PANDEMIC OR NOT, there’s a bit going on in the world of Australian race track development at the moment!

WORDS: Richard Craill

THE CARDINIA Motorsport complex has been given the green light to start construction, while Wakefield Park Raceway in Goulburn will soon lodge a development application with the local council to dramatically expand their pit lane building.

They were two reasonably significant announcements made by circuits on a large Tuesday of news.

The Cardinia project has been bubbling along for some time, with approval of the plans for the facility ticked off last December.

According to Austadiums, The local council approved the planning permit for stage one of the development this week, meaning work on the $200m facility can commence.

The FIA Grade 2 circuit will be built in Melbourne’s South East, not far from the Princes Highway 1 and just prior to the Koo Wee Rup bypass turnoff that many travelling to Phillip Island from Melbourne are very familiar with.

Notably, the proposed circuit is within 1.5km of the sprawling Pakenham suburbs, though separated by the always busy motorway.

Meanwhile, Wakefield Park quietly slipped out news about their plans to lodge a Development Application for a substantial upgrade of their pit lane and paddock facilities via social media.

The ambitious plans include a ‘2-3 storey multi-purpose pit lane building to facilitate more corporate and industry events (and generally quieter) cars.’, the demolition and relocation of several existing buildings – including the cafe, offices, medical and media centres and control tower – and various other upgrades.

You can see the full list of planned changes at the Wakefield Park site here.

While plans for the second Bathurst circuit adjacent to Mount Panorama continue to percolate, Wakefield Park essentially remains only the second major circuit operating full time in Australia’s most populous state.

With Sydney Motorsport Park having to add lights in order to increase capacity, the venue has potential for growth should the appropriate investment be generated.

Over in the West, Club Moolia is a proposed, $100m private venue for race car enthusiasts and private owners – in a country club style format.

The track, set for private use only rather than active Motor Sport (though lets see how long that lasts!) is set to feature 17 corners in it’s 4.1 kilometre length.

The exclusive venue will include resort-style features, including a Golf Course, swimming pool and much more.

While several venues of its type have been proposed in Australia, none have managed to go beyond the planning stages, so we’ll follow this one closely to see how it progresses.

Finally, one project that is most definitely underway is the exciting DriveIt NQ facility located just outside of Townsville, in North Queensland.

The project, which has drawn the high-profile attention from the likes of Paul Morris and Roland Dane, is working towards the establishment of what would be North Queensland’s only permanent Motorsport venue and also a key driver training facility for Townsville and surrounds.

The not-for-profit organisation plans not only the circuit, but a speedway, Drag strip and more in the extensive complex.

The project has been in the pipeline for 16 years and recently broke ground on the site, though still needs Government funding to complete the project.