FOLLOWING four years of planning and lobbying by a group headed by Cairns resident Tony Ireland, the Townsville 400, one of the biggest sporting events in north Queensland's history and round six in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship will be staged this weekend on a temporary street circuit in the Reid Park precinct in South Townsville.
Queensland, interstate and international motor sport fans, numbering in the vicinity of 200,000 are expected trackside for the first running of this brand new event on the V8 Supercar calendar.
The Townsville 400 project is a joint collaboration between V8 Supercars Australia and primarily the State Government of Queensland and the Townsville City Council.
V8 Supercars chairman, Tony Cochrane, has lobbied hard and long over the years to get an event on the doorstep of the many thousands of fans the sport has in North Queensland.
The 13-turn layout, which has had significant track design and input from five time touring car champion Mark Skaife and Queensland V8 Supercar drivers Steven Johnson and Russell Ingall, promises to turn into one of V8 Supercars' signature events in the future or even rival the opening event in the V8 series Championship, Adelaide's Clipsal 500, where close to 300,000 spectators take in the sound, smell and shear excitement generated by 30 odd Falcons and Commodores racing wheel to wheel in the best touring car series in the world.
It is estimated that the Townsville street circuit will average speeds of 140kph with a maximum speed of 252kph on the 2.87km track.
New events are always exciting and predicting the winners of the twin 200km races are a tough ask on a track where no team has a technical data advantage over the other, a clean sheet on an even playing field.
Current Supercar champion Jamie Whincup from the all powerful Ford Triple888 team, including teammate Craig Lowndes and Holden factory duo Garth Tander and young gun Will Davison will want to hit the ground running in their bid to snare the bragging rights for the inaugural running of the Dunlop Townsville 400.
Team work, especially between the driver and engineers will be paramount in practice, to set the car up for the new conditions.
Townsville is a conventional street circuit with crowned roads, lots of concrete and not a lot of run off, blind corners, changes of track surface and several long straights.
Qualifying will be the key, more important than in most races where the teams have a fair amount of car set-up, technical data and all important track time.
The all-crucial pit stops will go a long way in deciding the outcome and a pointy end finish, a possible podium and precious championship points.
Championship pointscore: Jamie Whincup Falcon 1272; Will Davison Commodore 1128; Garth Tander Commodore 954; Craig Lowndes Falcon 906; Lee Holdsworth Holden 897.
BIG BANGER UNDERBELLY
Holden's HK Monaro GTS 327 showed its rivals a clean pair of wheels at Bathurst on its launch in 1968 and that made it perfect for the role of a getaway vehicle on Channel 9's blockbuster TV series 'Underbelly'.
Now the brilliant blue metallic coupe that was Judy Kane's car in a recent 'Underbelly: a Tale of Two Cities' episode, will be in the spotlight again when it goes under the hammer at Shannon's Classic Vehicle Auction at the Sydney Showgrounds on July 12.
Delivered new by Stacks Holden in Rose Bay, the two-owner brilliant blue metallic Monaro was build number 312 of what has become one of Australia's most collectable muscle cars and is in very original and correct condition down to its hubcaps, having covered just 89,000 miles since new.
It comes with all the wanted 'Bathurst' Monaro features, including its original 327-cid Chevrolet-sourced V8 engine, four-speed manual gearbox, limited slip differential, stiffer sports suspension with rear radius rods, power front disc brakes and a long-range 25 gallon fuel tank.
The vendor, who is the car's second owner, acquired the Monaro in 2002 and has maintained it in top mechanical condition according to Shannons, who say it is one of the nicest GTS 327 models they have ever driven.
As added sweeteners, the Monaro is being sold with its glovebox lid personally signed by star actress Kate Ritchie, who played Judy Kane in Underbelly, and comes with unique and appropriate 'UBELLY' personalised NSW number plates - guaranteed conversation-starters wherever the car goes.
ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Rounds three and four of the 2009 NSW Senior Motorcycle Enduro Championship is to be fought out this weekend at East Lynne, 10kms North of Batemans Bay on the South Coast of NSW.
Marty Cooper, from Batemans Bay, Jason Cater from Ulladulla and 19-year old Luke Bussa from Moruya are three of the many talented riders contesting the latest two rounds of the 2009 NSW Senior Enduro Championship.
Riding in the respective Expert and Over 35s classes, Cooper and Cater boast a lot of Enduro competition experience and they are hoping to use every ounce of that in order to come out on top in their divisions.
On offer are some of the best riders in the country, many who have represented NSW and Australia. Multiple world champion Stefan Merriman will be contesting this weekend's rounds, along with Jarrod Bewley - this year's Australian four day enduro outright winner and Team Australia 2009 Junior trophy riders Andy Lloyd and Geoff Braico.
Safe Motoring
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