BARBAGALLO Raceway takes pole position in Australian motorsport this weekend as the V8 Supercar Australia Championship makes a roaring return to WA.
Organisers say more than 70,000 people are expected to descend on Wanneroo from Friday to Sunday to catch the V8 talents of stars like Craig Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom and WA’s Garth Tander.
V8 Supercar Australia chief executive Martin Whitaker said there was an “awful lot of people” looking forward to the event being back in Perth after a one-year hiatus.
“Many people love being in Western Australia and it’s a race that everyone looks forward to; it’s great to be back on the card,” he said. “One of the criteria we’ve been working to over the last 12 months is to make sure we are back in every state and territory in Australia.
“By being back in Perth we have achieved that objective and that is fundamental to the whole championship.”
This year’s event features one of the strongest support line-ups of the national season with five racing categories complementing the main showdown in a hotted-up Perth schedule.
“It’s the biggest on-track spectacle we have ever seen in Perth,” WA Sporting Car Club event co-ordinator Jennifer Harrison said.
Spectators will be treated to a variety of racing, including the Porsche Carrera Cup after a two-year absence, the Australian Superbike Championship and for the first time in Perth, the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.
Mr Whitaker said the Fujitsu series featured Australia’s future V8 champions.
“Normally it’s a bit of a long trip for them (the Fujitsu drivers) but I think they recognise the importance of the event so they will be with us,” Mr Whitaker said.
WA Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the event had been heavily promoted locally, nationally and internationally.
“The increased event marketing and the unprecedented number of support categories will ensure the event will be bigger and better than ever before,” he said.
Ford’s Dean Fiore will be one of three WA drivers competing in the main race along with Holden’s Garth Tander and Karl Reindler and said he was hoping for a hometown advantage.
“It’s much trickier than it looks because it has small tight areas, undulations on the hills, and then it opens out across the back so you can get high speeds on a small length circuit,” he said.
“To cap it off, the surface doesn’t offer much grip.”
Fiore said he was looking forward to driving in front of his family.
“I’m looking forward to proving to Mum that professional driving is a proper career – I don’t think she’s convinced,” he said.
Off the track, Mr Whitaker said the WA drivers would keep the interstate competitors entertained.
“We’re all going to go around to Dean Fiore’s house where his Mum can do some traditional Italian cooking,” he said.
Spectators can get their first glimpse of Australia’s best supercar drivers in practice session one on Friday at 9.15am before the main 50-lap races ignite at 2.05pm on Saturday and Sunday.
- Drivers will be available to meet fans from 11.30am to 1.30pm on Thursday, April 28, in Forrest Place.
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