The nation’s capital – affectionately known as Australia’s Tesla Town – will put on its own Goodwood-style ‘Festival of Speed’ this weekend, with iconic marques, a V8 Supercar, and a former Formula 1 racer joining the gathering.
Though a lot of attention on Canberra’s car scene is focused on Summernats at the start of every January, the city has been without a major motorsport event since 2002 when V8 Supercars last raced past Parliament House.
Held at Thoroughbred Park, the Canberra Festival of Speed was the brainchild of Project Supercars, providing local gear heads the opportunity to show off their price and joy, or admire some of the most desirable models in motoring history.
Modelled on the UK’s successful Goodwood Festival of Speed which regularly attracts approximately 200,000 visitors, Canberra’s event will include cars taking part in hot laps around a small, purpose-built track.
While there are a wide variety of European supercars and Japanese tuner icons entered in the Festival of Speed, the stars of the show are set to be three racers making their debut in the capital.
Canberra’s own Cameron Hill will be demonstrating the Chevrolet Camaro he races for Matt Stone Racing in the Supercars Championship, coming off a best-ever fifth-place finish in the opening race of last weekend’s Bathurst 500 round.
An S5000 V8-powered open-wheeler – one of the fastest cars in Australia – will also take to the course, as will a Lola LC88 which was raced by the Larrousse Formula One team in 1988.
The Canberra Festival of Speed will take place from 3:30pm to 10:00pm on Saturday March 2 and 8:30am to 4:00pm on Sunday March 3.
Tickets can be purchased here, with more information available on the event’s website.
