Mr LUGG - 1999-06-08
Following a very successful weekend at Hidden Valley with the V8 super cars, some questions were raised over the condition of parts of the track. Can the minister elaborate on this?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can elaborate on it. In discussions with CAM officials, I am told that the problem has been blown out of proportion. This is not unique to Hidden Valley. This has occurred at many other high profile racing tracks both in Australia and indeed overseas. The racing industry is forever searching for the correct design of track surface and there is no threat to the future of the race in Darwin. In fact, the drivers, the officials and support teams really enjoy their weekend far too much. Even though some drivers complained about the slipperiness of the track, this was not, in fact, reflected in lap times and they were extremely fast.
The problem is in turns 5 and 6 where the track surface began to strip, where the outside tyre of the vehicles ran when cornering. The inside tyres, of course, were up on the concrete kerbing and no problems occurred there. The extent of the damage in both areas is limited to a strip of about 400 mm wide, and 10-15m long and the depth of the damage went from 0 to 25mm.
There were complaints from some drivers that the surface was slippery and the cause is related to several factors. One of them is the extreme lateral sheering force exerted by the V8 vehicles in this area, and the shortened length of time for the new surface to cure due to the prolonged wet season, other works that were also delayed during the wet season, the inadequate adherence of the new 25mm surface overlay to the existing surface areas, and also time for curing. The slipperiness is due to the newness of the surface and this will be alleviated by oxidisation of the track surface over the next few months. The remedy for this is not very expensive. The contractor can commence repair works next week, and they can be completed one week from the commencement of that work. It is intended to remove both surfaces, that is the old and the new, and replace it with 50mm of asphalt. The total cost will be round about $10 000. We’re not talking major work here to rectify the particular problem.
It was a fantastic week. I add my congratulations to Marshall Bruce Perron and Paul Cattermole and all the crew, Minister Peter Adamson and the Chief Minister, of course, who is a great supporter of this particular weekend. We look forward to another great weekend in the near future and perhaps Mr Bailey might be able to get an invite to the Leader of the Opposition’s tent next time and get a better view rather than having to walk around and accommodate himself.
Mr Reed: With a gloomy look on his face.
Mr COULTER: With a gloomy look on his face saying: ‘Has anybody seen Clare?’.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can elaborate on it. In discussions with CAM officials, I am told that the problem has been blown out of proportion. This is not unique to Hidden Valley. This has occurred at many other high profile racing tracks both in Australia and indeed overseas. The racing industry is forever searching for the correct design of track surface and there is no threat to the future of the race in Darwin. In fact, the drivers, the officials and support teams really enjoy their weekend far too much. Even though some drivers complained about the slipperiness of the track, this was not, in fact, reflected in lap times and they were extremely fast.
The problem is in turns 5 and 6 where the track surface began to strip, where the outside tyre of the vehicles ran when cornering. The inside tyres, of course, were up on the concrete kerbing and no problems occurred there. The extent of the damage in both areas is limited to a strip of about 400 mm wide, and 10-15m long and the depth of the damage went from 0 to 25mm.
There were complaints from some drivers that the surface was slippery and the cause is related to several factors. One of them is the extreme lateral sheering force exerted by the V8 vehicles in this area, and the shortened length of time for the new surface to cure due to the prolonged wet season, other works that were also delayed during the wet season, the inadequate adherence of the new 25mm surface overlay to the existing surface areas, and also time for curing. The slipperiness is due to the newness of the surface and this will be alleviated by oxidisation of the track surface over the next few months. The remedy for this is not very expensive. The contractor can commence repair works next week, and they can be completed one week from the commencement of that work. It is intended to remove both surfaces, that is the old and the new, and replace it with 50mm of asphalt. The total cost will be round about $10 000. We’re not talking major work here to rectify the particular problem.
It was a fantastic week. I add my congratulations to Marshall Bruce Perron and Paul Cattermole and all the crew, Minister Peter Adamson and the Chief Minister, of course, who is a great supporter of this particular weekend. We look forward to another great weekend in the near future and perhaps Mr Bailey might be able to get an invite to the Leader of the Opposition’s tent next time and get a better view rather than having to walk around and accommodate himself.
Mr Reed: With a gloomy look on his face.
Mr COULTER: With a gloomy look on his face saying: ‘Has anybody seen Clare?’.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016