This came after what was then known as the Shell Championship Series and its governing body AVESCO offered Canberra a five-year opportunity to stage a round of the V8 Supercars.

[1] The race was to be run inside the Parliamentary Triangle which created some debate in the media about the appropriateness of the event for Canberra in general, and for the zone in particular.

In 1999 the then Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Kate Carnell put forward the idea to the ACT Legislative Assembly based on the success of the Adelaide 500.

[2] The Assembly voted to stage the event, with the only opposition coming from the Greens Party who believed that the race would create both air and noise pollution.

[citation needed] The Assembly voted to appropriate A$4.5million in capital works and A$2.5million for recurrent expenditure over five years to operate the event.

[4] The layout, which was inside the Parliamentary Triangle in Canberra, was notable for passing several major landmarks in the city.

[citation needed] The outright lap record for the Canberra Street Circuit was set on 10 June 2000 when Simon Wills drove his Reynard 94D Formula Holden around the 3.9 km track in 1:39.5409.

[2] Kate Carnell's initial estimation on cost blew out as the years went on, and some Canberrans believed that this money was better spent elsewhere.

A report by the Auditor General of the Australian Capital Territory in 2002 summarised that the benefits or the race were overstated and costs were underestimated.

[7] While the hotel industry experience a rise in bookings compared to a typical June, the crowd at the track dropped from 101,000 in 2000 to 89,000 in 2002.

This was put down the time of year and the weather (Canberra in June can reach temperatures of lower than 5°C during the day).

[4][8] This view was supported by V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane who later conceded that the timing of the event, as requested by the ACT Government, was a mistake.

[9] A proposal in 2021 suggested that a new circuit could be built at the Exhibition Park in Canberra, which already hosts the Summernats car festival.