V8s put brakes on Wanneroo???

[stmookeyj033]

Originally Posted by pete55

Cattach said issues with the track included a ``dangerous'' pit area that mixed crowds of pedestrians with race cars, inadequate toilet and media facilities, the distance from the city, and inadequate pit facilities for race cars and transporter trucks.

Housing developments are closer to the track than ever before, and Perth is generally a boring city anyway.

[Robert Ryan]

Did the admittance of a problem concern anything to do with safety though. The pits safety would be no worse than a lot of other circuits they have been using. It seems it is more to do with facilities which again is as good as they are in other places they race.

Yes it did . That is what they agreed with and were going to do something about it. I more concerned about the statement highlighted, so other circuits are as bad? The people at EC got an unpleasant surprise , when what they thought was reasonable safety, was not in a court of law.

[D.R.T.]

So in conclusion
- these safety concerns only come into effect after 2008 ie. Ridiculous
- No racing at Wanneroo after 08
- No street race for WA
- WA fans, you know the people who Cochrane say own the sport, miss out on a touring car round because VESA want money or nothing from the government.

And this is Australian motorsports pinnacle ?

What a wonderful world

[Robert Ryan]

So in conclusion
- these safety concerns only come into effect after 2008 ie. Ridiculous

Already in existance. Pete 55's post suggest's a lot of tracks are as bad. Hmmmm. not good

Housing developments are closer to the track than ever before, and Perth is generally a boring city anyway.

From what I gather it's days are numbered, it is in the path of the urban sprawl

[D.R.T.]

But if theres safety concerns why are they happy to race there in 2008 ?

[davester]

VESA by their comments have opened up a huge can of worms for the 2008 event at Wanneroo.

Will Worksafe allow this event to go ahead with these "safety issues" being unresolved?

Will CAMS insurers, and other insurers allow the same?

Can the promoters risk allowing the event to proceed with public "on the record comments" from the category manager saying the circuit is unsafe?

Can the circuit owners allow the same?

If an accident occurs at the 2008 event, it is likely that the house of cards could crumble.

[Robert Ryan]

Will Worksafe allow this event to go ahead with these "safety issues" being unresolved?

Will CAMS insurers, and other insurers allow the same?

Can the promoters risk allowing the event to proceed with public "on the record comments" from the category manager saying the circuit is unsafe?

Exactly .So what are the implications for other fixed tracks across the country?

[cavvy]

Serves to underline the important place of a pit stop in making V8s a spectacle, or as Cromley puts it a team sport.

If there is no Wanneroo, the money spent by sponsors in the West will be welcome by the other sports as it will be lost to motor racing.

[johnh875]

I smell BS here (what a surprise when dealing with these clowns)
- “dangerous'' pit area that mixed crowds of pedestrians with race cars,
As others have said, if it is so dangerous why are they racing there for 2 more years? I have to say though that I don’t have a problem with govt money being put in to redevelop the pits which will benefit the facility as a whole, permanently.
- inadequate toilet and
I could easily imagine this could also do with improvement, I’ve only been to Barbagallo once. To cater with peak V8SC crowds above the capacity of the permanent facilites that could reasonably be provided, surely portable facilities would be just as acceptable as they are at a street race?
- media facilities,
V8SC want Barbagallo to go through the same exercise as Winton and spend $$$ a media centre only to have the Bigpond media truck render it obsolete?
- the distance from the city, and
What, the flash hotels are too far away for them?
- inadequate pit facilities for race cars and transporter trucks
Surely not too hard to rectify? Maybe the support paddock would need to be moved.
Cattach is also concerned about the long-term future of the track given the encroaching residential developments and the lease on the track's land.
I don’t know about the lease of the land, but surely the track should be safe from residential threat for 10 years?

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

Exactly .So what are the implications for other fixed tracks across the country?

I'd imagine if a risk assessment is carried out and a management plan signed off by all concerned (including Worksafe) then any hazards (and all tracks would have them) could be dealt with while allowing operations to continue. Surely there aren't any "drop everything immediately" type hazards at any of the tracks, rather more minor issues.

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by peckstar

WA, no loss really, crap track, crap racing. If WA are not prepare to build better tracks or provide a street race, then lets not bother going there. I for one will not miss the series going there

What a weak argument!We all know this is 2001 again when The Artist tried the exact same line and the state government told him that hospitals,schools etc. were a better use for its money than helping make a few Queensland hustlers even richer.The government might be persuaded to put some money into Barbagello to fix up safety,pits etc. (a la Bathurst) but pouring money down the financial black hole that is a street circuit was not in its plans then and certainly wouldn't be post Rally Australia.The Artist tries this desperate ploy every time he needs to up his cash flow and lately he is being rejected.Given that he leaves WA,Oran Park is closing,there are no other countries wanting to emulate the spectacular "success" of China and Bahrain(which won't last much longer) and that Townsville is still a long way from reality(especially if you examine the financial detail of their most recent proposal) he might be struggling to have more than a 9 or 10 round championship which is in breach of his TV contract.WA is such an important state economically in Australia it would be stupid not to go there and the teams sponsors would agree.Call the clowns bluff WA.

