V8 pair vow to battle on for Whenuapai

Former motor champion Frank Radisich is not giving up a battle to race V8 Supercars around the Whenuapai military air base, despite a slap in the face from the Government.

He and Whenuapai town planner Pete Sinton intend approaching Prime Minister Helen Clark to ensure New Zealand does not lose an international event which they believe could eclipse the America's Cup.

They acknowledge last year's bid to turn a strategic part of central Auckland into a race-track for the event as ill-conceived, and say the commissioners who rejected it in November made a common-sense decision.

They predict similar turbulence for a proposal to move the event from Pukekohe to downtown Wellington, but are convinced it would thrive at Whenuapai with little or no disruption to traffic or the local community, and could raise money for a permanent motorsports park.

Mr Sinton warned yesterday it could be New Zealand's last chance to retain the event, as the Australian V8 Supercar organisation Avesco was determined next month would be its last at Pukekohe and Wellington was no "shoo-in".

But Defence Minister Mark Burton has rejected the Whenuapai proposal, after being warned off by military chiefs concerned about interference to Air Force operations and potential damage to airfield facilities.

"My ministerial colleagues and I applaud your initiative and the drive you have shown in seeking a way in which the racing event could be staged in Auckland," he told the pair in a letter.

"But following careful consideration of your proposal, we have concluded the risks associated with hosting the event at Whenuapai are too great."

Mr Radisich and Mr Sinton say this is short-sighted, claiming the airfield is under-used and its 18 operational aircraft can be moved with little disruption to Auckland International Airport during annual motor races.

They have correspondence from the airport offering itself as a base for the military while the V8s roar around Whenuapai before crowds of more than 100,000 people and a global television audience in the hundreds of millions.

The pair intend appealing to Helen Clark as an Auckland MP who they hope will look past narrow military considerations to what they say will be considerable economic and social benefits to both the region and the country.

Mr Radisich, whose son Paul has inherited his motor-racing crown, said the military was used to operating in difficult conditions worldwide and moving aircraft to Mangere during races would be "a great exercise."

He said a previous Whenuapai base commander, approached in 1999 to hold the races before they arrived at Pukekohe, had been "rapt" with the idea.

So had Avesco chairman Tony Cochrane, who visited the base before Waitakere City Council withdrew initial support.

Mr Sinton, a Waitakere Lions Club stalwart who says he could use his connections to mobilise hundreds of volunteers, believes military flights would be disrupted for no more than five days a year.

Mr Burton pointed in his refusal letter to damage caused to Whenuapai's runway and airfield installations in previous motor-racing, at the annual Wings and Wheels carnivals which ended in 1998 at the Air Force's behest.

He said racing cars could chip asphalt, exposing aircraft engines to risk of "catastrophic damage".

But international airport engineering head Steve Reindler said chipped seal was a hazard airports throughout the world guarded against daily, and tarmac wheel loads from racing cars were just a fraction of those from military aircraft.