Hampton Downs tenders close today

[scott411]

Hampton Downs was built almost as a hobby, with initial investment and management by two people - Tony, and Chris Watson. The story at the time was that they were unable to get track time at Pukekohe, so built their own track.

Sales of (lifestyle) blocks of land and the trackside apartments was supposed to provide extra money to invest in the track and facilities. Looks like it didn't quite work out the way it was planned... Certainly there is massive scope for significantly more commercial development... Having spent time heading south from Auckland for work, I would certainly prefer to do that than try to commute into the city. The businesses that are there appear to be pretty busy.

I suspect the costs of running and maintaining the circuit have exceeded expectations. The initial loans weren't huge, and a significant (from my perspective, at least) amount of money came directly from Tony and Chris. This personal involvement is why it will have proven hard to 'let go'... It was their baby, and they want to see it to grow. Difficult to do that if someone else is pulling the strings.

Perhaps Mr Dotcom would like to help out?

I've heard the track at Cromwell is a good 'un. Living in TK I find Hampton Downs is a little more convenient.

this is mostly Like i have heard it as well, and since it was not really planned that well in a commercial sense there are some issues, one of the main reason the v8's wont go there is that there is no commercial contracts with the apartments, meaning the v8 supercar group can not make any money from them, or even stop other people from making money off their investment,

[Shaun Harris]

was there not some talk a while ago about building a small sealed race track at Hampton downs also, or have I miss herd the facts?

[puddytat]

was there not some talk a while ago about building a small sealed race track at Hampton downs also, or have I miss herd the facts?

Nah Bro, someone is going to build one at Tapawera near Nelson.....

http://www.centralmotorsport.org.nz/home

[Pumba]

I was told at one stage that area "A" on my attachment was going to be a kart track. I have also been told by a poor misguided fool with bigger dreams and less money than the HD owners that somewhere in area B was going to be a speedway track and that they were going to build him a jet sprint track in the centre of it so him and his mates could race.

If they cant finish the international circuit, fuck all point looking at anything else.

[Shaun Harris]

I was told at one stage that area "A" on my attachment was going to be a kart track. I have also been told by a poor misguided fool with bigger dreams and less money than the HD owners that somewhere in area B was going to be a speedway track and that they were going to build him a jet sprint track in the centre of it so him and his mates could race.

If they cant finish the international circuit, fuck all point looking at anything else.

That is a lot of land mass those fellows own

[Shaun Harris]

Nah Bro, someone is going to build one at Tapawera near Nelson.....

http://www.centralmotorsport.org.nz/home

No international Airport near there that works for my dream goal

[sharp2183]

I like the look of Highlands park also, but many a rider has said they think as it is, it would currently be unsafe for motorcycles? what is your oppinion on this, and please put serious though into your feed back mate

I'll throw my opinion on Highlands in here (from a bike perspective)...

Better than Levels (fairly average track), probably better than Teretonga, worse than Ruapuna (which gets my vote for best track in NZ).

This is considering just the track, and not the additional facilities which were immaculate. There is no doubt that this is NOT a safe track for bikes. I'm one of those riders that got into track riding due to a serious crash in the family, and when I see road-like dangers on a racetrack I struggle to enjoy it/ride fast. If you are the type that is happy to take this risk and ride like a sunday road racer, then you would love this track.

Beautiful surface, challenging corners and general layout, but zero run off and plenty of walls.

Run a few race meetings here and you would probably get a death or serious injury at least. That was what we decided when we chatted about the track at the end of the day.