Motorsport: Hamilton about to run rule over V8s

Officials want a big turnout to the new-look race. Photo / Janna Dixon

Hamiltonians may soon discover how much the V8 Supercar roadshow actually benefits their city.

Two weeks before New Zealand's round of the Australian Supercar Championship, Hamilton's new mayor has confirmed a study to help understand what people like about the V8s, where they visit and what they spend.

The commitment to a $5000 market research survey comes after news that the Hamilton City Council has spent nearly $27 million on the V8s, up on the $11 million the public had been told. The debate over the V8s cost former mayor Bob Simcock his job in the local body elections last October.

New mayor Julie Hardaker said the research aimed to show the city how to boost its returns. Even if the result was that the V8s only had a small impact on the city now, the council would find out why "and what then can we do to make it work".

Simcock's council signed a contract with the new event organisers, V8 Supercars, to run the event until 2017 and Hardaker said she was optimistic things could be turned around.

The figures could prove her right - if V8 Supercars spokesman Cole Hitchcock is accurate.

He said ticket sales were 30 per cent up on the same time last year with 87,000 tickets sold for the April 15-17 event. Only four of the 45 corporate suites were left and they had captured a bigger Auckland market.

He said it was a tough climate for chasing sponsorship, given they were competing with the Rugby World Cup, but this was still up 10 per cent on the previous year too.

"Overall, things are looking very good," he said.

V8 Supercars boss Tony Cochrane said his goal was to sell 150,000 tickets this year. Last year, 105,000 people showed up, down from the first year's peak of 165,000.

Cochrane said Kiwis needed to look at the spin-offs from the event - accommodation booked plus busy restaurants and taxis - and the TV coverage attracting future tourists.

Meanwhile, Hardaker urged local businesses concerned about the races to talk with the promoters.

One local businessman took out advertisements recently calling for a boycott of the racing series, labelling it "New Zealand's lamest sporting event".

But Kiwi driver Greg Murphy, who will be racing during the weekend, said Hamiltonians would be shooting themselves in the foot if they turned away.

He said if locals embraced it, others would follow. "You've got to give it a chance. Things take time."