At the ITM 400 this year, the weather wasn't ideal, to be fair. There was still a solid crowd. A few things happened a bit last minute, but there was a recession on.
The new management team did really well to pull together after a period of uncertainty under the previous management.
New Zealand is deemed to be a key market for V8 Supercars - even TC has said that so it must be true
At this year's event, the owners of Hampton Downs met with V8 Supercar management for what seemed like at least a discussion. The issue with Hampton is the track isn't complete, not all of the facilities are complete, and even having V8 Supercars in the bag mightn't be enough to convince the bank to let the last piece of tarmac get laid and the facilities completed. And a "substandard" track would contravine the whole push for a street race in the first place.
So what do they do now?
Well, this poses quite a challenge. Let's look at the various permanent circuits with a broad brush rather than specific critique:
Teretonga and Levels: Essentially goat tracks that lack Supercar crowd facilities
Ruapuna: Uncertainty over earthquakes and a lack of decent facilties to cope with the Supercar crowds
Manfeild: Maybe - issues being accommodation to house everyone and the ability to house a large crowd
Taupo: The A1GP didn't exactly flourish there and that may be because of our love for V8 engined touring cars as opposed to single-seaters. Taupo would also struggle to cope with a decent V8 Supercar crowd when it comes to accommodation. There would be significant reliance on Rotorua, Hastings, Napier, and probably Hamilton (how ironic!!) to house everyone.
All of these (essentially) provincial race circuits would require a large influx of visitors to make the race viable. Seemingly this is what Hamilton has seemed to lack as ticket are preferentially released to the locals. Can these tracks afford to take a punt on the "hold it and they will come" mentality and risk profile?
That leaves Hampton Downs and Pukekohe. Is Hampton up to the standard that V8 Supercars demand? Going back to Pukekohe would be a bitter pill to swallow for a series that had "far outgrown the venue" and needed to move to a street circuit to remain in New Zealand.
So, this raises an interesting question/dilemma: If not Hamilton, where?
Where do you think?
Keep an eye out for some ideas coming soon!