AUCKLAND’S WESTERN SPRINGS SPEEDWAY TO CLOSE!

Racing at Western Springs Speedway will cease at the end of the 2024/25 season after the Auckland Council voted for the consolidation of dirt oval activities in the area.

BY SIMON CHAPMAN:

Open-wheel racing at Auckland’s Western Springs Speedway, which includes but is not limited to midgets and sprintcars, will move to Waikaraka Park.

Waikaraka Park, in central Auckland near Mt Smart Stadium, has been the home of saloon and stock car racing in the region.

A consolidation of Auckland speedway racing will see Waikaraka Park granted $11 million to facilitate an upgrade to accommodate tin-top and open-wheel racing.

The highly controversial decision will bring an end to racing at the famous venue, which has held speedway racing since 1929.

Wednesday’s decision came after five hours of rigorous questioning and heated debate about a 2023 report supporting the transfer of $11 million from Auckland Council’s long-term budget on the advice of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU), the region’s economic development agency.

It followed a meeting last week that was adjourned after a letter of support from Speedway New Zealand used to support the report was redacted by the sport’s governing body.

There were calls during the five-hour meeting from some council members for the $11 million funding to be approved on the basis that racing continued at Western Springs Speedway. However, that was knocked back by TAU.

Councillor John Watson was scathing in his assessment of the process. Tātaki Auckland Unlimited consulted several stakeholders including the promoter of racing at Western Springs who also promotes racing at Waikaraka Park. Local clubs were consulted but TAU confirmed it did not consult the public.

Other council members said it was time for speedway fans to move on from Western Springs, in a similar vein to users of Pukekohe Park who Councillor Andy Baker claimed had moved their interests to nearby Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in the Waikato.

“I got stuck in a conversation night at an event with a long-term supporter and lover of speedway and we had a long, long chat and I asked him what it was that he was so worried about losing at Western Springs, and it was the history,” he said.

“We had that mentioned again and again and again. I’m from Pukekohe, we lost in 2023 our motor track, which has a huge history 60 years after the grand prix in New Zealand was held in the ‘50s and ‘60s in Franklin at Ardmore. It moved to Pukekohe, we lost that. It’s gone 31 km.

“Supercars, which was the biggest event that Auckland had of any event we had, went to Taupo. We lost it. The motorsport industry in Pukekohe and elsewhere – and there are a lot of people in Pukekohe who own cars and have them in their shed and in their workshops – were irate at the racing club closing down their track.

“Are they still irate? No they’re not, because they have simply moved on because they have moved to something they believe is better at Hampton Downs. Supercars have gone to where they are quite happy at Taupo.

“I get the history, I get the anxiety … I understand why there is a reluctance, but this is, I believe, the right decision at the right time.”

TAU claimed the venue was running at a $1.2 million annual loss. It’s likely that the venue will be redeveloped for the newest men’s A Leagues team, Auckland FC.

Wednesday’s motion was approved 11 votes to eight, and granted the request of $11 million of the existing long-term plan to the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board to deliver the critical works at Waikaraka Park and fulfil a vital part of the masterplan.

The motion also requested that any further decisions on Western Springs come before the Auckland Council and include adequate engagement. Auckland Council also voted to engage with Ponsonby Rugby about its future.

Tin-top and open-wheel racing at Waikaraka Park is set to be promoted by Bruce Robertson.

The decision puts to an end decades of back-and-forth between custodians of Western Springs Speedway and local government.

Speedway fans have long cried for the sport to continue a that venue, which has been continually constrained by regulations limiting it to 12 events per season.

Councillor Watson was vehement in his support of racing continuing at the venue.

“It’s a very sad day, not just for the speedway fraternity but for Auckland,” he said.