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In June 2016, the Department of Sport and Recreation commissioned the Wanneroo Safety Enhancement Options Identification and Assessment of Barbagallo Raceway by Hall Technical because of concerns conveyed by stakeholders about the safety of the track.

The scope of works included:

• Identify the current safety measures associated with the existing track.
• Identify where the safety requirements set down by the relevant national sanctioning organisations are not met.
• Benchmark the current configuration against the FIM Standards for Road Racing Circuits (SRRC).
• Provide a range of options that may enhance the existing safety measures.
• Identify site constraints impinging upon safety improvements.
• Indicate the comparative costs associated with the suggested safety enhancements.
• Identify any conflicts between the safety measures required for the different motor-racing disciplines (cars v motorcycles).
• Provide a conceptual costing for future extension of the circuit and construction of an additional circuit to the north of existing facility.

The findings of the report are intended to assist those organisations with responsibility for track licencing, regulation and operations to determine if they need to take any action regarding the safety of the track.

The report has been presented to the motor sport bodies responsible for licencing of the Barbagallo Raceway track and its operations, namely the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), Motor Cycling Australia (MCA) and the WA Sports Car Club (WASCC).

The three sports bodies are now working in conjunction with Motorcycling Western Australia (MWA) to respond to the report and address any issues raised in the report.

The Department of Sport and Recreation hosted a meeting on 23 November 2016 to allow representatives of the relevant motor sports bodies to meet with and provide direct feedback to the report’s author, Mr. Chris Hall. Mr. Hall has now considered each of the group’s feedback and he has finalised his report.

The Department of Sport and Recreation is not the owner of the track or a regulator of racing activities at the Barbagallo Raceway. It has no role in licensing the undertaking of activities at the track and has no factual or legal control over the operations which WA Sporting Car Club (WASCC) or Motorcycling Australia (MCA) choose to conduct or permit at the Barbagallo Raceway.

The Department of Sport and Recreation’s role is to support, where appropriate, the development of motor sports in Western Australia with the benefit and safety of the community in mind.

If requested, the Department of Sport and Recreation will continue to work with the motor sports organisations to assist them to deliver solutions they wish to implement as a result of their own investigations and only after receiving independent legal and professional advice. This statement should not be taken as a commitment by the Department of Sport and Recreation to fund any improvements that are undertaken to improve track safety at Barbagallo Raceway.

The author of the safety report, Mr Chris Hall, and Motorcycling WA have both stated the tragic race incident on the 5th November was not in any way related to any of the safety issues contained in Mr Hall’s report to DSR, dated 4th November.

Disclaimer

The Wanneroo Safety Enhancement Options Identification and Assessment of Barbagallo Raceway report was obtained by the Department of Sport and Recreation to facilitate consultation between the responsible stakeholders in relation to safety improvements at the track as a result of prior safety incidents.

The report is not the work of the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Department of Sport and Recreation takes no responsibility for its contents. 

In particular, the Department of Sport and Recreation expresses no view in relation to the methodology or conclusions contained in the report.

Recipients should act upon the report as they think appropriate after taking independent legal and professional advice as to the process of and reasoning in the report, and the conclusions reached in it.