V8 Supercars a ‘natural fit’ for a community’s car culture
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Supercars super-fans Maria and Mark McIntosh find it hard to remember a time when Townsville did not have the V8 Supercar event, so closely is it tied to the north Queensland city's identity.
"This track is perfect, the drivers love coming here and the backdrop, you look at Castle Hill in the background, where do you ever get a track like that?" Ms McIntosh said.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill was a Councillor when the idea of a three-day motorsport racing event was put forward in 2006 by businessman Peter Fowler.
Councillor Hill said she was always optimistic that the event could succeed in the city.
"We have some of the highest ownership of vehicles," Cr Hill said.
"It is very much that car culture that is in our community so naturally enough the V8s fit … it's a bit blue-collar worker I suppose, but that is very much the identity of our community."
Mark McIntosh recalls calling up a local car dealership to voice his support for the proposal.
"We used to drive down to the Ipswich raceway. So for us to hear it was coming here was very exciting for us," Mr McIntosh said.
Ford versus Holden punch ups and the big stink of 2009
The first running of the Townsville 400 in 2009 attracted more than 168,000 spectators.
The McIntoshs were in the crowd and have attended every year since.
Over the 10 events, they have seen supporters come to blows in the stands over Ford versus Holden rivalries and they vividly recall the flooded toilets in 2009.
"There was a bit of a catastrophe near where the toilets were overflowing," Ms McIntosh said.
"Everyone had to walk through it on the way out."
Coming of age for Townsville 400
Murray Prideaux from James Cook University's College of Business coordinated the V8 surveys from 2009 to 2013 and said it was very interesting to watch the event mature over that time.
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The surveys involved up to 1,500 ticket-holders each year and identified two main types of attendees: adventure seekers who were looking for a thrill and socialisers, including families.
Together, they made up 85 per cent of the crowd.
In the early years, male adventure seekers were the primary demographic, but that changed to socialisers.
"They have had a more family focus in recent years and there are different types of entertainment, both on track and off track. Like everything, it evolves," Mr Prideaux said.
"And that for any business is important. You need to know who your customers are, what are they looking for and continually be able to satisfy those requirements."
Mr Prideaux added that like the McIntosh family, about 20 per cent of survey respondents had attended every Townsville 400 event.
"That is a very loyal customer base, so that is something that is, in today's world, gold. So they are obviously doing something right."
Family tradition triumphs over team allegiances
Maria McIntosh's sister lives in Townsville and their families attend the event together each year despite a difference in race team allegiance.
"They are all Holden and we are all Ford so there is a bit of competition there," Ms McIntosh said.
Mr MacIntosh said he would like to see defence displays reinstated, and that could attract more visitors.
"The kids get a real kick out of seeing the chinook choppers going over and the jets. They get a real buzz out of that and being an army city, it would be good to see that sort of thing," he said.
Supercars' long-term plans for the Townsville 400
Townsville 400 event manager Sam Pearce has been involved with the event for eight years.
He said despite a downturn in the Queensland economy, attendance at the event had been steadily on the rise over the past three years and the 10th event milestone had boosted ticket sales.
Mr Pearce said their approach was to satisfy their core fans and include attractions to entice others.
"Our core fans are who we cater for on track," he said.
"Motorsport fans tend to like that high-energy, high-octane entertainment, definitely our entertainment on track reflects that.
"And then [with] the concerts, we tend to try to branch out a little bit to try to spur people who might be outside of that motorsport community to come and check it out."
The Townsville 400's funding from the Queensland Government ends in 2019, Mr Pearce said in the next six to 12 months they would enter into negotiations to extend that funding.
"We want to stay here and I think that is the long-term goal for everyone, to keep this event going," Mr Pearce said.
Mr Pearce said speculation that the Townsville 400 might be relocated to Cairns was unfounded but that an additional event in Cairns would be considered if a good proposal was put forward.
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