AUTOFEST competitor Kris Winterfield says the collapse of the”burn-out” event is a blow for the city’s economy and motorsport enthusiasts.
Mr Winterfield – who competes in burn-out events across the nation – said he was “disappointed” the event would not be held in the Blue Lake city.
He said Autofest attracted thousands of spectators given it was located in the middle of Adelaide and Melbourne.
“The event attracted people from either way,” said Mr Winterfield, who runs a business in Mount Gambier restoring and customising cars.
He said the prizemoney was also significant and attracted cars from across Australia.
“The prizemoney is a lot bigger compared with the speedway,” Mr Winterfield added.
While conceding the event could be somewhat “annoying” for some residents given the noise and smoke, he said it was only an annual event.
“The smoke and noise is not ideal, but it was a well run event,” the burnout competitor.
“For people like myself who are not really into sport, it is not much different to hearing the noise from the football.”
