Speaking exclusively to the Advertiser yesterday, Mr White revealed he had made two visits to Wagga in the past 12 months to act as a consultant in the planning stages of the $10 million project and to check out the facilities the city had to offer.

He said he was impressed with the level of services available and was confident Wagga could handle the typical invasion of up to 5000 people involved in an ASBK meeting, including competitors, support staff and fans.

“I think it’s going to be fantastic,” Mr White said.

“Wagga’s got the enormous benefit of being a reasonable sized township with good accommodation and good services and the added bonus of being easy to get there because it’s halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.”

Investors in the project, Wagga developers Mick Neason and Phil Andrea, spent yesterday afternoon at the Civic Centre to hand over the development application, along with planner Gary Salvestro, and members of the management committee, chairman Daryl Day and spokesman Doug Wait.

Mr Neason has been involved in motorbike racing for almost 40 years and while he admitted his passion for the sport had been a hook that led to his exploration for investment opportunities, he said the project was backed by a sound business plan.

“It’s a big investment but there are a number of revenue sources we can exploit to get a return,” Mr Neason said, pointing to track hire costs and sponsorship.

Mr Neason said it would be fair to compare the Riverina Motor Complex with Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria or Hampton Downs in New Zealand.

Winton does not advertise a price list on its website but it costs more than NZ$15,000 to hire Hampton’s 2.8 kilometre track for a weekend.