The origins of the NTI Townsville 500

Queensland has been a fixture on the Supercars/ATCC calendar for more than half a century, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the championship ventured outside of the state’s southeast.

First there was Lowood Airfield Circuit west of Brisbane which formed the sole stop on the 1961 championship schedule.

Lakeside Park and Surfers Paradise International Raceway debuted later in the ‘60s and became regular venues before being phased out as the end of millennium neared.

Thereafter was the rise of Queensland Raceway and the modern-day Surfers Paradise Street Circuit – and then Townsville.

A trawl back through the archives finds that John Howard’s LNP Federal Government made a $10 million, 2007 election commitment to the Reid Park Street Circuit.

That money was to develop a facility that would act as the pit building, and a centre of pre-vocational automotive and hospitality training throughout the remainder of the year.

Howard lost that election but there was no stopping the Townsville event, and by mid-2008 the Labor-aligned Queensland state government had promised $14.61 million towards the venue, construction for which was estimated to cost $29.58 million in total.

Sport Minister Judy Spence further committed $2.5 million annually for the first five years of the event while unveiling the site’s blueprint.

“This map shows Townsville residents exactly where construction will be undertaken, to develop this world-class multi-purpose events precinct,” Spence said at the time.

“The declaration of this development area is the first big step towards transforming Reid Park into a raceway in time for the first V8 Supercar race next year.

“With the construction footprint now finalised, we can progress the detailed design of the track and facilities for release in the coming weeks.”

Less than three weeks later, the dates for the inaugural event were officially announced as July 10-12, 2009.

“This is fantastic news for the people of Townsville and North Queensland to now plan their arrangements for the event,” declared then V8 Supercars Australia chairman Tony Cochrane.

“Now the huge audience in North Queensland has their first chance to see V8 Supercars live in their own region.”

A hybrid street circuit featuring a mix of public and racing-specific roads nearby the Townsville CBD, the event has not missed a beat since.

In fact, it’s one of three venues to have featured on every calendar from ’09 onwards, along with Hidden Valley and Mount Panorama.

A winter getaway for drivers and teams based in cooler climates, the event debuted in a 400km format, split across a pair of 200km races.

This year’s edition will be the fourth run as ‘a 500’, following 2014, 2021 and 2022.

Townsville also hosted a pair of SuperSprints in 2020 and 2021 as Supercars navigated COVID-related challenges.

The Townsville 500 sees a gruelling 250km race held on each of the Saturday and Sunday, making for a pair of strategy-filled mini-enduros on a street circuit where overtaking is very possible.