Canberra 400 - Getting Started

Getting Started

The race only had a short life, running from 2000–2002 over the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend in June. The inaugural race, titled the GMC 400, was staged in Canberra, for the first time in 2000 after the then Shell Championship Series and its governing body AVESCO, now V8SA offered Canberra a five-year opportunity to stage a round of the V8 Supercars. The race was to be run inside the Parliamentary Triangle which created some debate in the media about the appropriateness of the event for Canberra in general, and for the zone in particular. In 1999 the then Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Kate Carnell put forward the idea to the ACT Legislative Assembly. The Assembly voted to stage the event, with the only opposition coming from the Greens Party who believed that the race would create both air and noise pollution.

The Assembly voted to appropriate A$4.5million in capital works and A$2.5million for recurrent expenditure over five years to operate the event. This included the creation and removal of the concrete barriers that lined the circuit. Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation (CTEC) were given the responsibility of delivering the GMC 400 on time and within budget . The ACT Government perceived the following benefits of holding the event:

• attracting approximately 50,000 spectators in its first year;

• a rise in room occupancy rates of 12 percentage points with associated benefits to restaurants, retail and transport sectors;

• the creation of 150 full or part-time job equivalents;

• publicity for the national capital with the race being seen by 2.25 million national viewers and an estimated 85 million people internationally;

• publicity value in the first year of $5.5 million; and

• an estimated $52million in economic benefit over a five-year period

After in first race in 2000, Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation conducted a survey of event spectators and participants to determine the economic impact of the event. Media coverage, noise impact, and environmental management were also reported on. A total of 57,495 tickets to the event were sold, exceeding the expectation of 50,000. According to CTEC, the accommodation sector experienced the highest occupancy rate ever recorded during the month of June, a relatively quiet period for tourism in Canberra. This was recorded over a time when room stocks had increased by 7.4% over the previous year.

Results from CTEC's visitor and participant surveys suggest that interstate visitors spent A$4.3 million while in Canberra, and team members spent approximately A$834,486. It is also reported that the GMC 400 put over $4 million into Canberra and regional business through locally let contracts. CTEC also commissioned an independent analysis of media coverage on race days. It is estimated that race day coverage in Australia and New Zealand lasted for approximately 10 hours and reached an audience of 1,633,000. The event featured on 18 news programmes reaching a total audience of 7,630.