OVERSTEER looks at what is becoming increasingly obvious as a crisis time for motor racing in Auckland.
(Hold cursor over image for caption)
The situation in the Auckland area over motor racing facilities is so farcical you’d not believe it, if it weren’t true.
After years of being pronounced dead and the corpse being allowed to decay in the (South) Auckland weather, Pukekohe has now been given a new lease of life thanks to the New Zealand taxpayer, the Auckland ratepayer, the gullibity of the Auckland Council (and the government) and the superb selling ability of Tony Cochrane, the just retired boss of the Australian V8 Supercars outfit.
While Pukekohe quietly mouldered away and the biggest and most important region in New Zealand was being heavily overshadowed in terms of motor racing facilities by the rest of the country — the South Island in particular — two Auckland enthusiasts were quietly hatching their own plans.
They, along with most other motor racing enthusiasts, understood the need to provide greater Auckland with a state-of-the-art motor racing facility and they were prepared to put their money where their vision was. They have given us Hampton Downs.
It is no secret that Tony Roberts and Chris Watson were hit by the global recession and the entire construction phase of HD was marked by two things — 1) a constant stream of rumours rumours that the project was foundering and the contractors were walking off the job — many circulated by people who should have known better — and 2) a remarkable hand-off attitude by the sport‘s controlling body, MSNZ.
Anyone who has the money who wants to build a $20 or $30 million racing circuit can do that if they want to, but if they want to run FIA style events then they need to have the sanction and approval of the FIA’s local representative, MSNZ.
But it goes further than this, MSNZ, representing the generally approved and accepted vision of motorsport, also has the greater responsibility of managing the overall growth, health and well-being of the sport.
Somewhere in their manifesto, MSNZ should have a plan that looks at the development and management of motor racing circuits. That still wouldn’t stop someone like Tony Quinn building Highlands near Cromwell because he has no announced plans to run MSNZ/FIA style meetings, but it would have stopped the situation that greater Auckland now faces.
Neither Auckland nor New Zealand motor racing can afford to have two motor racing complexes competing against each other for sponsor, competitor, spectator, and test-day or corporate day dollars. It just won’t work. The country is just not big enough.
But adding to this worrying situation is that HD needs exclusivity in the Auckland area to capture not only the majority of income from sponsors, spectators, competitors, testing and corporate days etcetera — but also from the NZ round of the Australian V8 Supercars. While the V8 Supercars may have been a disaster for Hamilton, I understand that the V8 Supercars themselves did very nicely from it thanks to the contracts.
Now that the V8s are going to Pukekohe, now that Pukekohe is getting a tax and ratepayer funded, multi-million dollar makeover, the already delicate state of HD financial situation looks to have taken a major hit.
If MSNZ had a circuit development plan, if MSNZ really was the father-figure of recognised motorsport in New Zealand, they would have intervened and brought some sense to the situation. MSNZ should have the power to say — “for the good of the sport, only one circuit in Auckland and that circuit is…”
If Pukekohe had been in good hands, if Pukekohe had looked as though it actually had a future, MSNZ could have warned Messrs Roberts and Watson that HD would not get track approval, nor be given permits for MSNZ/FIA events. And if they went ahead and built the place under those conditions, then they only would have themselves to blame. But Pukekohe was not in good hands, as far as the thinking motor racing person was concerned Pukekohe had done its day, the public were over it, it was a fast and challenging circuit that many drivers love, but the facilities were primitive and there was nobody on the horizon who was interested in bringing the place up to scratch. Roberts and Watson were generally hailed as being the saviours of quality motor racing in the greater Auckland area and HD was going to be a dream facility.
Who is to blame? Cochrane and the V8 Supercar outfit for holding the welfare of New Zealand motorsport in contempt are certainly villains. The Auckland Council and the government must also be held accountable for being such absolute dunderheads and dishing out millions and millions of public money for such a misguided venture. What on earth were they thinking about? Is public money so easy to come by and so disposable that almost $7 million dollars can be tossed at what is a private venture.
But MSNZ must also front up and take it right on the chin for a total failure to manage the affairs of the sport.
I know there are many punters out there who don’t care, the Australian V8s are coming and that’s all they want to know. But the situation is far, far bigger and more critical than that.
If public money was to be spent of insuring that the Australian V8s come there, then that money should have gone to HD so the circuit could be extended and better grandstands built. Is “Auckland” really that small and bloody minded that they would let a 15 to 20 minute drive down the road from Pukekohe to HD really see then put so much into jeopardy?
Even with the upgrade, Pukekohe’s life span is short because of noise issues and it’s put a really question mark over the viability of HD — maybe even its future.
People are agitating for the situation to be reviewed, but you know what, it is so easy to waste public money that nobody in any sort of position to make a call, seems to give a flying fig!
