A1GP New Zealand to move the annual motorsport event to Hampton Downs

A1GP New Zealand has chosen its venue but there is more work to be done to convince the motorsport event to return.

Hampton Downs in the Waikato, which is yet to be completed, has been announced as the preferred host, which is a shift from Taupo Motorsport Park.

Dawson says the change of venue did not come down to facilities. He says Taupo has developed well over the years and was a good venue, but the commercial advantage of the populations in Auckland and Hamilton was the key decision behind the move.

However, the boss of the New Zealand event Gary Dawson says they still need to woo the international body back for another year. Dawson says it will be a matter of them looking at the commercial viability of the event, but they have a big job on their hands.


A good move if you ask me ..... Hampton Downs will be a faster circuit with way more passing oppertunities than the "follow the leader" track at Taupo.

ThMule wrote: but the commercial advantage of the populations in Auckland and Hamilton was the key decision behind the move.

Auckland couldn't even support the V8 Supercar street race so doubt they would support the A1GP.

FJ wrote:

ThMule wrote: but the commercial advantage of the populations in Auckland and Hamilton was the key decision behind the move.

Auckland couldn't even support the V8 Supercar street race so doubt they would support the A1GP.

what a load of shit .... Aucklanders did support the idea of a street race - its the dickheads who run the city and the stupid RMA that buggered it up ..... just like wellington and Christchurch.

ThMule wrote:

FJ wrote:

ThMule wrote: but the commercial advantage of the populations in Auckland and Hamilton was the key decision behind the move.

Auckland couldn't even support the V8 Supercar street race so doubt they would support the A1GP.

what a load of shit .... Aucklanders did support the idea of a street race - its the dickheads who run the city and the stupid RMA that buggered it up ..... just like wellington and Christchurch.

It was the Aucklanders who didn't want the noise in their city that helped not get the event there too.

Chch had it already to go but Hamilton bet them to host it.

It would have been a much better track and event had it gone to Chch too, they would have raced it around the 4 Aves.

FJ wrote:It was the Aucklanders who didn't want the noise in their city that helped not get the event there too.

Chch had it already to go but Hamilton bet them to host it.

It would have been a much better track and event had it gone to Chch too, they would have raced it around the 4 Aves.

you've been standing in cow shit too long and its effected your brain.
If you bother to check your facts it was the western springs speedway that has the noise problem with the locals - the street race was opposed here because the idiots who proposed the track layout put it right in the middle of the main part of the city which would have bought the already struggling motorway system to its knees - there were a lot of places they could have looked at and picked the worst one possible.
and Christchurch also had been rejected before Hamilton got the race ......

You don't know what Your talking about here Sam.

145 individuals opposed it out of a whole of Auckland city and most of them lived on or near the proposed track.

Chch was rejected by the guys who run the V8's because Hamilton was closer to more major cities and therefore had a bigger population base to tap into. Chch was ready to go and it was all sorted.

FJ wrote:It was the Aucklanders who didn't want the noise in their city that helped not get the event there too.

Chch had it already to go but Hamilton bet them to host it.

It would have been a much better track and event had it gone to Chch too, they would have raced it around the 4 Aves.

What Aves are those? Dont Ave, Wont Ave, Cant Ave, and Never Ave

Sounds like the same Aves that Auckland has..........

I suppose Auckland still has the Hero Parade though.

The resource consent for the V8 supercar street race in Auckland has been declined.

The decision of the three independent planning commissioners was received this morning by City Planning and subsequently delivered to the applicants, event management company IMG and the Auckland City Council.

The commissioners (D McGregor, chair, G G Macfarlane, and R S Gee) acted for Auckland City Council in its regulatory function. As a result, their decision becomes the decision of the council. The council will not appeal to the Environment Court.

Appeals to the Environment Court by any other party with legitimate grounds can be made within 15 working days of receiving the decision.

The applicants sought consent to run the event each year for at least seven years from April 2006.

The commissioners declined the application citing their concerns over whether traffic could be suppressed sufficiently, noise and amenity effects. The commissioners presided over six days of hearings in July and August and three in November.

A full copy of their decision is attached.

Auckland City's Mayor, Dick Hubbard, said today the consent application was one of the most in-depth pieces of professional work ever carried out by the city for a temporary event. Some 393 had made submissions to the commissioners, 248 (63 per cent) of these in favour of the event.

"However, the work obviously hasn't overcome all the doubts raised with the commissioners. We must accept that," Mr Hubbard said. "We must also ensure that this decision doesn't stop Auckland bidding in future for such outstanding international events. They are rare. We are right as a city and a region to try to secure them when the opportunity comes along. We've learned a lot from this process. The very fact that we tried tells the events industry world wide that the city is as serious as they are."

Mr Hubbard said the applicants had employed some of New Zealand's best traffic engineers and the world's best V8 track designers to work on the project.

"I thank them for the massive effort they have put in."

yeah yeah yeah whatever ...... you lot just cant pass up the oppertunity to have a go at Auckland over any little thing .... if its such a bad place why does the majority of the population live here ... if you dont live here you haven't the right to badmouth it so STFU .... my final word!

Yeah what Thumule said, if the Other parts of the country were so amazing, more people would be living there.

ThMule wrote: yeah yeah yeah whatever ...... you lot just cant pass up the oppertunity to have a go at Auckland over any little thing .... if its such a bad place why does the majority of the population live here ... if you dont live here you haven't the right to badmouth it so STFU .... my final word!

Holding a V8 Supercar Street race or building a $500 stadium on the water front isn't a "Little Thing".

The majority of the people live there because its the first entry point into NZ from the Islands and Asia. And You guys are welcome to it.

I love living down here where there is stuff all people and you have the road to yourself.