not that long ago i saw a northland driver having a piss as you have put it in the pits at manfeild not far from the good toilets that are there.
not that long ago i saw a northland driver having a piss as you have put it in the pits at manfeild not far from the good toilets that are there.
Rod! what are you doing taking a female to the motor races? Go by yourself and take your own tree.Originally Posted by Rod Grimwood
They could plant citrus trees, supposed to be good for pissing on.
long way to go for just a piss
everybody seems to be forgetting that the circut is being rebuilt specifically for v8 supercars for a tv extravagana and a few corparates that can sit on the infield and watch the odd car or a tv . The general public will only get to see what is happening on the backstraight by superscreens and have there 15-20 second bit of excitement as the cars go down the front straight .When you get some other lesser meetings what spectaors turn up will be able to see is didly squat . Once the concrete absorbing (yeh right ) go in down the back straight all you will see are the car roof tops . The days of seeing single seaters heading down the backstraight dueling are over . have a car run into trouble down the back straight and stop on the side of the cirut depending on how much safe area is between the track and the concrete barrier out will come the saftey cars so cars can be removed ( that stuffs a 8 lap race ). And how are you going to see the passing moves from the hill stand in the new ( fantastic yeh right ) passing area on the back straight when the circut is below the horse racing shute that is there . Spectators will not ( i bet) be allowed down in that area as it will be to hard to man and look after spectaors for a smaller meeting as happens now . At least at hd spectaors can move around about 80% of the circut for different veiwing options . So if you want to spectate and watch good hard racing come to a hrc event at hampton downs where cars sound like race cars and the racing is great . roll on the denny hulme festival
Don't talk to me about whinging Poms!!! The Roaring Season has turned into a whinge season!
If I have to pay rates to the wonderful new Auckland Council, I am more than happy to have some of it and of everybody else's go towards something I could actually get enjoyment out of. What they are spending is small change compared to what public money gets spent in Oz on motor racing - local, state, and national government. If some of the facilities are third world or worse, some of you guys who might know some of the local movers and shakers should make the state of affairs known to them - perhaps someone may be shamed into improving them. There's a few months to go.
As for not being able to see all of the track, that's a luxury very few tracks have anyway. You see the bit in front of you at Bathurst, or Spa or Monza, and with a bit of luck you might have a "big screen" somewhere as well.
Now, on a slightly different note: the first ever motor race meeting at Pukekohe was the 1963 NZ Grand Prix on Saturday, January 5 1963. By a quirk of the calendar, January 5 2013 also falls on a Saturday - is anybody planning any sort of celebration for the circuit's 50th Anniversary?
Just wondered.
Stu
Last edited by stubuchanan; 10-16-2012 at 11:25 AM. Reason: poetic licence
Gee, it would be great to see cars/drivers from that first meeting.......someone's thinking ahead,good on ya!!!
John Surtees would have to be top of that list then, he won it. Cochrane and his cronies had a big moan a few years back about Wanneroo being sub-standard, third-world conditions, unsuitable, circuit too short etc etc. Finally the state government (gasp !) stepped in with some $$ after a few more boycott threats and the track was closed for six months while the "improvements" were made.
Now the pit paddock remains unaltered, as does the track. On the infield they've built a new pit garage complex, with infield pit road. Although it's only one storey high, on V8 weekend they construct temp viewing platforms on top. Now, as well as corporate gin palaces from the start line to the end of turn 1, the new pit roof means those seated on the bank at the esses can't see the start/finish straight, and those in the straight can't see the esses, plus the newly-installed overbridge restricts viewing in both directions on the start straight.
To cap it off, the infield pit complex is only used for one weekend a year when the V8 circus is in town : nobody else is allowed to access it ! The final insult, after all the whinging, posturing, threats and drama, is that apart from the infield pit entry and exit roads, the circuit itself remains UNCHANGED !!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....
Happy to be considered that but the points I make about Pukekohe have remained the same for 15 years, V8 supercars or not.
I post on here in frustration at the opportunity lost and the fact that the modifications made to the circuit last time only served to make things worse for most of the punters. Example: The Ford signs on the hill that make it impossible to see the track from large parts of the hill stand. Another: The pit garage complex that was so badly made that within a few years the structure was rotten and considered dangerous. Still is. Now how effing dumb is that and how hard would it have been to do it properly so it's an amenity available for the many, many people who use Pukekohe for the rest of the year?
It's about money being poorly spent on facilities that don't benefit the spectators. Pukekohe is much more than the V8s and what is there for spectators is so run down and dilapidated that it needs a thorough upgrade. What we've got is a few new corners and corporate stands.
