Tailem Bend Motorsport Park: the plan for SA’s second V8 race
THE quiet little town of Tailem Bend is about to wake up on a grand scale as the wealthy Shahin brothers, head of the Peregrine Group, put their plans for a world-class motorsport park into overdrive.
- New $80m motorsport complex at Tailem Bend wins approval
- Motorsport Park gets $7.5 million Federal Govenment investment
- Bulldozers begin work at Tailem Bend
- Police officer found not guilty of assaulting Yasser Shahin
WHEN it was unveiled, the Peregrine Corporation’s ambitious vision for a $80 million motorsport park an hour’s drive from Adelaide seemed like an impossible — and prohibitively expensive — pipe dream.
But just 18 months later, the deep pockets and passion of the company’s owners, the Shahin family, have brought the project to the brink of an astonishing reality that will deliver a lucrative round of the V8 Supercars championship to the small town.
The venture has won development approval after the federal government matched the state’s $7.5 million funding commitment for the complex to be built on the corner of the Dukes and Mallee Highway.
Unusually for a project of this size and scope — guaranteed to generate a lot of noise — there are few, if any, critics at this stage.
The ambitious proposal includes a hotel, caravan park, camping grounds and a massive On The Run fuel and convenience service centre.
With over 160 petrol stations across the country, On The Run is the flagship enterprise of the Shahin’s Peregrine Group that also operate Smokemart & GiftBox retail sites nationwide.
Dr Sam Shahin is frontman for the project but is backed by brothers Yasser and Charlie who share his passion for speed and a dream — over a decade old — to create a world-class motor racing centre of excellence in South Australia.
Most dreams are inevitably bigger than the reality but Dr Shahin is confident his project — that begins with a massive dry paddock with no facilities or infrastructure — will exceed initial expectations.
“This promises to be a grand project the entire state can be very proud about and all Australians will want to visit,” he said this week.
“V8 Supercars are at the pinnacle of motorsport in Australia and they are a good fit if we are to lay claim to being the premier motorsport venue in the land which is our intention.”
The memorandum of understanding to secure a V8 Supercars race is a coup that should lead to final confirmation — once stipulations for safety, pit facilities and spectators are secured — South Australia will hold a second race in late 2017, but it wasn’t integral to the overall project going ahead.
With no suitable facility in South Australia, the Shahin brothers have been forced to ship their fleet of high velocity vehicles to interstate closed circuit racetracks including Hidden Valley outside Darwin and Phillip Island in Victoria to experience the adrenaline buzz of driving at extreme speed.
They understand the lucrative market available to provide a facility for individuals with top-end luxury cars including Porsche, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari to indulge their full throttle hobby.
But their plan is for the motorpark to be a wonderland for all motor enthusiasts, used not just for a four-day V8 extravaganza, but on most days of the year.
The specially designed circuit will provide options for drag racing, drift racing, go karts, rallying, including rally cross, and a 4X4 adventure park.
The venture will also include driver training and vehicle testing facilities, while attempts to lure the World Endurance Race and other international events are already in train.
If completed on schedule in mid-2017 the track will be the first purpose built motors sports complex in Australia since the Queensland Raceway at Willowbank, 40 minutes’ west of Brisbane, opened in 1999.
The Coorong District Council bought the 770ha site — formerly the Mitsubishi Test facility — in 2008 for around $800,000 and sought expression of interests in 2013 to sell the land to a group that could develop it as a motor racing park and an associated industrial park.
Formal settlement for the land occurred this week with Peregrine understood to have paid around $1.2 million.
Coorong chief executive, Vincent Cammell, said his council received higher offers but looked for assurances any project would have strong economic development potential and benefit the region long term.
The Council is looking at the value added benefits to be derived from tourism for the region heavily affected by the 2004-2008 drought and that still has major water issues.
“This has been one of the most positive developments Council has ever been involved in with virtually no critics so far,” Mr Cammell said.
“People recognise what this huge development will bring for the broader area.
“We have the Murray River, Coorong and several beautiful national parks here and it’s all about convincing visitors to spend more time to appreciate it.”
State Minister for Tourism and Sports and Recreation, Leon Bignell, says the Weatherill Government is “grateful” for the investment of the Peregrine Group saying it has the potential to “boost the local and state economies”.
An independent economic study last year identified an annual economic benefit of $136 million to the gross state product, in excess of over 1000 full time job equivalents and around 350,000 addition annual visitations to the region.
“The particulars of the project have actually grown larger since then and there is nothing that has gone backwards in terms of scale,” Dr Shahin added.
“Nothing will stop this project now and we can’t wait to get started.”
Currently, Tailem Bend is a well-known spot on the map, passed by thousands of drivers a day on their way to somewhere else with no real reason to stop.
With work due to start next month on the Motorsport Park the dream for the sleepy little river side town of less 1500 residents as a beacon for rev heads and genteel motor enthusiasts alike is about to become a reality.