Queensland Track Makes Construction Milestone
Work on the new DriveIT NQ precinct near Townsville has reached a critical milestone, with the bitumen sealing of the facility’s road circuit to commence this week, just as the Supercars circus is ready to roll into the northern city.
Works are reaching completion on Queensland’s fourth full-length road circuit.
Located at Calcium, some 50km to the south of downtown Townsville, drone footage, above, shows impressive progress following the completion of earthworks that were kicked off last October.
First mooted in 2006, development on the facility has been driven by a not-for-profit group of local enthusiasts, with their efforts boosted by commitments from all three levels of government to back the project.
Furthermore, infrastructure changes to improve access to the venue will be assisted through the addition of a new industrial precinct in the area.
Original masterplans for the venue featured multiple disciplines utilising the land, from circuit racing to off-road and rally, speedway, drag racing, jet boats, RC cars and go karts, with several of these features still seeking funding.
Left: The original dirt outline of the track from 2019. Right: The venue’s master plan.
The road circuit is set to be 2.75km long featuring 12 corners ranging in style to provide a good flow for competitors, with The Race Torque of the understanding that the wide-open spaces of the location ensure minimal infrastructure such as gravel traps will be required to border the circuit.
To give an idea of the scale of the total precinct, it is approximately six times the size of Queensland Raceway’s block at Willowbank.
As visible in the video, a driver training skid pad area has already been completed as the first stage of construction, which opened in December 2020.
With the nearest permanent road circuit some 1,300km away, the facility is set to open up the sport to an entirely new audience.
Here at The Race Torque, we have charted the progress of new venues across the country, including a report on plans for 21 new circuits coming in with a price tag of $1.8billion.
Other recent movements have included the $40million green light for a facility in Toowoomba, Queensland, and plans for a $100million motorsport country club in Western Australia.
The prospect for another new circuit fell by the wayside recently when the plug was pulled on the effective Sandown Raceway replacement at Pakenham in Victoria.
Back in central Townsville, preparations are in full swing to erect the Townsville Street Circuit for the 14th straight year.
During the pandemic, the venue has proven critical in delivering a full calendar of events for Supercars, when in 2020 and ’21 at late notice, the track was utilised to run doubleheader weekends.
One of the highlights of those events was the local super sprint competitors taking to the track for a showcase in 2020, when the regular band of support categories couldn’t travel north.
Since 2009, the Reid Park Street Circuit has played host to 34 races, with 12 of those taken out by Jamie Whincup.
Following the addition of Queensland Country Bank Stadium adjacent to the temporary track, the area has been rejuvenated, with access to the downtown area improved with additional walking paths and access over Ross Creek.
Mark Walker (administrator)
A vastly experienced Motorsport Public Relations operator, journalist, commentator and photographer, Mark brings his unique angle to The Race Torque in both words and imagery. As well as serving as our key photographer on the ground at major events around Australia (and overseas), Walker will often chime in with his unique and pin-point sharp viewpoint of the racing world via the keyboard too.
