A Tasmanian motorsport event backed by taxpayer money has been cancelled by the organiser, with the state government yet to confirm what happened to the funding.
The inaugural Longford Grand Prix Expo (GPX) was scheduled to showcase the town's rich motorsport history on March 11 and 12.
The town hosted the Australian Grand Prix in 1959 and 1965.
The Tasmanian government had flagged the expo was to be a showcase of "the future of motorsport through car and bike shows within the heart of Longford's town centre".
Event organiser DX Industries cited difficult economic conditions, including ongoing supply chain shortages, infrastructure costs and labour shortages.
The event's website has been pulled down.
In August last year, the state government committed $450,000 to support the event's delivery.
A government spokesperson said the Department of State Growth had provided part of the funding and discussions were underway to determine its status.
The ABC has asked the department how much funding specifically has been provided.
Tasmanian Attorney-General Elise Archer said the government would work to find out exactly what happened.
"We're looking at this very closely," she said.
"Obviously, when there's taxpayers' money concerned we have very rigorous processes in place and reporting processes in place in terms of any money that's been spent, so we'll need to look at that, leave no stone unturned in relation to what's been paid and indeed the recovery of any taxpayer money that has been expended."
Ms Archer said the government was working with the local community and motorsport community to deliver an event in some form.
DX Industries chief executive Jeremy Dickson has been contacted.
Hopes for a new long weekend event
The cancellation has prompted local motor enthusiasts to rally together in a bid to keep an event at Longford.
Justin Brown, one of the organisers behind Longford Motorama — which the GPX replaced — is attempting to launch "The Long Weekend in Longford" instead.
Although the event is not a done deal, Mr Brown said he was confident it would go ahead.
But he said it required support — albeit less money than GPX.
It has so far been backed by local council, Hobart Sporting Car Club and the Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania.
"There's still a lot of people in and around Longford, there's a lot of people in Tasmania and interstate that want this event to go ahead," Mr Brown said.
He said it was important to preserve Longford's historical and heritage value for younger generations.
"If it dies or if it's let go it's going to be very, very hard to restart the thing again, and so that's why I'm keen to keep the momentum going," he said.
Mr Brown said he would know late next week whether The Long Weekend in Longford would go ahead.
How much taxpayer money was spent?
Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White said the government needed to provide adequate support to the Northern Midlands community to fill the void left by DX Industries.
Ms White said the Department of State Growth still had not determined how much of the funding had been spent, despite the event being cancelled over a week ago.
"To be still unable to account for so much taxpayer money a week on is very concerning. What controls were in place when handing over Tasmanians' money?" she said.
"The government needs to guarantee they won't allow precious public funds to simply vanish, particularly at a time when the budget is in such bad shape.
"They also need to outline exactly how they plan to recoup our money."
The immersive expo was projected to attract a crowd of close to 15,000, including interstate visitors.
Northern Midlands Mayor Mary Knowles was "terribly disappointed" by the news.
"It will mean a big difference in the economic side of things because the crowds that come to the town, they support all the businesses and all the other events that are happening at the same time," she said.
Ms Knowles said the community was working to get another event up and running, and council would support it in principle, and most likely with resources too.
Motorama replaced with now-cancelled event
The cancellation has sparked outrage from within the motorsport industry, with the event taking the place of the Longford Motorama.
The Grand Prix Expo was mooted by the government as "a new concept which aims to build upon the highly successful Longford Motorama events".
But longtime motorsport enthusiast and competitor Barry Cassidy said the community now had nothing.
"[Motorama] busted their butts to get it up and going and they turned it into a fantastic event," Mr Cassidy said.
"They basically did it out of their own pockets in their own time for nothing more than a schooner of beer.
"It makes me angry and makes me sad that the rug was pulled out from underneath them to put on what's supposed to be this grand show … and now nothing's come of it."
In a Facebook post, Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania said the highly successful Longford Motorama had been "run on a shoestring" but was "warmly received by the community".
"The much-heralded 'Longford Grand Prix Expo' pushed the Motorama aside and was the recipient of $450k state government funding so it was on a much better platform financially," it said.
