Noise - and fun - under control

Speedway racing at the Western Springs Stadium on Saturday night complied with noise limits - unofficially - but according to promoter Dave Stewart it was not much of a show.

Official Auckland City Council noise monitoring results will not be available until tomorrow or Wednesday, when the speedway will know if it breached council noise limits which could bring a fine of up to $200,000.

Mr Stewart said a bigger-than-average crowd of up to 6500 people attended the free speedway meeting which was surprising because of its experimental nature and because Christmas in the Park was being held on the other side of the city.

But because all individual drivers wanted to make sure their cars complied with noise levels the most cars to run in one race was seven.

The average number in a final or feature race was 16 to 26 depending on class of car and numbers qualifying said Mr Stewart.

He said that number would never be able to compete in one race at Western Springs again while complying with noise levels forced on the speedway by an Environment Court decision sought by a local residents association.

"We're not going to be able to offer the paying public speedway racing as happens elsewhere in New Zealand, which is unfortunate."

He called noise limits that showed trackside compliance but non-compliance at the stadium boundary unreasonable and he wanted to know how they were set.

Mr Stewart said an upcoming series between four of the top New Zealand drivers and four top Australian drivers would be a real problem.

On Saturday night, with seven cars on the track, the boundary noise level was measured independently at 84.8 decibels.

Because the city council limit is 85dB the racers did not want to push their luck with more than seven cars.

"But I do think from a nearby residents' point of view that whatever noise they are going to get it is going to be loud ... It's not going to make their lives any different if the speedway runs at 85 or 87."

The chairman of the city council Western Bays Community Board, Graeme Easte, also went along and as somebody who attended speedway about once every 10 years he found some of the racing generated reasonable amounts of speed, power, excitement and dirt being chucked about by spinning tyres.

"It seems to me that it is possible to have racing and fit within the rules."

But he said the crowd appeared to be sullen rather than red hot and he took exception to comments on the public address system working people up by demonising residents complaining about the noise.

Western Bays Community Board minutes of a March meeting attended by members of the residents association showed the first aim of the association was to get the speedway closed.

The association said last week it was not anti-speedway, but the speedway ought to comply with noise levels.

Mr Easte said there was a spectrum of views among members of the association and local residents but he believed the majority view was that the speedway should be a good neighbour and work within the rules.

Members of the association have complained of hate mail.

Former WWI dispatch riders set ball rolling

Speedway racing in New Zealand began at Western Springs on November 30, 1929, when former World War I motorcycle dispatch riders used the purpose-built cinder track for the first time.

The first race started on the 440yd or 402m oval before a crowd estimated at 17,500, with riders competing for an appearance fee of eight florins ($1.60), a maintenance fee of two florins (40c) and prizemoney.

It was a new sport called "broadsiding" - a reference to the way riders skidded their bikes sideways around the oval - and had the support of the Auckland City Council, which put about £40,000 ($80,000) into the project for equipment and wages for workers from unemployment lines.

The first midget car race was held at Western Springs in the summer of 1937. World War II interrupted racing until 1944.

In the late 1960s and 1970s Western Springs was full every speedway night as crowds followed the NZ motorcycle team, headed by six-time world champion Ivan Mauger. His presence and that of other champs drew international speedway stars.