Ipswich City Council

Festival of Theatre Media

Street parade and dinner for Motorfest

13 February 2008

CLASSIC car lovers will mingle with the Ipswich locals as the inaugural Ipswich Classic Motorfest gets under way at Easter.

Mayor Paul Pisasale said the event would now include a Street Parade and a Motorfest Dinner in Ipswich Central on Saturday, 22 March, following approval this week by Ipswich City Council.

"Motorfest has already attracted sponsorship from the Porsche Car Club and Shannons Insurance and is expected to become one of Queensland Raceway's premium annual events and attract huge crowds into the Ipswich Motorsport Precinct at Easter time.

"Queensland Raceway will coordinate the main event which will include speed and sprint races at the Queensland Raceway plus competitions and parades.

"The supporting events in Ipswich Central will include a Street Parade and Festival and a Motorfest Dinner to be coordinated by Council.

"The Street Festival which could include up to 100 cars will commence at 5.00pm with a parade of cars around Brisbane and Limestone Streets.

"Other activities will include car displays, food stalls and live entertainment and movies in d'Arcy Doyle Place."

Mayor Pisasale said the Motorfest Dinner, to be held at the Civic Hall, would include trophy presentations and a guest speaker from the motorsport industry.

"It is simply tremendous for Queensland Raceway to bring another major event to the city and being over a long weekend at Easter, this event could become an institution on the motor sport calendar.

"We are pleased such an event could be hatched over the Easter long weekend, which is traditionally a fairly quiet time in the city."

He said the Queensland Raceway was a very important section of the Ipswich Motorsport precinct which brought an enormous amount of funds in to the city.

"A master plan for the Ipswich Motorsports Precinct was adopted by Ipswich City Council in 2005 aimed at strengthening its role as a nationally recognised motorsport arena.

"The Master Plan identified opportunities to expand the precinct footprint to accommodate driver training facilities, a range of off-road motorcycle sports activities and create areas for mountain bike, trail bike and 4WD off-road activities.

"There is a five kilometre buffer zone right around the precinct to ensure it will be around to cater for many forms of motor sport for many years to come.

"The events currently held at the Ipswich Motorsport Precinct bring more than $33.3 million into the economy annually.

"With the Gold Coast's Indy event attracting an estimated $52 million, the potential for South East Queensland is almost $300 million each year in related spending and employment, offering opportunity to generate significant additional benefits to Ipswich tourism and events.

"Motorfest can only add to these success stories around Willowbank and Queensland Raceways.

"Upgrades to the Ipswich Motorsports Precinct at Willowbank in recent years have led to improved access and traffic around the site and will assist in giving a unified approach to Champions Way.

"It is one of the most exciting areas of Ipswich for motor sports fans and will continue to expand with the city over the next decade," Mayor Pisasale said.

-ENDS-

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Last Updated 13 Feb 2008 |

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