One of the traditional strengths of the V8 Supercar Championship was that it was truly national.

Rounds in every state. And the Northern Territory. And Australian Capital Territory, briefly. And New Zealand. And more recently the Middle East.

But something - something important - has been missing this year - a round in Western Australia.

One was on the calendar, for the first weekend of June. But before the championship got underway in mid-February the event at Perth's Barbagallo Raceway, or Wanneroo, was scrubbed.

V8 Supercars Australia made that decision the day before talks were due with the WA Sporting Car Club (WASCC), which operates the circuit in Perth's north, with a V8SA executive, Shane Howard, branding Wanneroo as "third world".

It left not only a vacuum in the calendar, five weeks between the seventh round at Winton in northern Victoria and the (original) ninth in Darwin - before the new, later, scheduled nine-week mid-season break the series is now enduring. It also left a sour taste in many mouths.

Firstly WA fans of V8 Supercars. Secondly, teams whose sponsors wanted exposure in WA and thought they were already paying for that as part of the deals they'd done. And the WASCC. And the WA government. And drivers, most particularly Garth Tander, twice a winner of the Bathurst 1000, including last year, and the only Sandgroper to have won the V8 Supercar Championship, in 2007.

V8SA had cut off its WA nose to spite its face.

Several teams trekked across the Nullarbor to Perth anyway around the time of the cancelled round to keep faith with fans and/or sponsors with appearances and rides in V8 Supercars.

As well intentioned as that was, it was a long way short of racing action for the WA masses.

The V8 Supercar Championship has struggled to maintain momentum and interest this year anyway, with so much attention on Mark Webber's Formula One success.

The Ten Network's digital channel OneHD has been drawing as many viewers in the five major capital cities for Webber's races at 10pm on Sundays as Seven's Sunday afternoon telecasts of V8 Supercars. And then there's the slightly delayed F1 telecasts on 10 for those without OneHD.

But at least now the WA void for V8 Supercars has been filled - for the next five years.

While outspoken V8SA honcho Tony Cochrane has had three months off this year, discreet negotiations in his absence have brought the warring parties back together in the west.

WA premier Colin Barnett announced the new five-year deal for the show to return to Perth at the weekend. On hand with Barnett were new V8SA chief executive Martin Whitaker - a Brit who arrived via a stint running Bahrain's F1 grand prix - and WA V8 Supercar drivers Dean Fiore, Tony Ricciardello and Karl Reindler.

The government had already committed to spending $5 million to start an upgrade at Wanneroo, and has now found another $10.5 million. The most pressing priority is a new, wider, safer pit lane and pit building, with other "significant works" to follow.

There is often debate about whether governments should be underwriting motor racing, but those arguments are usually about the merits - or otherwise - of temporary circuits.

In this case the money is going into a permanent track for the benefit of various forms of motorsport in WA all year round, rather than one annual visit by the V8 Supercars.

Everybody, pretty much, is a winner from this outcome, although there is quite a deal of face-saving in it all.

V8SA's real preference was for a street race in downtown Perth, but WA governments have been more stubbornly resistant to that than other states.

There also was some talk of an all-new permanent circuit in the WA capital.

The upgrading of Wanneroo is the cheapest option, but the best all round.

Premier Barnett said the government's Eventscorp had undertaken with V8SA and the WASCC to promote the event nationally and internationally.

And, just six months after his V8SA colleague Shane Howard had called Wanneroo "third world", Cochrane has now called it "a great location" and "vitally important" for this championship.

Holden Racing Team driver Tander worked vigorously behind the scenes to get Perth back its V8 Supercar round.

He called the weekend announcement "a fantastic outcome for Western Australian fans and the series in general".

"Missing out in 2010 was not a good result for anyone, but a little short term pain for a long term gain of a five-year agreement and a massive works program is not only good for us (V8 Supercars) but all of WA motorsport," Tander said.

"A lot of the sponsors have huge commitments and market share in WA, so it's vital for us to return. But also from a series point of view it's critical that we go to all states and become truly a national championship again."