Yoga teacher wants boycott of V8s

Yoga teacher Matthew Smart says he has to close his business during the V8 event. Photo / Christine Cornege

A yoga teacher is calling for a boycott of the Hamilton V8 car racing series claiming the event will wipe his and other local businesses off the map.

Matthew Smart, who runs the Iyengar Yoga Centre in Frankton, has taken out a series of advertisements in the Herald calling the series "New Zealand's lamest sporting event".

He wants people to shun the three-day event, starting April 15, saying it was destroying local businesses.

"It's majorly damaged me and I would go so far as to say that this would be the end of the business," said Mr Smart.

"I rely on regularity but it takes six weeks before my school gets back to normal from the V8 event.

"My numbers start to drop off the day they start to put these concrete barricades up and I seriously start going into the red."

Mr Smart, who has run the school since 2001, said the advertisement was paid for by a group of disgruntled Frankton business owners who claim the six tickets promoters have offered them does not compensate for the inconvenience.

But ITM400 Hamilton event manager Greg Mosen said the promoters had tried to treat affected businesses and residents equally with the free ticket offers.

Event organisers had spent more than $4 million on about 3000 contractors - 75 per cent of them local - in preparing for the racing.

"There are more than 900 people and businesses we have sent letters to, explaining what that situation is and 99 per cent of the recipients are most grateful for that approach.

"But as with everything you will never please everyone."

Mr Mosen he would not reveal the number of tickets sold for the event, which has a daily capacity of 60,000, but said the promoters were "pleasantly happy" with sales.

The number of grandstand tickets sold is ahead of sales this time last year.

Hamilton mayor Julie Hardaker, who was sworn in months after the council signed a new seven-year contract with the event organiser, V8 Supercars Australia, to promote and run the event until 2017, urged people to get behind the event.

"I have to say that the V8 Supercar Australia people are very professional," she said.

"They have a lot of new events, brought in the concerts and they are doing a lot of things that are new and exciting for the event.

"What I'm wanting is for people to go, because if people go it's good for the council and it's good for the city."

Ms Hardaker said she had not been approached by Mr Smart or other business owners and urged them to contact her.

"If they would like to discuss things they need to come and see me because I would be very happy to talk with them. I am accessible."

In December, the council revealed the full cost of hosting the V8 Supercars street race was $27.4 million plus a sponsorship fee understood to be more than $4 million. It was initially sold to the public as costing about $7.95 million with a confidential sponsorship fee.