General News
25 September, 2024
Mount Isa motorsport precinct idling along, says group
While there is strong interest in the project, no major progress has been made in 2024.
Mount Isa petrol heads believe the record haul of trophies awarded to locals at the recent Red Centre NATS in Alice Springs is evidence our city has the chops to operate its own major motorsport events.
Mount Isa Motorsports and Recreation Association members took home eight trophies at the Red Centre NATS in Alice Springs this month, where more than 800 competitors and 20,000 spectators had gathered, including gongs for top American, top rattler and the people’s choice award.
Association members have used the wins to renew calls for the construction of a motorsport precinct to hold annual car events in Mount Isa, which they claim could develop into a bigger tourism drawcard than the famous rodeo. The long-discussed motorsport project has languished under successive councils despite overwhelming support for the facility among ratepayers.
Association president Brett Peterson said the Alice Springs event was growing in popularity each year and Townsville was currently completing a quarter-mile drag strip as part of its staged development of a 306-hectare driving training/skid pan facility.
He said this positioned Mount Isa as a centrepoint between the two cities that could capitalise on the generation of a motorsport northern circuit.
“Motorsports are alive and well in Mount Isa and there is a lot we can do to capitalise on that,” Mr Peterson said.
“There are huge tourism dollars and associated economic benefits – we need a facility to allow us to catch a larger and larger pool of these people to our town.”
It is estimated the Red Centre NATS generates almost $7 million for the Alice Springs economy.
Mr Peterson said Mount Isa was currently holding a Father’s Day car show on the weekend prior to the Red Centre NATS in the hope of attracting some tourists on route to the Territory.
However, he said that date would be ideal for a major motorsport event in our city.
Mount Isa councillor Travis Crowther said the council saw the economic potential of a motorsport facility and was pursuing the project. He said there had been two meetings this year to discuss the path forward which included gaining additional information about the suitability of the proposed land area, track design proposals as well as taking information from previous feasibility studies into consideration.
Cr Crowther said the council wanted to ensure the location would allow for any facility to expand in the future.
“There is strong support for motorsports in the city and the meetings we have had this year have been pretty positive,” he said.
“There are options to make it more than just a sporting facility – we could make it a vehicle training centre as well. When we are talking about multi sports we should be talking multi opportunities as well.”