Winton Motor Raceway Chief Executive Officer Brian Pearson has hailed the weekend’s Winton V8 SuperSprint as a highly successful event for both the circuit and north-eastern Victoria, following improved crowd numbers and positive discussions with key stakeholders.
The attendance figures represented an increase over previous years, with sales of general admission and grandstand tickets all up, while the new hospitality corporate packages also attracted increased patronage.
The campground was well-populated throughout the event with many campers arriving on Thursday and enjoying the three-day motorsport festival.
For the very first time, spectators were allowed onto the circuit during the True Colours Track Walk on Sunday morning, which created amazing scenes with around 15,000 people meeting and greeting their favourite drivers, collecting autographs and viewing the V8 Supercars at close range on the old pit straight between Turns 2 and 3.
“Overall, it was an extremely positive weekend and I am very proud of all the volunteers and staff members at Winton, who worked tirelessly in the weeks and months leading up to the event to ensure it ran smoothly,” Mr Pearson said.
“It was the first V8 Supercars event for both myself and our operations manager, Wayne Williams, so we learned a lot over the course of the three days, and we’ve already come up with some ideas to make next year’s V8 meeting even bigger and better.
“While a lot of spectators were from within the north-eastern Victorian region, we also had a large number of people travelling from Melbourne, southern New South Wales and even further afield to watch the V8s at the nation’s action track, resulting in widespread economic benefits for the region.”
The Winton V8 SuperSprint was attended by a number of political figures including the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator for Victoria, Ricky Muir, the Federal Member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, the Member for Northern Victoria, Jaclyn Symes, and the State Member for Euroa, Stephanie Ryan and Mr Pearson said their response to witnessing the event was very positive.
“The Members of Parliament were all provided with a comprehensive summary of the strategic challenges facing the raceway, including significant capital works such as the track resurfacing requirements.
“All MPs were very committed to assisting the raceway in its endeavours to seek both State and Federal funding to address our strategic challenges.”
On the track, it was the Pepsi Max Crew Prodrive Racing Ford Falcons that dominated the V8 Supercars, Chaz Mostert winning Race 10 while Mark Winterbottom moved into the championship lead with victories in Races 11 and 12.
PRA also achieved success in the Dunlop Series with Cameron Waters winning all three races, while John Bowe achieved a clean sweep in the ENZED Touring Car Masters aboard his Holden Torana.
Tony Ricciardello (Alfa Romeo GTV) extended his points lead with overall victory in the Kerrick Sports Sedans, while Roger I’Anson (West) won the first round of the Australian Sports Racer Series.
