V8s coming to central Auckland - if roads cope

By BERNARD ORSMAN

Auckland City will today be confirmed as the new host for the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercar motor race.

It will replace Pukekohe from 2006.

But the city faces a tough battle gaining the consents needed for the racing to start.

The Australian motorsports organisation Avesco will make the hosting announcement at Sky City, overlooking the proposed 2.6km inner-city race circuit round Victoria Park.

V8 racing legend Greg Murphy said the downtown street race would make Auckland the "Monaco of Australasia".

But first, the Auckland City Council has to convince other local authorities and a sceptical Transit New Zealand it can avoid traffic chaos and obtain resource consent for the event.

Australian media have speculated that two New Zealand cities might yet host races every second year.

The councillor leading Auckland's bid, Scott Milne, said Auckland had argued strongly for exclusive rights to the race for seven years from 2006. The bid includes an interest-free loan of $3.5 million for set-up work.

Auckland has won the right as the new host ahead of a proposal from Manawatu and Palmerston North City councils at a significantly upgraded Manfeild circuit.

Palmerston North Mayor Mark Bell-Booth said he wished Auckland the best for its street race, but he would not write off a role for Manfeild on the V8 supercar circuit.

Mr Bell-Booth, who, with Manawatu District Mayor Ian McKelvie, has not been invited to today's press conference in Auckland, said he was not privy to the Avesco announcement.

Mr Milne who also claimed to be in the dark, said the race would create a carnival-type atmosphere for 10 days and attract up to 200,000 people to 50 or so events from fashion shows to celebrity races.

He said that subject to the announcement, the council would immediately begin consulting about 6000 residents, businesses, neighbouring councils and transport companies affected by the first car race in April 2006.

Mr Milne believes the race could deliver solid economic benefits to Auckland and the broader region.

He has cited a 1999 economic impact study on hosting a V8 Supercar street race. The study used a model developed by Ernst & Young and the University of Brisbane.

It showed that five years ago such an event would have produced a direct and indirect benefit to the region of $45 million a year and $315 million over seven years. The benefit nationally was $64 million a year.

The council has been keen to find an event for Auckland to replace the loss of the America's Cup. Bids for the Volvo and Global Challenge round-the-world yacht races have been lost to Melbourne and Wellington, respectively

A joint application for resource consent is expected to be filed this month by the council's recreation and services group and event promoters IMG.

At Pukekohe, where IMG owns the race entirely, $2.8 million is earned in hospitality and nearly $2 million in sponsorship. More money flows from ticket sales, catering commissions, merchandise and signs.

But the biggest hurdle will be managing the effect on traffic of closing the Fanshawe St exit on the Northern Motorway for the three days of racing, and other traffic restrictions lasting three weeks.

Nearly half of the 155,000 vehicles using the Auckland Harbour Bridge each day will have to stay at home to avoid traffic jams.

Until the council can convince other local authorities and Transit that it can keep the city moving, Transit will oppose the event.

In March, Transit acting chief executive Rick van Barneveld warned that the risks associated with the supercar races round Victoria Park and other city streets "are so great for the region's transport network that the event should not proceed in the location proposed".

Another report to the Transit board said that even if the harbour bridge traffic could be halved, there still remained wider effects on local roads, the Southern and Northwestern Motorways and North Shore bus services.

Other issues adding to the risk of traffic chaos included construction activity on the motorway system at the time and parking for spectators.

Councillor Victoria Carter said it was short-sighted of the council to be pouring money into an event that seriously inconvenienced ratepayers.

She said Auckland needed a custom-built venue for a wide-range of motorsports. "That would return a real dividend for ratepayers."