Supporters hope new council will save Western Springs Speedway

Race fans are hoping “pro-speedway” councillors are elected to Auckland Council this week as they continue the battle over the future of their beloved Western Springs speedway track.

In October last year, the council voted, to the horror of fans, to move speedway from Western Springs and combine it with racing at Waikaraka Park in Onehunga.

Western Springs has long been the home of speedway in New Zealand, attracting thousands of fans and drivers from around the globe since 1929.

The five open-wheel classes (cars with wheels outside their body) that race at Western Springs, including the iconic midgets and sprintcars, cannot race at Waikaraka Park safely, according to reports.

A 2023 analysis by Tataki Auckland Unlimited, a council-controlled organisation (CCO), was sent to competitors of both Western Springs and Waikaraka Park speedways in hopes of determining the best future for all types of racing and facilities in Auckland.

It showed open-wheel competitors prefer a safety fence that aligns with the concrete wall which surrounds the track, because an exposed open-wheel car landing on top of the wall increases the danger for the driver.

Additionally, a lip – or kickout – at the bottom of the wall designed to reduce the impact of heavy, robust stockcars is considered dangerous for open-wheel cars because hitting it could launch them into a major tumble.

Although the report acknowledged open-wheel competitors' safety concerns, the new Waikaraka Park upgrade plans feature a kickout and an 800mm fence setback.

Jason Jones, who spent 25 years on the safety crew at Western Springs, said: "It's the first time we've ever gone backwards in health and safety.

“We've gone from having a purpose-built fence at Western Springs to reintroducing known risks.”

Ex-midget racer and current car owner Shayne Alach said he flipped over the fence at Waikaraka in 2010, landing in a pit bay that had been vacated only minutes earlier.

“It’s very fortunate that nobody has been injured because of the concrete walls in New Zealand. It will happen,” he said.

He said if he had crashed at Western Springs, the height and design of the catch-fence would have prevented his car from going over it.

Alach said he didn’t know how the two racing codes could co-exist, and he had no intention of taking his team to Waikaraka Park this season.

While the track design was adequate for stockcars, it was “completely inadequate for an open-wheel car”.

He said upgrading Waikaraka Park, for which the council has allocated $11m, should not be at the cost of losing Western Springs.

Meanwhile, the Western Springs Speedway Association, which has filed in court for a judicial review of the council’s decision and processes, says the fight for Western Springs is not over.

According to official information supplied to the association, the track at Western Springs will be maintained at least in the short term in case works at Waikaraka are delayed.

And if enough councillors in support of keeping speedway at Western Springs are elected in the local body election currently in progress, the decision to shift it could be easily enough reversed, according to sitting councillor Wayne Walker.

“If the council is changed at the up-coming local elections to a situation where you've got a majority of councillors in support of speedway, then the earlier decisions can be revisited and turned around and would save speedway at Western Springs,” he told TWN.

“Speedway is a really good fit at Western Springs. It pays its way so it's economical, it’s compatible and part of the cultural landscape of Auckland.

He said it injected a lot of money into the Auckland economy, which the city needed right now.

“Motorsport is one of the biggest sports on the planet, both in New Zealand and overseas and it's not receiving the attention and support it deserves from Auckland Council.”

Walker said he believed deliberate steps had been taken over the years by Auckland Council and its CCO to obstruct the running of the speedway, with a long-term goal of removing it.

Western Springs has been limited to 12 speedway events per season, with little flexibility for rainouts and curfews preventing racing after 10.30pm.

Walker asked why ticket booths and food stalls were removed while cricket terraces were installed, reducing seating and obstructing the view.

He said the re-opening of speedway was drawn out by more than a year following the 2023 storms and reopened with restricted capacity. However, Laneway festivalgoers seemed able to access the entire stadium some weeks before.

Mayor Wayne Brown’s statement in March that more people went to “a corner dairy” than to Western Springs Speedway did not acknowledge the speedway was restricted to just four meets that year, despite wanting more.

Brown said the race promoter had told the council speedway was no longer financially viable at Western Springs.

However, former co-promoter Gary Roberts said moving open-wheel racing away from Western Springs would be a “financial disaster”.

He said Waikaraka Park did not have the spectator capacity for the show open-wheel racing offered and provided less exposure for sponsors.

In the 1979/80 season, Roberts said he welcomed 36,369 spectators to a single event, but crowd numbers declined in the 90s after Ponsonby Rugby Club moved into the stadium and installed a rugby field in the centre, reducing the track width to Speedway New Zealand’s minimum requirement — less than half of the world-famous Knoxville Raceway.

Roberts said: “The first step for a new promoter [at Western Springs] would be to widen the straights to improve racing quality and therefore attract larger crowds.”

Third-generation spectator Susanne Davis said racing at Western Springs was “the sound of summer” when her family schedules revolved around the race calendar.

Davis said she had been to some of the best racetracks in the world, but nothing compared to Western Springs.

“This is our home. This is where we are staying. We are not moving.”

Mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni voted to relocate the speedway from Western Springs, but told RNZ that at the time, she did not have all the information to make that decision.

Mayor Wayne Brown did not allow the speedway association to present to councillors on the issue, she said.

Meanwhile, fraudulent letters reportedly misrepresented the stance of some stakeholders on the proposed move and was presented to councillors before the vote.

After speaking to speedway stakeholders, Leoni said if she had had the relevant information, her decision would have been different.

The speedway association lists the following candidates as in favor of keeping speedway at Western Springs: Kerrin Leoni (candidate for mayor), Wayne Walker and John Watson (Albany ward), Christine Fletcher and Mark Pervan (Albert-Eden), Dene Green (Franklin), Maurice Williamson & Bo Burns (Howick), Henrietta Devoe (Manukau), Daniel Newman and Matt Winiata (Manurewa-Papakura), Tabetha Elliott (Maungakiekie-Tāmaki), John Gillon and Helena Roza (North Shore), Ken Turner and Sunil Kaushal (Wāitakere), Mike Lee (Waitematā-Gulf), and Craig Lord (Whau).

Although licensing of competitors at Waikaraka Park has officially opened for the coming season, a statement from Speedway New Zealand said it had not yet been presented with the venue for sign-off.

Speedway New Zealand is required to inspect all 23 of its tracks annually before issuing track licences.

A health-and-safety sign-off is part of the track inspection.

Meanwhile, voting in the local body elections closes at 12noon on Saturday, with official results announced on October 17.