Quinn has the appetite for a second NZ round

After a weather-defying successful first Supercars race at Taupo yesterday, circuit owner Tony Quinn says he is ready to host a second round of Supercars Championship Series at another of his tracks in 2026. He says he needs another year to sell the ‘sausage and the sizzle’ at Taupo before loading up for a fortnight of motorsport in New Zealand.

In addition to Taupo International Motorsport Park, Quinn also owns Hampton Downs near Pukekohe and Highlands Motorsport Park near Queenstown on the South Island, all of which he is placing inside the Tony Quinn Foundation to protect motorsport in the Shaky Islands.

Saturday and Sunday at Taupo were complete sellouts on corporate and general admission, but he says the key is to repeat that next year and then embed the race meeting in the series.

“A Fantastic crowd, fantastic,” he said from the pitlane after the first race. And it’s the first time for a very long time that they have been genuinely sold out—genuinely sold out, not Tony Cochrane sold out.”

In response to Supercars Chairman Barclay Nettlefold’s comments in Auto Action that a second round depends on Quinn’s appetite, he responded that he thinks “it’s essential, a no-brainer.”

Quinn prefers Highlands Park because the North Island’s infrastructure will be too tight. For this weekend, he has every temporary grandstand on the North Island at Taupo, which means a Taupo-Hampton Downs combination would be unlikely.

“What this sport has to do is sell the sizzle. The sausage is just the sausage, and we just witnessed the sausage—that’s the race. But we have to sell the sizzle, the event.

“So I’ll tell you the problem because it’s all a good idea. If you want to make money, you would not do it next year. We want to come back here, but what we want to be doing is selling the sizzle now.

“What will happen is that after a couple of years, normally, the crowds will drop back a bit. So I would do Taupo here next year, but sell the sizzle and go to either Hampton Downs or Highlands in 26.

“If you go to Highlands, it’s got to be special. You’re not coming to Highlands to go round and round for a few hours. It’s got to be a format that would be different.”

He also said concerns about the facility at Highlands Park were wrong.

“If they can race in Tasmania or Darwin, no disrespect, we can race at Highlands.”

Highlands Park is a short drive from Queenstown, another one of New Zealand’s holiday towns. This means the infrastructure to cope with the influx of race fans is already there.

Stay tuned.

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Podcast: We’re going to Taupo… Tow Paw… Whatever. Supercars is back!

After a break that feels like months, the Supercars Championship is back and headed across the ditch to Taupo in the middle of the North Island. And yes, Brodie Kostecki will be there! As will the rain.

Somehow, the rain will also be in China for F1’s return to 中国. Philip Island was stunning on the weekend, just gone, if a little cold, but we chatted about whether Supercars should return to the land of penguins.

Plus, there’s more… all the news in the way only the Auto Action RevLimiter can deliver.

Listen to our latest episode on your podcast app of choice or here