COMMENT: BUILD it and they will come.
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That has to be Premier Speedway Club’s approach to its Allansford venue after the full house sign was hung at the gates again last Sunday night.
A crowd estimated by the club at 10,500 people packed the track for another Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.
Despite cold and wet conditions few left before the 40-lap final was completed shortly after 2am.
Poor weather complicated track preparations for the final night’s action — a factor organisers have no say over.
But you had to feel for the thousands of spectators who filed through the gates from 2pm to secure a spot for their deck chairs and who were still sitting there 12 hours later. That’s not to mention those who lined up for hours before gates opened.
In an era where cricket, the national summer pastime, has gone to great lengths to introduce shorter games, Classic organisers need to find a way to reduce the amount of time spectators stay at the venue.
They also need to accommodate more — it’s not a good look to be turning car loads away when the action hasn’t even begun.
Gates open more than three hours before the action starts and those prepared to do the long hours are rewarded with the best seats in the house (other than the sold-out reserved grandstand and terrace areas on the Warrnambool side). The Classic and its appeal is outgrowing the venue. About 26,000 people attended the three nights this year. It’s a nice problem to have but the challenge for Premier Speedway is that it always should be looking to grow the event.
Landlocked by the four-lane highway on one side and the railway line on the other, the club’s options are limited unless, of course, it is prepared to bite a big bullet and slightly re-align the track, therefore lengthening it. There are a lot of reasons why that’s worth pursuing, including it being a broader vision that would position the club and the event’s future for decades.
There are also shorter-term solutions. One could involve the introduction of reserved spots on Mount Max, the Allansford-side spectator mound. It could also reduce the amount of wasted space by some people setting up more chairs than they need.
But the second and potentially more popular option could lie on the Warrnambool side of the track, which has the biggest car parking capacity yet the smallest spectator viewing area.
The club should look at creating another grandstand stretching between the terrace area and existing grandstand. The existing corporate boxes could be shifted to overlook the terrace, solving another of the great problems — the setting sun in the eyes of drivers rounding turn one.
No doubt the club has thought about such an option, but how does it finance that type of project?
Given the economic and tourism benefits the Classic now brings to the region, it is time for external support from governments.
After all, this is an international event that books out accommodation, eating and entertainment venues. Next year the region will get double the benefits with the Australian title week after the Classic at the track.
Making larger permanent seating areas must be a priority, not only for growth but to eliminate some of the very long days spent on the hill in the sun and wind purely for the purposes of securing a spot.
It’s all about increasing the spectator experience. Premier Speedway runs Australia’s most prestigious sprintcar race and ought to be proud of what it has created in the past 43 years with the Classic.
But the time is right to take the venue to another level and the club deserves help and support.
grbest@fairfaxmedia.com.au