ONE of the most pleasantly surprising things to have happened within the crowded post-Covid Australian Motorsport calendar, is just how good Queensland Raceway’s Shannons SpeedSeries event has become.

In just a couple of years the annual August trip to the Sunshine state has become one of the most attended national-level events on the schedule – event being the operative word because it has also become more than ‘just another race meeting’.

The three days at the paperclip have turned into an little gem of an event, something which is all the better for having happened organically.

Last weekend more than 18,000 people attended across the weekend which places it as one of the largest non Supercars-promoted circuit racing events on the schedule.

It’s a fascinating study in the connective pieces needed to make circuit racing events successful – not an easy task in this day and age.

Here’s why I think it has worked so well, and why it can continue to well into the future if the pieces of the puzzle remain in place.

Pick the time

AUGUST is the best time of year to go to Queensland. It’s not too hot – even quite cold in the mornings – but you can almost be guaranteed sunshine and low twenties during the day.

It makes it a lot easy for those south of Tweed Heads to make the call to attend so as a result it becomes something of a destination event for the categories on the program.

Pick the market

SOUTH EAST Queensland is a market of five million people with essentially just the one major circuit racing motorsport event on the calendar at present – the annual Gold Coast Supercars event down in Surfers.

While the Supercars have avoided QR, the SpeedSeries round has become the place for Queenslanders to get their fill of national-level circuit racing competition without having to negotiate the GC in the process.

In the past, the Shannons round and Supercars would run in successive weeks at Queensland Raceway, making for an excellent two-week festival of motorsport in that part of the world.

With the promise of the circuit returning to the main-game calendar as soon as next year, perhaps that can be built on further to give the broader Brisbane area some serious motorsport event clout once again.

The program is packed

BETWEEN the two GT classes, one-make Porsche’s and Toyota’s, wings ‘n slicks Australian Formula Open, Trans Am and the TCR battle this was a bumper program with quite literally something for everyone.

The races came thick and fast – even with some longer races on the program – and with Saturday’s program starting not much after 7am and running through to half-five there are few days that offer that level of bang-for-buck on the calendar.

There’s some starpower

THE spread of quality categories also ensures there’s some good names that people will spend money to go and see live – Chaz Mostert and Will Brown are among the biggest names in Supercars right now and sell tickets.

The D’Albertos and Buchan’s of the world in TCR have a following and the purists – and I can say this as one of them – will pay money to watch someone like Brendan Lietch hustle his Audi GT3 car anywhere he is willing to drive it. More appealing reasons to go.

People actually want to go to QR?

TONY QUINN’s purchase of the Ipswich circuit has been transformative and it’s gone from being a place people would whine about having to visit, to genuinely being one of the better facilities in the country.

From the added shade – needed even in August in that part of the world – to the impressive new pit structure to the fact you can still park your car on the fence and yes, the much-vaunted improvements to the bathrooms, the paperclip is now a very good place to attend for car racing, especially at SpeedSeries level where you can access the whole place.

It’s actually a good racetrack

AS time has gone on I genuinely think more and more people have moved on from the fact that QR might not be the most interesting layout in the country.

I think paying punters just want to see good car racing and that’s been one constant of the venue – it’s a bloody good race track for actual racing. There seems to be a growing appreciation for that, especially now it’s actually a good place to visit, too.

Actual Promotion

SOME will go out of their way to not pay a compliment to the governing body wherever possible, but when 18,000 people turn up to an event it’s hard to critique the promotional efforts in place. The fact it’s happened twice this year – Phillip Island’s round was similarly well attended – means there’s good work being done to build the SpeedSeries audience beyond the hardcore fans.

Between attracting the car clubs, to a great open-air corporate experience in the new rooftop bar area and the affordable tickets (and yes, the free-to-air TV on Channel 7 has also helped) there’s plenty going on that not only draws people in, but should make them want to return as well.