Originally Posted by
Murray Maunder
Purely and simply this smells like an exercise in retrieving value from the Hamilton investment - for AV8.
1. Getting better pit facilities is a plus but the rest IMHO is questionable. Without having had the benefit of having watched the event live and only watched a few laps on TV (the V8s don't do much for me to be honest) the racing didn't look as great as the Murph years were.
2. I don't get the layout change. It seemed to result in a lot of slip road indiscretions which make for a nightmare for stewards in the absence of TV replays.
3. The TV suffers from high camera angles necessitated by the height of the catch fencing. Height, especially when translated across all 8 or 9 or whatever track cameras brings a diminishing of apparent speed and the ability to see the car's dynamics. In a word it makes the shots look BLAND. To me it looked for the most part like another Oz street circuit.
4. The lining of the track with concrete at track's edge make an off a more expensive event.
5. For bikes it has now become an unsanctionable track from what I am told. The history of Puke and bikes is - for all you car only types - as rich as cars at Puke. It's a sad day for those of us who have seen it's demise as a bike racing track.
6. While having HD down the highway was impacting on the usage of Puke, now I can see Puke being a one trick pony. When the Cochrane mob tire of the issues of an old track I can see it could truly be HISTORY.
In a way it makes a change to see the taxpayer general throwing dollars at motorsport it seems to be a con job by Cochocorp with little to commend it from the enthusiasts point of view except we kept the event in New Zealand.
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