give and take in contracts and some negotiations so that the ‘were all in this together’ statement becomes a real thing where we can work together.
“Maybe we can agree at a lower number and go racing.”
Listen to the latest episode of On the Grid, powered by our great friends at NTI and Truck Assist, by hitting play on the link below, or clicking here.
Richard Craill (administrator)
Working full time in the motorsport industry since 2004, Richard has established himself within the group of Australia’s core motorsport broadcasters, covering the support card at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix for Channel 10, the Bathurst 12 Hour for Channel 7 and Porsche Carrera Cup & Touring Car Masters for FOX Sports’ Supercars coverage. Pretends to be a PR guy / Journalist and sometimes photographer to make ends meet when not yelling at a television in a padded room.
