V8s to Stay in Tasmania

Tasmania's place on the Australian supercar championship calendar is secure with V8 Supercars Australia revealing it is on the verge of signing a new deal with the Tasmanian Government.

V8 Supercars operations manager Shane Howard said his organisation was keen to keep Tasmania an integral part of the series.

However, he could not confirm the length of the new agreement that will replace the five-year deal, which expires at the end of Tasmania's 2010 round at Symmons Plains Raceway on 12th to 14th November.

Howard stated "we are currently in negotiations with the Tasmanian Government, looking at a multiple-year agreement.

"V8 supercars want to be in Tasmania. We've got an extremely loyal fan base that has showed us that rain, hail or shine they will be there.

"So we've made a decision at board level to run in every state in Australia for our fans and Tasmania is an important part of that."

The contract should be signed in the next few weeks, Howard adding "we're very close to finalising an agreement and I don't see any major hurdles."

Tasmanian Tourism Minister Michelle O'Byrne said the V8 race was good for the state's economy, stating "the V8s give us a major international motorsport event that is broadcast to millions of viewers throughout the world and attracts around 60,000 spectators each year, with up to 3000 being from interstate.

"Research has shown that interstate visitors, racing crews, officials and broadcasting crews directly inject about $3 million into our local economy for each round held here."