The people complaining about the current upgrade are the ones who remember the past and can see it repeating. Why has Auckland council's tourism arm not been able to supply ANY analysis of where the benefits come from. How then have they been able to make decisions (behind closed doors, remember) relating to the upgrade of facilities?
You know why? Because the money comes from the people of Auckland who get in their cars and drive out to the circuit after paying a truckload for tickets. Yes, it also comes from corporate sponsors and those who enjoy the corporate facilities - but the spend is skewed to just one of these audiences.
I have no problem with them spending the money but I'd prefer it was spent properly and for the benefit of ALL Puke users.
(BTW: Tony Cochrane, who is quoted in all this PR stuff, has resigned from V8 supercars and the council is now negotiating and communicating with a private company).
Have you ever spent three days sitting in the hill stand? Walked through ankle deep urine swamp to get to overflowing portaloos? Sat in the birdshit covered "main stand?"
Last edited by Shano; 10-16-2012 at 10:36 PM.
now now mr stubuchanan,would you not be thinking more about what your mayor is getting up to with the way he wants auckland and this open cheque book .my understanding is it is his view that all rate and tax payers in nz pay also for what he wants to do with auckland, could you put some light on this for the ones who live south of the bombay hills thanks.
Russ: I don't take women to the track have you bought a hotdog lately, I am far too busy looking at all the others.
As far as the Auckland Council is concerned, I think there is clear evidence that once again, the inmates are running the lunatic asylum. Very likely Len Brown got elected mayor because he wasn't John Banks, something we should all be thankful for.
I realize that the corporate clowns will want facilities to be provided so they can be seen by the right people in the right places, but I wonder if we can take a lesson from the third world (say, Nigeria) and see how much of the $xx million can be diverted away into a slush-fund for things like competitor and spectator comforts.
I would assume that the Council must have some responsibility for the availability and hygiene of toilets etc, and they have only a few months to do it in. They won't want to be in the position of stopping their own investment for non-compliance. I wonder if they realize what they have bought into?
Stu
Stu, Len Brown would not know which way was up. And sadly he seems to be surrounded by like people.
sorry i diverse, back to scanning.
Just had a look again at the map of the new track at pukekohe ,if they put the right diff in the cars and if they can play around with the ratios in the gearbox the cars will be faster coming over the hill would they not be .so when i hear tony cochrane say the track is too fast for there cars and read what others have put up about what they plan for pukekohe it is all for tv ,if you just see the tops of the cars as they go down the back straight standing on the hill who would want to go and see that.
The back straight is too long/fast? Makes no sense at all with speeds at Bathurst and other venues.
The new chicane would add another needed feature to the circuit for spectators if only they could access it.
The money will be swallowed up in AVESCO luxuries with nothing left over to improve the lot of spectators or ordinary competitors.
The circuit will still continue to slide into old age and eventual obscurity. I doubt there's many fans of motor racing getting all excited knowing they will still endure the crummy facilities that were acceptable in NZ life in the sixties.
Hampton Downs directors, I assume, haven't been all over Tony Cochrane with promises of $000,000s, so are not in the frame. Cochrane's excuses why HD will never make a V8 venue are shallow beyond measure and IMO disguise other motives.
I have plenty of affection for Puke as a track to race on even in today's tired state but HD with funding for it's completion is the way forward. Anyway, Pukekohe has served us well for almost 50 years and for that I'm grateful.
Here's film footage of the inaugural meeting, the 1963 New Zealand Grand Prix.
Last edited by Murray Maunder; 10-22-2012 at 03:38 AM.
as we all know next weekend at puke there is this big one for the supertourers ,have just had a look at what it will cost you and the kids to get in and park the car.they talk about the new facilities is that also new toilets etc or have they just hired toilets that you do your thing in ,maybe someone in the know who has done all this work ,could let the ones who plan to go to puke for the weekend know also.
Bearing in mind nothing had been done by the end of the first week in October, I think it is reasonably safe to assume that work hasn't yet started. Hired toilets are adequate as long as they are serviced regularly and there are enough of them, sensibly located.
good luck to them,see it on tv like most will.
PUKE how good was that too fast bull shit,the best weekend for a long time where would you see better racing, tony cochrane and you other dicks over there keep your so called supercars .thats how you put on a great meeting the boys did a great job come on you ones who have no time for puke you have to take your hats off to them for a great weekend of racing.
I wasn't there but yes, i heard it was a great weekend with excellent weather, the highlights i was told were the Super Tourers but it sounds like the Central Muscle guys out done even them with there on the edge driving style and excitement, to me this is what people want to see at a Tier 1 event!! so i agree, Supercars not needed?
Dale M
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