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Is motorsport “a race out of place”?physical manifestation of Australian democraticgovernment and the home of the nation’s mostimportant cultural and judicial institutions andsymbols” (NCA, 2002, p.23). According to theParliamentary Zone Review, the Parliamentary Zoneshould be given meaning as “The place of the people,accessible to all Australians so that they can morefully appreciate the collective experience and richdiversity of this country” (NCA, 2000, p.iv).Many features of the Parliamentary Zone landscapeare instantly recognisable as icons of Australiannationalism, among them the new and old ParliamentHouses, the National Gallery, the National Library, theNational Science and Technology Centre and the HighCourt of Australia. Capital Hill, the location ofParliament House and a clearly identifiable backdropto the V8 races held in Canberra, has been describedin a symbolic sense as the place in which “the wholecountry comes together… Parliament House brings thenation together at a colossal central flagpole with theAustralian flag” (Colombijn, 1998, p.579).Three V8 Supercar motor racing events were stagedin Canberra’s Parliamentary Zone (2000, 2001 and2002). The V8 Supercar Formula of motorsport isunique to Australia, involving only two types of car –Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons. In the first ofthe motorsports events staged in the ParliamentaryZone in Australia’s national capital, one of thecommentators made this observation:“Nowhere in the world do you see anything likethis. They run here between the old and the newParliament House. It doesn’t happen withNASCARS around the White House, and it doesn’thappen with Formula One cars around the Houseof Lords, but here the V8s are storming around thenation’s capital, in between our ParliamentHouses.”The V8 racing events characterised a significantdeparture from the style of events normally permittedin the Parliamentary Zone. They were blatantlycommercial activities, replete with merchandising,sponsorship and advertising, staged in a space thatwas until that time carefully constructed as anationally symbolic place for cultural, legal andgovernmental uses. While commercial activities (e.g.special exhibitions at the National Gallery) took placein the Parliamentary Zone prior to this event, thesewere small-scale by comparison, limited to sections ofone building. No previous event had involved such asignificant infrastructure footprint and segregated theParliamentary Zone into public and commercial space.No previous event had required visitors to pay a fee toenter a fenced-off section of the Parliamentary Zone.An advertising slogan for the races, “The Nation’sHeart is Racing”, cleverly exploited the nationalsignificance of the Parliamentary Zone. The circuit forthe V8 races included many of the national icons andmonuments that contribute to a sense of nationalism.During the events, as drivers raced up Kings Avenue,they looked directly at Parliament House, as expressedby one television commentator during the 2002event:“Smoke flies out the back of the Orcon racer asMark Larkham takes aim at the flagpole on the topof the hill here in the nation’s capital...”The motor racing events even provided new identitiesfor particular sections of the Parliamentary Zone,through association with race sponsors. For example,one corner of the race circuit, adjacent to ParliamentHouse, was renamed for the races as Victoria BitterCorner, providing a clear association of beer, fast(Australian) cars and powerful national symbolism.Yet while major motorsports spectacles in city streetsare seen as an important aspect of image-making forthe city, they can also be seen as an important part ofthe image-making for the sport of motor racing.Canberra’s V8 Supercar motor racing events providean excellent example of this. While it was claimed thatthe V8 Supercar event provided an opportunity topromote Canberra to the rest of the nation, and toshowcase the national icons (e.g. Parliament House)to the rest of the world, this argument can beRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship67