TOWNSVILLE has committed to a major resurfacing of the Reid Park Street Circuit which hosts the city’s annual Supercars round.
The championship has been visiting north Queensland since 2009, with the works to be carried out before next year’s edition.
Townsville Mayor Nick Dametto estimated the project will cost in the vicinity of $4-5 million.
“Resurfacing the track is something that needs to happen to make sure that we’re keeping the condition of the track up to specification, not only for Motorsport Australia but also Supercars,” he said.
“Making sure it is a safe track out there for drivers is also paramount.
“But getting in there nice and early and making sure the surface is kept at a condition where the underlying parts of the track, the under part of the surface is also being protected.
“Spending a small amount of money now means we don’t have to spend a lot of money later.”
He elaborated on the last point: “In six or seven years’ time, if we don’t get in front of it, we could have real track degradation which could cost us in the tens of millions of dollars.”
Dametto acknowledged that the current coarse state of the surface is viewed by drivers as an asset for the quality of racing, but insisted that fresh tarmac is a necessary evil.
“We’ve had a number of drivers actually say to us that they love the condition of the track right now, they love the rough surface, but at the end of the day it’s up to the engineers to tell us whether or not the track surface can actually protect what is underneath,” he said.
“Making sure what is underneath holds together means that next time we hold the Supercars here in Townsville, we have a track that’s going to hold up to the absolute punishment that these cars give it.
“The last thing that we want is that track surface coming up mid-race, which we did see some years ago.”
The 2026 NTI Townsville 500 drew a total attendance of 124,679.