For a motoring enthusiast touring Europe, driving on the legendary Autobahn, visiting the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart and the BMW Museum in Munich and racing at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany are must-do activities and often rank high on their lists of things to do when visiting the continent. For such enthusiasts exploring Australia, similar goals and objectives are entertained and a visit to the Bathurst Raceway that hosts Bathurst 1000, the premier motoring event in Australia, and the Queensland Raceways are often among them.
As the Queensland Raceways host the Australian Superbike Championships as well as V8 Supercars, the track is often overrun by enthusiasts making it an extremely difficult task to find accommodation in an Ipswich hotel during such events. While options such as Oaks Aspire Apartments exist for those seeking luxury and comfort, bookings for lower end accommodation should be made months in advance to avoid disappointment.
Thus, Queensland Raceways are a popular destination for many when in Australia. Located on Willowbank in Ipswich, the track was opened in 1999 and the lap record was also made in the same year by Simon Wills. The Raceway is over three kilometres in length is shaped in a peculiar fashion prompting visitors to coin the nickname ‘the paperclip’. True to its name, the paper clip raceway has six turns and also provides spectators an excellent view of the track.
However, subsequent to an accident that took place in mid-2010, the safety of racers on the circuit has been extensively questioned. As a result, resurfacing of the track was initiated and completed in 2011. At present, in addition to the full circuit, the raceways also sport three Short Circuits, namely the ‘Sportsman Circuit’, the ‘Sprint Circuit’ and the ‘Clubman Circuit’ while the ‘National Circuit’ is predominantly used for major events and the others are relegated to semi-regular or little use
Chandrishan Williams is a travel writer who writes under the pen name, Caleb Falcon. He specializes in writing content based on the many exciting world adventures that await intrepid travellers.