SUPERCARS BOSS WANTS NEW ZEALAND BACK IN 2024 – TAUPO IS OUR HOT TIP

With close to 20 percent of the total Supercars fan base, a race in New Zealand is a must for the series and it looks likely that a return will happen in 2024.

In the exclusive and extensive interview with AUTO ACTION, Supercars Chairman Barclay Nettlefold confirmed Supercars’ intensions to commit to a return to NZ in 2024.

“We are really focussed and committed to getting back to New Zealand.” Nettlefold said in the feature interview.

“Our aim is to try to get back next year.

“We are close to signing off on one (track) as we speak.

“But we need a racetrack to race that works for us. We have got to make sure it is compatible for our cars.”

Nettlefold’s revelation will come as a sigh of relief for Kiwi Supercars fans and he said the options for the series was down to three venues – Hampton Downs, Taupo and Highlands, all now owned by the Tony Quinn organisation.

Taupo hosting an A1GP race in 2009. Image: Motorsport Images

Although all three options for the venue have merit, AUTO ACTION believes that Taupo up is now to be the favourite venue for a return to racing in New Zealand.

Most of the media speculation has centred on Triple Eight Race Engineering co-owner Quinn’s Hampton Downs track as the most likely as it is just down the road from the now closed Pukekohe.

Highlands is likely to be ruled out because of its South Island location, which is believed to be too remote to be considered for New Zealand’s only Supercars race.

Other circuits being considered include Manfeild in the south of the North Island, with Highlands (Quinn’s third kiwi venue), deep in the south of the South Island, ruled out because it is believed to be too remote to be considered for New Zealand’s only Supercars race.

Taupo’s track map.

Taupo’s international layout (registered as ‘Grand Prix’ by the FIA) is New Zealand’s only Grade 2 circuit, meaning it is allowed to run races for cars with a weight-to-power ratio of between 1 and 2kg/hp. A Gen3 Supercars is presently just a little more than 2kg/hp, which means a Grade 3 licence is actually all that is required.

There are eight tracks in New Zealand with Grade 3 or higher, meaning they can all host a Supercars event. Pukekohe’s grading will disappear soon.

Taupo is near the centre of New Zealand’s North Island and sits on the edge of a 616 square-km lake of the same name.

The biggest obstacle for Taupo is the weather and accommodation. At an altitude of 390m, Taupo’s weather is colder and wetter than the Supercars are used to, and November is the most likely date to host a race, with February and March locked away for other events.

Shane van Gisbergen salutes Pukekohe Park Raceway in style. Photo by Mark Horsburgh / LAT Images

Its average high temperature for November is 18.3°C, and there are on average, only eight days of rain during that month.

It has a population of only 26,000 but as a resort town there is plenty of accommodation. It is a two-hour drive from Hamilton, three from Auckland and four from Wellington.

Find out Nettlefold’s ‘Super-Duper’ vision by purchasing the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

If that was not enough readers can also listen to the latest episode of the AUTO ACTION Rev Limiter podcast on the state of Supercars.

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.