In a massive few days for motorsport in political circles, it appears that Queensland is one step closer to receiving a significant new motorsport facility.

Hot on the heels of the return of the Adelaide 500 and the Adelaide Motorsport Festival following Labor’s South Australian state election win, further north, all three levels of government have signed off on the South East Queensland City Deal, which is set to inject $1.8b into local projects.

One beneficiary of the funding is the new Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct, a part of the Wagner Corporation’s Wellcamp project in Toowoomba.

An earlier video outlining the project

The City Deal appears to confirm the Queensland Government’s previously announced $40million pledge towards the project, which will be in addition to the Wagners’ intended $95million investment in the multi-purpose facility.

Further details on the exact funding arrangements are still forthcoming.

Overall, the project is set to include the Will Power Centre for Motorsport and Driver Training Excellence, featuring a full race circuit and complimentary driver training facilities, plus a music bowl with a capacity for 40,000 people.

First mentioned in 2014 with a projected price tag of $40million, more concrete plans were subsequently announced for the Precinct in 2020.

The overall facility would include significant business tourism opportunities, accommodation, and space for allied automotive industries.

The cornerstone of the Wellcamp development is its $100million international-grade airport, which has attracted significant domestic airline attention at various levels from carriers such as Qantas, Virgin Australia, REX, Bonza and Airnorth.

The airport also hosts regularly scheduled international cargo services from Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, focussing on local produce set for the Asian market, catering for planes as big as 747 freighters and the Antonov An-124-100.

Notably, the facility is the first privately funded public airport in Australia and the country’s first new airport since Melbourne’s Tullamarine in 1970.

The venture launched with much fanfare in 2014, with over 27,000 people witnessing local legend Will Power race a Supercar against a Cessna Citation Mustang down the 2.87km long runway on opening day.

The developers’ “build it and they will come” mentality has proven successful through the airport and its associated business precinct.

A prime example is Boeing Australia’s recent announcement that it will construct at its Wellcamp base the Australian designed Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat project for the RAAF, a stealth drone for combat, force reconnaissance and electronic warfare.

Other early tenants include the Qantas Group Pilot Academy, while Wellcamp is also set to feature an intermodal freight facility, connecting the business park with the airport, the adjacent Toowoomba bypass for road freight, plus the Inland Rail route, which is also set to run past the southern end of the Willowbank Motorsport Precinct.

The site has also recently commissioned a quarantine accommodation facility for returning travellers.

Morgan Park is the lone host of Motorsport Australia Queensland State Championship events.

A Fragmented Motorsport State

Queensland is currently situated in an interesting space regarding its various venues and sanctioning bodies.

The now Tony Quinn controlled Queensland Raceway has its day to day activities largely run through the AASA, with the option for external promoters and midweek hires to use Motorsport Australia, with the venue looking in the future to promote their own Motorsport Australia events.

Meanwhile, further north, Lakeside Raceway operates under the auspices of RACERS sanctioning.

Down south, Morgan Park Raceway operates largely under Motorsport Australia permits, for instance, running all of the Queensland State Championship events, although they have been open to other sanctioning bodies backing meets, such as the AASA.

Three tracks with three different licensing schemes must make life interesting for competitors…

If recent statements are any indication, and a visit by both Eugene Arocca and Andrew Fraser, it appears Wellcamp might be tipped in favour of Motorsport Australia sanctioning.

Other Queensland facilities in the works include the Brisbane Airport development, which will seemingly be open to hosting non-competitive motorsport events, as well as the DriveIt project near Townsville, which reports note is close to usable completion.

A Car Mad City

The Toowoomba region has a rich motorsport history, outside of notable competitors such as Power and current Supercars driver Will Brown.

Some of the earliest forms of motorsport in the city include motorcycle races at the Clifford Park Racecourse in the 1920s.

Other facilities have included the Toowoomba Showgrounds for speedway bikes and cars between 1955 and ’81, plus the Middle Ridge street circuit, which ran in 1958, ’60 and ’61.

Echo Valley, above, also dates back to 1966, from speedway through to short circuit touring cars and hillclimbs, to now be the home of the Toowoomba Motocross Club.

Charlton Speedway (or Toowoomba Speedway/ Hi-Tec Oils Speedway) was opened in 1977, and continues to host major meets to this day, located some 10km by road from Wellcamp Airport.

Interestingly, John Wagner, the Chairman of Wagner Corporation, was involved with the founding of the Speedway.

Further afield throughout the region, there are plenty of other local motorsport interest points, including the nearby Leyburn airstrip, the home of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix, and since 1996, the modern Leyburn Sprints, below.

The street sprints genre has also been replicated with different formats at nearby towns, including Pittsworth, Gatton and Wondai.

Short circuit racing around the area has also been a mainstay over the decades, with events not only taking place at Echo Valley, but also Morgan Park Raceway in Warwick, Carnell Raceway in Stanthorpe, the Ipswich West Moreton track at Willowbank, and also Millmerran.