It is a great opportunity for Speedway to once again with the hearts of motor racing fans in the west.
Speedway was once a major sport in Western Sydney, drawing up to 40,000 people and producing top drivers such as Triple F1 World Champion Jack Brabham.
However the loss of tracks at Westmead and Cumberland Oval and declining standards at Parramatta raceway in Clyde, led to a fall in attendances and the Touring Car Championship replaced it in the minds and lounge rooms of motor sport supporters.
The new speedway should see it come roaring back, especially if it can score a major TV contract.
Minister for Sport Natalie Ward and Minister for Transport Andrew Constance recently inspected construction works at the Eastern Creek site.
“This is an exciting and revolutionary addition to motorsport in Sydney which will bring in interstate and overseas competitors, crews and spectators, delivering a boost to our economy,” Ms Ward said.
More than just motor racing
“Motorsport fans can look forward to more world-class motor racing in Western Sydney with the new speedway on track to be operational for the 2021 racing season.”
Mr Constance said the project was a win for the sport and for the local economy.
“The project is boosting investment with more than 325 workers onsite and 60% are local to Greater Western Sydney. The project is also using the services of 58 local small to medium businesses, further spreading the benefits.”
Construction began in December last year and has included:
• Excavating one million tonnes of soil and rock at the site to support construction.
• Constructing a 500m long reinforced retaining wall using almost 1000 precast concrete panels and 40,000 tonnes of recycled sandstone from the WestConnex project.
• Work on the construction of a 1,200,000 litre storm water retention tank. The tank’s capacity is the equivalent of 60% of a standard Olympic-size swimming pool and is one of two water retention tanks being built for the project.
• Construction of new dedicated car park for speedway competitors and an additional car park for Dragway events also under construction.
The speedway circuit is also taking shape, while the grandstand, seating and corporate boxes will all be installed in the coming months.
Ms Ward said investment in the new speedway came on top of a $33m upgrade of Sydney Motorsport Precinct which would enable the site to host some of the biggest motor racing events in Australia and provide a tourism and economic shot in the arm for Western Sydney.
“This is the first time in more than 20 years a Five Star speedway has been built in Australia with the last one being Perth Motorplex, which opened in 2000,” Ms Ward said.
Greater Sydney Parklands is finalising the tender process to appoint the operator of the new speedway to prepare for the upcoming racing season.
The new speedway is expected to be operational by the start of the Speedway season in late September following the decommissioning of the previous speedway at Clyde, which was on land required to stable new metro trains for the mega Sydney Metro West project.
