Motorsport: Qld Raceway 'must improve' to stay on V8 calendar

Queensland Raceway will need to solve several issues, including safety, to stay on the V8 Supercars calendar says Tony Cochrane. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane says Queensland Raceway will have to be improved to host a series event in future.

After a dramatic weekend which featured two much-publicised crashes in the support category Mini Challenge, questions were raised about the Ipswich track's safety.

While an internal investigation into Saturday's spectacular crash which sent two spectators to hospital is underway, V8 Supercars' issues are with what they consider inadequate infrastructure at the venue.

The circuit was dropped from the series earlier in the year following a split between V8 Supercars and track management, only to be restored following a compromise deal brokered by the Ipswich City Council.

That deal however was only for this year and while Cochrane says he was happy with several upgrades made to facilities before last weekend's meeting, more would be needed to keep the V8s going there in the future.

"There's no question that for it to be a long-term venue for ... V8 Supercars - it's going to require some capital expenditure and some things improved, particularly from a fan usage point of view," Cochrane told speedcafe.com.au.

Queensland Raceway circuit owner John Tetley, who has a strained relationship with V8 Supercars, hailed last weekend's event as a success and said he was keen to open talks with V8s about future championship events at the venue.

"It's up to them," Tetley said.

"V8s put its calendar together later in the year, and we'll do our best to accommodate the best we can by shifting things around."

In other news for the V8s, the category is expected to announce a new five-year deal to race at the Australian Formula One grand prix in Melbourne.

The deal will keep the V8s at the Formula One event at Albert Park until 2015 with a stand-alone pit precinct for the category believed to be a crucial part of the deal.

"From our point of view, we are very focused on a new five-year deal at the Australian grand prix," Cochrane said.

"To do that, we need our own pit complex, our own pit building, and we are in the very final throws of putting all the pieces of the jigsaw together."

- AAP