ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 More details are now emerging about a bid for a huge new motorsport facility in the Brisbane area. The circuit would be part of a $500m development to be called i-METT, which stands for Integrated Motorsport Education Tourism and Technology. This 1000-acre development would be on land that is currently farmed for sugar cane, between the Pacific Motorway and the coastal Southern Moreton Bay Islands National Park. This is around 25 miles to the south of Brisbane, between the villages of Gilberton and Norwell. It is close to the Holden Performance Driving Centre, a circuit that was created for BMW in the early 1990s then later sold on to Mercedes-Benz and more recently to Holden. It is not clear whtehr this would be part of the development but that would make sense. Whatever the case the track will be designed by Hermann Tilke and it will include flood-lighting technology from the start so that the racing can take place at night. Rather than being just a racing circuit, however, the faciity would be part of a huge business park and it seems that 90% of the land acquisition for the project has already been completed. The local government says that there is a land planning review going on in relation to the area to decide whether the zoning should be changed. The first event at the site will be the World Rally Championship in 2008 but the aim is to get the Australian Grand Prix to the facility when the current contract with Melbourne runs out. The plan is for there be no public money involved in the project and the organisers say that the facility will be able to fund the Grand Prix itself. It will be interesting to see how things develop. http://www.totalf1.com/view-article.php?newsid=199577 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOOD GOD NO. I have no objection to the Aus GP moving to Brisbane but i do have a objection to the tract being designed by Hermann Tilke as he has created so many F1 tracks like Malaysia, Bahrain, China and Turkey and all of those tracks are BORING. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jackgarrett 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 cool i am from brisbane! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Schumikonen 2 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 If the track will suit Ferrari I let him do the design, there is no boring track with Ferrari running in front. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 If the track will suit Ferrari I let him do the design, there is no boring track with Ferrari running in front. I think we should agree to disagree. I personally find Hermann Tilke tracks very boring and what makes it worse is that they are all the same. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 I read this story in the Courier Mail this morning and was contemplating weather to post it. But thought better of it. Interesting idea none the less. And I really hope it happens. We would have the most boing track in the world in Queensland Raceway at Willowbank so to have a state of the art facility will be fantastic. I will not count my chickens before they hatch. cool i am from brisbane! Same Will be alot better than paying for accomodation & flights to Melbourne every year. I think we should agree to disagree. I personally find Hermann Tilke tracks very boring and what makes it worse is that they are all the same. Yeah your right in saying the Tilke designed tracks have an aweful lot common, but I think they can get him to design it it would be a heap better than some twit with no idea at all. I mean look at Queensland Raceway for a start. They had a get opportunity to design and build a great track at Willowbank and look at what they came up with. It's that bad I've never even bothered to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Here is a link to the design of Queensland Raceway, the track I was whinging about in my post above. Queensland Raceway Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Yeah your right in saying the Tilke designed tracks have an aweful lot common, but I think they can get him to design it it would be a heap better than some twit with no idea at all. I mean look at Queensland Raceway for a start. They had a get opportunity to design and build a great track at Willowbank and look at what they came up with. It's that bad I've never even bothered to go. Queensland Raceway is dull and unimaginative but so are Hermann Tilke tracks. I dont know who i want to design the track but i know for a fact that i dont want Hermann Tilke involved. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Queensland Raceway is dull and unimaginative but so are Hermann Tilke tracks. I dont know who i want to design the track but i know for a fact that i dont want Hermann Tilke involved. That's just the problem thou mate, their is no one else. I mean you can go with some other designer and end up with multi million dollar state of the art facility with a bloody shocking track because he thought he would have a go. Tilke has a proven record. Lets just wait and see the potential track design that he comes up with. I've heard nothing in the media until today about this potential track Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 They should just copy this and add afew extra safety fetures I mean how hard can it be to make a artificial mountain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Hmmmmm making an artificial mountain, that would only be possible in Dubai. I can't help but to be skeptical about this whole idea for some reason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Hmmmmm making an artificial mountain, that would only be possible in Dubai. Id love to see elements of Bathurst in the new circuit. Modern F1 tracks dont have enough hills in my opinion. Let Brisbane mountain up F1's flat little world I can't help but to be skeptical about this whole idea for some reason It does sound like the Queensland government has been planning this for awhile but i suppose it all depends on wheather the Queensland government can outbid the Victorian government. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jenson_Rules 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 I think we should agree to disagree. I personally find Hermann Tilke tracks very boring and what makes it worse is that they are all the same. I actually like Malaysia and Turkey cannot be criticised as being a boring track, it is actually a modern classic. The others however........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
