When you think of major Canberra staple events most people will default to events like Floriade, the Multicultural Festival and even events like the Canberra Balloon Festival.
Or if you are sports-inclined you might think of a Raiders game at GIO or a cricket match at Manuka Oval.
However, what a lot of people wouldn’t know (or assume) is that the territory is home to a rich motoring and motorsport culture full of history and major events.
For example, according to the Council of ACT Motor Clubs Canberra is home to over 70 individual car clubs.
On top of that the Greater ACT region has hosted both National and International motorsport events in the past.
This includes rounds of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC), Supercars Championship (00-02) and previously the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (06-08).
Now I get it, when you think of car events and Canberra your mind instantly thinks of hoons doing burnouts at SummerNats and the anti-social behaviour that goes along with that crowd.
But I’m here to tell you it’s not the case at all, and who better to explain the differences between car-themed events than the Founder of Project Supercars and Director of the Canberra Festival of Speed, Martin Tanti.
Q: G’day Martin, firstly, how would you try explaining to someone who’s got no idea what is the biggest difference between a motoring and a motorsport event?
A: A motoring event would be like the Berry Motor Festival or SummerNats, or a static Show and Shine event. Whereas a governing body like Motorsport Australia would sanction a motorsport event.
Q: So in that context would an event like SummerNats which is another large car-themed event in Canberra be considered a Motoring Event?
A: Yeah, so SummerNats don’t have marshals, they don’t have the checkered flags, the red flags, etc.
They don’t have a running sequence either, they’re just cars doing laps.
We (Festival of Speed) were doing demonstration laps as well, but we had a full-sanctioning body there in Motorsport Australia.
So the event [Festival of Speed] was run like a motorsport event.
When you’re seeing that Formula One car go around the circuit, that’s actually to FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) rules.
There are flags and everything, including speed (limits) and it’s all legitimate. We’ve got scrutineers for the cars, we’ve got Clark of Courses and flag marshalls on the track as well.
So I guess very different (compared to a motoring event).
Q: What are some key differences for those still confused about the differences between a car-related event such as The Festival of Speed and more historically contentious ones such as SummerNats?
SummerNats is active in the sense that the cars are moving and doing burnouts. But it’s … not a sanctioned Motorsport Australia event as far as I am aware.
So in that way, we are separated from SummerNats as well as several (other) things, for starters, the cars that we have.
So basically, the cars that we have are high-performance cars from Europe and motorsport-inspired cars.
They’re Supercars. They just look incredible.
We’re not doing burnouts and things we don’t need to. It’s about where the car comes from, it’s about celebrating [the car’s] heritage.
Whereas the ones at SummerNats are your Aussie Ford, Holdens and muscle cars so there’s a big difference.
It’s like chalk and cheese.
The crowds that we had, were very different to the crowds that have been to SummerNats.
[At the Festival of Speed] you get a kind of supercars and wine vibe along with good food and there’s no place for the kind of antics you see at other events.
We [The Festival of Speed] are about going fast, doing corners, braking performance, turning performance [and] downforce. Whereas SummerNats is about spinning wheels.
Q: With those differences in mind, what inspired you to create the Canberra Festival of Speed?
I guess the motivation for myself started because (as a kid) I would go to Auto Italia.
Auto Italia was an event with hundreds of Ferraris and Lamborghinis. The cars were on the waterfront, and it was incredible.
I remember when I was around 12-16 running over to watch the Lambos and Ferraris punch it up the road as they left so I could hear them.
Fast forward to 2017 when I bought my Lamborghini Gallardo, I didn’t know anyone who owned a supercar in Canberra.
With that in mind, I began organising coast runs and drives and developing a network of like-minded people.
That network and demand grew in Canberra to the size it is today, culminating in the Canberra Festival of Speed.
Q: Reflecting on your younger self growing up around events like Auto Italia, If you could use one word to describe seeing the kids in the crowd at your event what would it be?
Everything.
[If it was me] I would have had my Ferrari hat on, and my Ferrari shirt on. I would have been clinched on the fence and I would not have left for two days.
So yeah, it means Everything.
Original photos by Joshua Groch