Motorsport: Front row no fun for neighbour

Paul Smart. Photo / Doug Sherring

V8 Supercars organisers didn't have to worry about punters trying to watch the racing for free in Hamilton yesterday - the rain made sure of that.

Unlike previous years, rooftop grandstands surrounding the Hamilton V8 Supercars track were deserted. When the rain was at its heaviest, only a few faces squinted out through raincoat hoods from the legal grandstands.

The rain certainly put a dampener on the day, with fewer people relaxing in deck chairs around the giant outdoor screens than in previous years.

St John treated 61 patients; seven of those needing attention at Waikato Hospital, with spokesman Mike Pudney indicating slips in the wet as being the major factor.

The water at least provided plenty of dings on the track for an entertaining day. However, one man who took no joy from any of it was Mill St resident Paul Smart - whose house borders the track and who has been virtually imprisoned by the V8 course.

He has to park his car several streets away and can only access his house through a locked gate, to which the race organisers have given him a key. The house is surrounded by black plastic, erected on Thursday.

"We are caged in. It's like we are imprisoned, " he said.

V8 Supercars Australia had refused to honour a contract which the previous promoters had offered - $7500 to take a holiday during the race and not oppose the resource consent. Instead, they offered him event tickets, parking passes and a locked gate.

"We received tickets which we didn't sign for and sent them back as well as car parking passes - they were also returned," said Smart.

For nine hours yesterday Smart was forced to listen to the deafening grunt of V8 cars racing just 20m from his door.

"It'll drive you nuts. It's like when you're in a nightclub and you get that ringing [in your ears]."

A fight to keep his original contract, which had been signed for seven years, cost him hundreds of dollars. He took his three cats to a cattery on Thursday, which he predicted would cost $300 to $400. He is also waiting for his lawyer's bill.

Salt was rubbed in his wounds when he found out his neighbour, The Pet Practice, was paid $56,000 for the inconvenience.

"The Hamilton council need to stand up here," he said.