{"id":948707,"date":"2026-11-01T12:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T12:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/948707\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T12:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T12:20:18","slug":"v8-superboats-return-to-victoria-after-15-year-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/948707\/","title":{"rendered":"V8 Superboats return to Victoria after 15 year absence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A “big risk” for a rural town has paid off, resulting in a sell-out crowd for the return of V8 Superboat racing in Victoria. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Elmore Events Centre, 50km north-east of Bendigo, has welcomed jet boat racing back to Victoria about 15 years after the closure of the sport’s track in Melton, west of Melbourne.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The town of Elmore, population 850, made its debut on the V8 Superboats Championship scene on Saturday, hosting round one of the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Elmore’s first V8 Superboats event was sold out.\u00a0 (Supplied: V8 Superboats)<\/p>\n

“Once the rain cleared, it turned into a tremendous day,” said Elmore Events Centre executive manager Derek Shotton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We got maximum crowd, good results and good racing.”<\/p>\n

Jet boats are a new addition for the not-for-profit venue, which is better known for hosting agricultural field days, equestrian events, scouts and tractor pull competitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Derek Shotton says the track was designed to be technically challenging for drivers. (ABC Rural: Warwick Long)<\/p>\n

Mr Shotton said jet boat racing would help ensure the venue’s future sustainability.<\/p>\n

“It was a big risk for us to go into developing this, and it was quite gratifying to see both the competitors and patrons so embracing and positive about it all,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Racing returned to Victoria on Saturday at Elmore.\u00a0 (Supplied: V8 Superboats)<\/p>\n

They broke ground on the 1km-long, 3m-wide and 750mm-deep course less than a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the track’s design challenged drivers’ technical skills, rather than maximum speeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There were plenty of mishaps and mis-corners and boats landing on islands, that adds to the excitement,” Mr Shotton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/p>\n

Disturbed Racing Team took out the LS class on Saturday. (Supplied: V8 Superboats)<\/p>\n

Victoria’s return to national stage<\/p>\n

Driver Jade Atchison and her navigator Erin Kearney, from the Disturbed Racing Team based on the NSW Central Coast, won the LS class event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They said they relished the technical challenge of Elmore’s new track.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was a bit of a go-kart track which I’ve kind of always preferred,” Ms Atchison said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s fun, it’s a bit different. The longer tracks, you’re worrying more about speed,” Ms Atchison said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Elmore jet boat track is designed to technically challenge drivers. (Supplied: V8 Superboats)<\/p>\n

She said V8 Superboat’s return to Victoria was a positive for the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There was such a good turnout on the weekend, I think everyone’s really impressed with it and happy it’s gone ahead,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The more tracks, the better; everyone who’s in the sport is really passionate about it and just wants to see it flourish.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Shotton also said the sport’s return “shouldn’t be underrated”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Finding the right piece of ground where you’re not close to residential areas, and you can do this sort of racing has been a hard try,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“For us to be able to do this puts Victoria back on the national stage.”<\/p>\n

Elmore will host two rounds per season for the next five years.<\/p>\n

Organisers said they are already looking at improvements before the next race, including installing a third viewing bank for spectators.<\/p>\n

The next event in Elmore will be held on March 13, with a tractor pull and lawnmower racing to be held on the same day.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A “big risk” for a rural town has paid off, resulting in a sell-out crowd for the return…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-948707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948707","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=948707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}