By Matthew Percival
Photos: Shot360
Ninety years of speedway history could be gone faster than infield photographers if Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) has its way. The speedway lease is set to end at the conclusion of the 2018/19 season with an uncertain future awaiting.
Moves to combine operations with Waikaraka Park have been rejected by promoter Greg Mosen who walked out of negotiations due to the $26 million price tag which would fall on Auckland ratepayers. However it appears the RFA have one and one only solution in mind and that solution is Waikaraka Park.
The proposal for a new Waikaraka Park ironically looks a lot more like an Open Wheel track than your typical kiwi Stockcar & Saloon track. It has been modelled on Eagle Speedway in Nebraska, USA. A third of a mile track with graduated banking. It’s exactly the type of track that we need in the New Zealand where our track listing is almost exclusively cookie cutter flat Stockcar quarter miles. The investment will also expand to spectator and pit facilities to form what would be one of the premiere speedway facilities in the southern hemisphere.
Perhaps the biggest question on the stadium design is how it will cater to the traditional Waikaraka classes. Having viewed footage of Eagle Raceway it is unsuitable for Stockcar, Superstock, Streetstock and Ministock classes. That’s roughly half of the classes raced at Waikaraka Park. Perhaps the design could be modified a little to make the track narrower but the whole point of the track is that it has extra width and graduated high banking. Both elements are essential to the proposed new track and both elements are exactly what nullifies the action in the contact classes.
The strategic thinking behind the track design is to build a track that could produce an international quality driver in either the Open Wheel or Saloon classes. It’s an admirable goal. Part of the challenge travelling overseas is to adjust to local track configurations. Currently that is problematic for many of our drivers whose only experience is on New Zealand tracks.
Despite the impending doom all is not lost. RFA representative Paul Nesbitt is keen to tell anyone who wants to listen that it’s a done deal. In reality this is far from a done deal. The situation comes to a head in May when Auckland City Council goes to the vote. The RFA can propose all the plans it likes. The RFA has to get council sign off to go ahead. That council sign-off is now where the battlefield lies with lobbying well underway to have the council reject the proposal.
The RFA argument concentrates on the financial viability of Western Springs Stadium. Over $500,000 is apparently poured into running the stadium every year though as a regular fan it’s hard to see where that sort of money goes. Certainly not into improving spectator facilities! With SPL paying substantially less rent than the council investment there is an operating funding shortfall. Fair dinkum if that’s the prime criteria for the viability of Auckland stadiums we’d close just about every stadium in the city.
Western Springs financial viability is suffering due to the restriction of just 12 meetings and two practices a year says the RFA. If only there was an organisation that could increase the number of meetings! The new Waikaraka will be able to hold 35 motorsport events a year. A quick scan of the 2017/18 Waikaraka calendar reveals a 22 meeting schedule plus two practices. Whilst that includes some special events like the NZ Superstock Title and NZ Stockcar Teams it should come as a warning to all that without substantial sacrifice on Waikaraka’s part there would be no expansion to the restrictive Springs calendar.
If the council vote does not go the way of Western Springs Speedway it leaves a fascinating situation. There is no guarantee SPL would simply fall in line and default to Waikaraka Park. Through the International Midget Series and Rolling Thunder, SPL have proved more than capable of taking their show on the road to a number of tracks. What if SPL were to become a New Zealand version of USAC and become a trackless promoter, taking their open wheel show to a variety of tracks? Where would that leave the economics of a $26 million investment in Waikaraka Park?
Whilst the track design looks promising the RFA is yet to provide a compelling case for moving. In fact aside from the design of the track and potential expansion of corporate facilities it is hard to see the reasoning for abandoning 90-years of history at a centrally located stadium that still provides more than adequate facility for speedway. The fight to retain Western Springs is well and truly on.
