A1 Grand Prix potential goldmine for NSW - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

A1 Grand Prix potential goldmine for NSW

By Simon Kirby 12/10/2005 05:54:27 PM Comments (1)

There is a new motorsport in town snapping at the heels of the big three of F1, Indy and the Bathurst 1000.

The inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations comes to Sydney next month, bringing with it valuable tourist dollars.

The international A1 GP has the potential to become an annual big ticket sporting event and could provide economic benefits of up to $10 million a year, according to NSW Minister for Tourism Sandra Nori.

The three-day event (November 4-6) at Eastern Creek International Raceway pits 25 countries against each other in what has been dubbed "The World Cup of Motorsport".

Nori hopes the new race will generate the same passion that brought together 166,000 petrol heads to Mt Panorama last Sunday for the Bathurst 1000.

"I would like to see similar enthusiasm for this truly global A1 event, particularly in multicultural Sydney where I encourage people to get out to Eastern Creek and get behind their favourite team," she said on Tuesday night.

The NSW Government has a lot riding on the success of this and future motor sports events after investing $450,000 to upgrade track infrastructure at Eastern Creek.

Encouraged by the multi-million dollar boosts to the economy from the 2000 Olympics and 2003 Rugby World Cup, the state government has also invested $10 million over three years in facilities at Mt Panorama.

Australian driver Will Power, 26, came second in the opening A1 GP, held in September at Brands Hatch, England, briefly snatching the lead from eventual winner Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jnr, son of the three-time F1 champion.

It is likely that Will Davison, 23, will drive for A1 Team Australia at Eastern Creek, as Power is currently racing the Champ Car series in the US.

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1 Comments about this article

  • another politician with no idea... this is an event put on for Rupert Murdoch and his TV networks - nobody turns up and very few people watch it on TV! How can you barrack for a tean car?
    Posted by Scott Ferguson Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:39pm AEST

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