[peckstar]

i think your wrong

WA is not the most important state economically, far from it, it has a small population compared to other states, it is two hours behind the other states and main v8 watching audience. It is a long way to travel and costly to travel too. and frankly very few people on the eastern seaboard care about it.

The track is an average track that produces unexpiring racing with antiquated facilities.

It's tiem to move and if WA is so economiclly important it should have the resources to either build a better race track or update the one it it has or run a street race.

I would think few teamns sponsors would have an issue with not going there cant think of any that would miss it

[D.R.T.]

Quite an elitist view there Peckstar, though somewhat unsurprising.

When has Vesa used exciting racing as a means of whether a track is suitable or not ?

WA has offered to build better facilities but have been told it doesnt matter, so I am not sure what you expect them to do ?

I think teams sponsors would be concerned with ignoring western australia

[peckstar]

not elitist, but superior view

WA have offered token work, at the end of the day 2 million is not going to bring it up to a satisfactory standard. and two m illion would still not produce good racing

V8s have just outgrown the track

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by peckstar

not elitist, but superior view

I think that sums up your attitude on the topic.

Originally Posted by peckstar

WA have offered token work, at the end of the day 2 million is not going to bring it up to a satisfactory standard. and two m illion would still not produce good racing

Is good racing a standard that vesa care about ?

Might have missed it, but where has the $2 million come from?

Why is it token work, have they not offered to address the issues raised but apparently thats not good enough

Originally Posted by peckstar

V8s have just outgrown the track

Or did their ego outgrow the track

[Sparklehorse]

Originally Posted by peckstar

i think your wrong

WA is not the most important state economically, far from it, it has a small population compared to other states, it is two hours behind the other states and main v8 watching audience. It is a long way to travel and costly to travel too. and frankly very few people on the eastern seaboard care about it.

The track is an average track that produces unexpiring racing with antiquated facilities.

It's tiem to move and if WA is so economiclly important it should have the resources to either build a better race track or update the one it it has or run a street race.

I think WA does not need this series if it doesn't want to come here.

Tourism $$ is not an issue.

WA ran a 36 billion dollar trade surplus last year yet the nation was in a 12 billion deficit.

The WA economy grew 10% the national figure was 2%

"WA exports are now 34 per cent of the nation's exports, more than NSW and Victoria put together,"

If this shanty series doesn't want to come to our booming town so be it.

[Nivola]

Right peckstar you need to relise the world dont revolve around your house mate!

Peckstar can by any chance I send any west australian to your place to stay for every round in any series that we would go to to get free acomadation? If you want to know about it being an expencive sport you should see it from a western australians point of view before writing anything!!!!!!!

It is along way for us to travel for every flaming event because the east coasters dont like to make one trip. (there are some kind souls out there that do come back every year they can!)

Right I do love my track and am sorry but in some cases I do agree with Waynes call on safety. The cars have out grown the track not because the track is crap but because of the grip levels that cars are creating and the closeness of the cars. How can you really expect to clearly pass someone if you have the same brake package as the car next to you when you are both on the exact same limit? This is the problem here.

As for the safety it wouldnt be long till something goes very very very wrong. Touch Wood we have never lost a driver up there. But we have been very very close (Lindaou? XB falcon about 86). The last turn run off and t1 run off is getting imposing for these cars and when you do what JC did at the round this year you know it could be bad soon.

Most of you would know we lost a young talent this year on a motorbike at t1. I still Have some harsh feelings on what took this young man down in the end. But that is a safety issue that others would believe when you tell them. Nothing like head on concrete action. RIP Levi.

The problem with the pits is because over here everyone loves to just swamp everything and not let cars drive by. No one gives anyone room so it is going to be a big public liability problem in Vesa's eyes. Excuse to me!


That enough from me for awhile. After 24 years at that venue you get to know somethings that go on behind closed doors and you do really begin to shake your head.

Lest WE Forget

[Lukin]

It's unfortunate that someone did die on a bike, but if there was a tyre bundle would he have survived? For the life of me I can't comprehend why Barbagallo would allow motorbike riders on it due to the proximity of the walls on the exit of Turn 1 and the final turn and entry to the sweeper, it's just plain lunacy.

The safety issue is a joke. Pukekohe and Bathurst are two of the most dangerous tracks in the world, not just the V8 series.

Economicaly WA is stronger than the rest of the country combined, but this is a completely different industry to the sponsor's target market. There is cash there, but it's owned by the likes of Iluka, BHP, Pilbara Iron et al.

Sponsor wise there would be limited backlash if it was replaced by a round on the east coast. If it were to be replaced by the rumored Townsville street race then the sponsors would probably be over the room.

