{"id":59471,"date":"2025-08-11T07:38:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T07:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/59471\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T07:38:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T07:38:06","slug":"queensland-raceways-tony-quinn-makes-2026-supercars-calendar-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/59471\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland Raceway’s Tony Quinn makes 2026 Supercars calendar claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Tony
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSupercars on track at QR. Image: Richard Gresham \/ Speedcafe<\/p>\n

The weekend marked the first time QR hosted Supercars in six years, during which time Quinn took over the venue and ploughed millions into a series of upgrades.<\/p>\n

While a crowd figure is yet to be made official, the event appeared well supported by the public, with the spectator mounds packed despite rain showers on both Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

Quinn, who also co-owns the Triple Eight team that dominated the weekend, declared the event a success for the circuit and Supercars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I bought the track, I had a lot to do. It\u2019s almost like qualifying last and having to fight your way to the front,\u201d said Quinn.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve been helped by a great team of people that work here and are pretty much wedded to the place. Because I pay them each week they keep coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always knew that if we presented a good product there\u2019d be a chance to talk about the V8s coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and [then Supercars COO] Tim Watsford had a chat last year, or whenever it was, and we sort of planted the seed, hoping to make it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s happened, it\u2019s been so good. I haven\u2019t met one grumpy person, which is unusual.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has been so complimentary, all the drivers, all the teams, the Supercars guys have enjoyed the cooperation that we\u2019ve offered and the knowledge we\u2019ve offered for this venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be flabbergasted if we didn\u2019t see them next year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Queensland Raceway joined the calendar this year as part of an expansion to 13 events funded by Supercars owners RACE.<\/p>\n

RACE wants to run 14 events next year and has already secured a deal to add Christchurch\u2019s Ruapuna Raceway as part of a New Zealand double-header.<\/p>\n

Ipswich is thought to be at risk of falling off the calendar again unless Supercars can find the funds to pay teams for an extra event.<\/p>\n

Supercars CEO James Warburton hailed Quinn and his team for recent work on the venue, but hinted government backing may be a crucial factor in whether it returns permanently.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to get back to heartland and Supercars fans here. It\u2019s something we consider as we move to put the calendar together,\u201d he told the Supercars website.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an event where we\u2019ve had any funding support from government at all, through local council or government. That will certainly help cement its place on the calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tony Quinn. Image: Richard Gresham \/ Speedcafe<\/p>\n

The downside of the event\u2019s popularity was lengthy delays getting in and out of the venue across the weekend.<\/p>\n

Warburton said that issue will be part of a debrief he plans to have with Quinn following the event.<\/p>\n

The circuit owner downplayed the problem, which is largely the result of a single access road.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is something we can do we will,\u201d he said before referencing the traffic gridlock that plagued the circuit\u2019s inaugural Supercars event in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trouble is this place started off with a hell of a legacy of the car park and seven hours to get out and everything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a few ideas for next year for parking to make it easier. [But] it comes with being busy. If you have a busy town centre, it\u2019s hard to get a parking space.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, if you\u2019ve got a greenfield and could build a brand-new facility, we\u2019d have a different way of doing it. But we\u2019ve inherited this venue, and we have to make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Supercars on track at QR. Image: Richard Gresham \/ Speedcafe The weekend marked the first time QR hosted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,43669,806,805,803,804,40320,7499,85,48473],"class_list":["post-59471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ipswich","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-queensland-raceway","tag-slot4","tag-sports","tag-tony-quinn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}