Thriving frogs could be green light for V8s
Ray Kershler
24jun05
Could the endangered green and golden bell frog be responsible for opening the way for a V8 Supercar race at the Olympic precinct at Homebush Bay?
For years now, V8 officials have harboured dreams of a street race in Sydney with a circuit around the Olympic Stadium seen as the preferred option.
But to date, the NSW Government has resisted all blandishments. The regular feelers from the depths of the Gold Coast boardroom where V8 policy is determined have so far been rebuffed.
"Sydney is our biggest market and it would be nice to put on a major event in the demographic heart of Sydney which probably would go beyond just being a motor race," says AVESCO chief Wayne Cattach.
"We've had a close look at the logistics and know we can put on an exciting performance. There is an easily identifiable track we could construct. In our opinion, Sydney needs more major events."
Generally speaking, there have been three reasons proffered for the brick-wall approach from the Government.
The first is that Premier Bob Carr is not a motorsport-type person. Scurrilous rumour suggests he is not even a sporting type.
However he gave up a Sunday morning recently to flag off Mark Webber when the Aussie F1 driver did his Sydney Harbour Bridge crossing prior to the big Melbourne street race called the Grand Prix. Was that a chink in his seemingly armour-plated attitude?
The second is that street circuits cost loads of money. Certainly, Homebush Bay would create minimum interference to the daily life of residents (certainly compared to closing the streets of a major city). Such a race, however, would still require a financial input from local authorities which are deemed to retrieve their investment and more by the economic return of ancillary benefits.
Tony Cochrane, the chairman of the board of AVESCO, which runs V8 Supercar racing, has long maintained that, compared to other sports, governments have given all motor sport categories short shrift when it comes to financial assistance.
With a state election due next year, Cochrane is certain to remind officers of the NSW Government that motor sport fans vote too.
The third reason the Government is thought to have been reluctant to embrace the roar and the thunder of motor sport at Homebush Bay is the green and golden bell frog. This small, amphibious creature pulls more than its own weight when it comes to environmental pressure.
The frogs were discovered in the abandoned brickpit at Homebush Bay during the Olympic construction and forced organisers to shift the site of the tennis venue.
Now a $6.5-million sanctuary for the frogs, the Brickpit Ring, is to be established at the site and should be open to the public by the Christmas holidays.
The once endangered little critter has now a healthy population of somewhere between 500 and 700, undaunted by more than a million visitors to the Park last year.
With the green and yellow bell frog seemingly safe in its natural habitat, one of the more delicate negotiating chips in talks about a V8 race might have been removed from the equation.
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Originally Posted by Cotterik