B.P. 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Awesome, just down the road. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moose11 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Australasia...queensland.html Interesting design and very different to typical F1 tracks. Thats why I actually quite like it. Not to many corners which would be a nice change, plenty of straights and overtaking opertunities. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Motorsport day of thunder dawns A FIELD near the Gold Coast will become the epicentre of motorsport in the southern hemisphere with a proposed $650 million complex set to lure the world's top racing. The project involves building a motorsport enclave on canefields on 400ha near Norwell, between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, and is expected to inject millions into the Queensland economy and create 5000 jobs. It is also a bold bid to wrest Formula One from Melbourne. ``This project is what we have needed for a long time ... we need something more than just club venues," race legend d#ck Johnson said. ``Queensland is starved for motor racing, and this will be a world-class facility that is not just about motor-racing events but about the whole business around it.'' A world-class international motor racing complex is only weeks away from final approval. The project is called i-METT (Integrated Motorsport Education Tourism and Technology). Its first big event, a leg of the World Rally Championship, has already been sealed with Rally Australia, blasting off from the Gilberton-Norwell site, 38km south of Brisbane, from September next year. There also is a compelling case for Formula One to be lured away from Melbourne's Albert Park circuit, which costs the Victorian Government tens of millions of dollars each year. Project bosses say the complex has been designed so that major events do not have to be underwritten by the state. Rally Australia was staged in Perth from the late 1980s until last year, however, it is believed the event cost the WA Government more than $8 million a year to underwrite. It is understood the Beattie Government will not be burdened with the cost of hosting the world rally championship. There is a big push for the Australian F1 Grand Prix to be run under lights so it can be televised at a more user-friendly time back to Europe and cash in on a greater television audience. However, transforming the Albert Park layout for night racing would require a substantial cost. The Gilberton-Norwell circuit, which will be built by acclaimed German track designer Hermann Tilke, will be wired with the latest in flood-lighting technology from the beginning. The company behind the complex says it would welcome any major international events. But the project has not been designed to rely on big race meetings for its survival. "We are not about stealing events from people, however, if the Grand Prix people want to talk then we would welcome that," i-METT managing director Ron Brown said. "The way the motor sport complex is being set up, it doesn't have to rely on government money or big events for sustainability. ``It is a business park where a lot of things will be going on seven days a week so it's much more than just a motor racing circuit.'" The land is now used by sugar cane farmers, who the developers have been working with to secure tracts suitable for the project. It is understood that land acquisition is about 90 per cent complete. Deputy Premier Anna Bligh said the Government was well aware of i-METT's plans. "The Norwell/Rocky Point canelands area is to be the subject of a land planning review," she said. "Only until after that would that area be considered for any possible change in use." The review process is expected to start soon but could take a year. Champ Car would be welcome, however it is difficult to see the Queensland Government or the North American-based series managers wanting to shift the massively successful open wheeler formula from the streets of Surfers Paradise. i-METT says the economic benefit of motor sport cannot be ignored. The company cites a British Government survey that says motor racing in England accounts for $8.2billion a year that makes it that country's fifth largest export earner and which is bigger than the agricultural and steel industries combined. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...521-952,00.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niall McBride 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 i would like to see a new track if only it's not done by tilke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Awesome, just down the road. http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Australasia...queensland.htmlInteresting design and very different to typical F1 tracks. Thats why I actually quite like it. Not to many corners which would be a nice change, plenty of straights and overtaking opertunities. Are you feeling OK??? The existing Queensland Raceway at Willowbank would have to be one of the worst tracks in the world Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niall McBride 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Australasia...queensland.htmlInteresting design and very different to typical F1 tracks. Thats why I actually quite like it. Not to many corners which would be a nice change, plenty of straights and overtaking opertunities. heh, that's worse than an oval Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 heh, that's worse than an oval Spot on, it's crap that's for sure. With Queensland Raceway as a guide of just how bad track design can be in Australia, I'm happy to let Hermann Tilke have the job of designing the new track in Queensland. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Player(1) 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 F1 at Bathurst please! They might actually be able to take the dipper like the v8 supercars. Nothing wrong with Melbourne that a few crashs and saftey cars cant fix anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niall McBride 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 Spot on, it's crap that's for sure. With Queensland Raceway as a guide of just how bad track design can be in Australia, I'm happy to let Hermann Tilke have the job of designing the new track in Queensland. i guess it won't be too bad if he does design one under one condition that it isn't all fancy and too 'safe' as in 100 yard tarmac runoffs and fake grass i don't get why he's the only circuit designer out there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aussief1 4 Report post Posted April 4, 2007 i guess it won't be too bad if he does design one under one condition that it isn't all fancy and too 'safe' as in 100 yard tarmac runoffs and fake grass i don't get why he's the only circuit designer out there He's not, but Bernie loves him, so he is the designer that gets all the good projects with Bernie's recommendation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane2 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2007 Why does everyone hate tilke so much? I personally think there are tracks far worse than the ones he did, and he certainly did a great job of the turkish track Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crackerz 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2007 Oh please God let it be so!!! A Formula One Grand Prix just down the road ..... YES PLEASE!! Queensland ...Perfect one day - Formula 1 the next!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ykickamoocow 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2007 Alot of people on this forum seem to live quite close to the proposed site. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
