Supercars action from Albert Park. Image: Supplied
The Daily Telegraph’s report last week that Supercars is in talks with Destination NSW and Wollongong authorities about a street race included a proposed track map.
That had the race running along the Cliff Road foreshore and up to the Flagstaff Point Lighthouse in the centre of the city.
The feasibility of such a location has already been publicly questioned by Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown.
Speedcafe has learned that a second location, 10km south in Port Kembla, is being investigated as an alternative option.
Port Kembla, which features the Bluescope steelworks, would come with its own challenges, straddling industrial and residential areas.
A large portion of land adjacent to the steelworks site is currently being rezoned ahead of what the NSW Government is spruiking as one of the world’s largest land transformation projects.
The government plans to convert the land into a precinct dedicated to advanced manufacturing, education and technology.
A push for racing on the streets of Port Kembla comes 30 years after the area hosted another landmark motorsport event, the Australian TT.
The layout used for the 1996 Port Kembla TT. Image: Google Maps
The 1996 event was a revival of the iconic TT after a lengthy absence and proved to be the last closed-roads motorcycle race held in New South Wales, outside of Bathurst.
It was run on an undulating 4.1km circuit just south of the steelworks, taking in Military Road, the beachside Gloucester Boulevard and Darcy Road.
Top contenders averaged over 160km/h on the water barrier-lined circuit despite the inclusion of three first-gear corners.
Port Kembla’s TT was the work of Forcefield Promotions – the company behind the early Bathurst 12 Hour races that featured motorcycles as a support class.
The demise of the 12 Hour left Forcefield to search for another location for the TT, scoping out potentials in a similar manner to what Supercars and Destination NSW are currently undertaking.
Establishing the Port Kembla event was far from smooth sailing and an initial Australia Day date was cancelled before the concept was resurrected that Easter.
A claimed 11,500 attended the 1996 Australian TT but the event proved a financial hit for Forcefield and it was not held again.
Whether a Wollongong 500 at Port Kembla would utilise the TT layout or other roads around the steelworks is unclear.
Supercars has strong backing from Destination NSW for its street race plan but must find a local council willing to embrace a motorsport event on its streets.
The Newcastle 500 was axed by its city council in 2023 following public consultation, leaving the door open for it to essentially be reestablished elsewhere in NSW.