The biggest issue with not racing in WA is the fact that West Aussies wouldn't get to see the racing, the WASCC would lose money hand over fist and young people who want to get into racing would suffer. Tander isn't the only West Aussie in pitlane. None of this has a short term economical impact so VESA don't really give a ****.

[Nivola]

Lukin there was a tyre bundle but it is something that I wont discuss here because it is not the place and I dont wont to place blame on some people that might not be to blame.

Accidents happern but the goal is to make the accidents have the least amount of cost. In this case the cost was to high for something that was stupid (safety) in my view.

[Robert Ryan]

As for the safety it wouldnt be long till something goes very very very wrong. Touch Wood we have never lost a driver up there. But we have been very very close (Lindaou? XB falcon about 86). The last turn run off and t1 run off is getting imposing for these cars and when you do what JC did at the round this year you know it could be bad soon.

Most of you would know we lost a young talent this year on a motorbike at t1. I still Have some harsh feelings on what took this young man down in the end. But that is a safety issue that others would believe when you tell them. Nothing like head on concrete action. RIP Levi.

Sounds like the Safety issue is a lot worse than I thought.

[It's unfortunate that someone did die on a bike, but if there was a tyre bundle would he have survived? For the life of me I can't comprehend why Barbagallo would allow motorbike riders on it due to the proximity of the walls on the exit of Turn 1 and the final turn and entry to the sweeper, it's just plain lunacy.

The safety issue is a joke. Pukekohe and Bathurst are two of the most dangerous tracks in the world, not just the V8 series

Well I suggested how this was going to impact on other fixed tracks..well it does now it appear to raise a whole can of worms as someone else has said.

[pete55]

I wonder how long it will be before someone gets bady injured or worse on a track like Surfers. Tracks like that worry me more than Barbagallo do.

[cavvy]

Originally Posted by peckstar

i think your wrong

WA is not the most important state economically, far from it, it has a small population compared to other states, it is two hours behind the other states and main v8 watching audience. It is a long way to travel and costly to travel too. and frankly very few people on the eastern seaboard care about it.

The track is an average track that produces unexpiring racing with antiquated facilities.

It's tiem to move and if WA is so economiclly important it should have the resources to either build a better race track or update the one it it has or run a street race.

I would think few teamns sponsors would have an issue with not going there cant think of any that would miss it

Almost Bob Morris's argument to the word in the XU-1 days.

Bob wanted races at Amaroo but was prepared to travel, to Oran Park - like peck his world was very small.

The WA Govt does not need VESA, & Vesa may well take their fuel churns home to Queensland & bypass Wanneroo, but who can be next? They pull this stunt on at least one promoter every year - Lindsay Fox at PI said no the first time & the 2nd time - now VESA pay Fox a fee & run the meeting at their own expense, so PI is out of the mix - only leaves the NSW meetings to push & shove.

as for the sponsors peck - WA is Cats biggest Aus market, the fuel companies see WA as huge (serviced by bizjet, not an area rep in a car), the car companies supply vehicles direct, no warranty etc.

Not to mention the Ch7 influence - Kerry Stokes is still a Perth boy - is 7 in Perth part of the listed company or a Stokes family business (like the WA & NSW Cat dealerships)?

Like peck, Coch0 is out of tune here!

[Robert Ryan]

The WA Govt does not need VESA, & Vesa may well take their fuel churns home to Queensland & bypass Wanneroo, but who can be next?

Cavvy what has that to do with the obvious safety issue at the track (bought out by the two previous posts)and has the track got enough money to fix it?

[deeks6]

I think WA is as important as any state to a "National" series and there must be a round there every year.

Having said that, Barbagallo is THE worst track in the country and they really need to "do a Clipsal" and run a proper event. I am a great fan of the west for travel and if they ran a street race arounf Freo or Perth, I'd be the first ticket booked.

At Barbagallo, you spend about a day and a half getting there, put up with prehistoric facilities (if you could call them that), can see about 20% of the track, get crap racing and then spend about 2 days getting back to the hotel. It's a ONCE only experience unless you have a helicopter, corporate marquee and a few willing grid girls. NEVER again for this punter ... I should just headed to Margaret River and slogged down a red or thirty.

Come on WA, run a street race EVENT - you'll get me and plenty of others I'm sure. If it's done half as well as Adelaide, the money will take care of itself and it will become an annual trek for plenty of Easterners. As it stands now, not even the sandgropers can be bothered going to Barbagallo.

[Marcos Skaife]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Has Bahrain been proclaimed a state of Australia yet?? I know NZ has... (we just havent told them yet...)

We`re not deaf .............we`re just ignoring you

[hoffy]

Disappointing that you had a bad day at Barbagello there Deeks. I too have been to the V8's there & thought it was not worse (but no better) then some of the other events that I have seen. & why do people think that it produces bad racing? Sure, HRT ran away with it this year, but if people had guts, there are 2 demon passing spots on the track.

Look, people have spelt it out in this thread. Its bluff, because the black wiggle likes to make easy money from state governments, where's in this case, the state government is likely to tell him to f... off