Pukekohe Park is a horse racing, motor racing, and community events facility located in

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, approximately south of the

Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's l ...

, in the Auckland Region of the North Island. The venue, owned by Counties Racing Club Inc. is used seven days a week for horse training, driver training, motor sport events, cycling and various events and functions.

History

The Raceway was opened in 1963 as a permanent track, replacing Ardmore Aedrorome as the host circuit of the

New Zealand Grand Prix The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. First held in 1950, it is best known for hosting rounds of the Tasman Series in the 1960s and 1970s. It ...

. Annually for several years, the mainly European based

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

drivers such as Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jim Clark and

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...

, would head

downunder The term ''Down Under'' is a colloquialism which is differently construed to refer to Australia and New Zealand, or Pacific Island countries collectively.Oxford English Dictionary (Electronic), Version 4.0, entry fordown under. The dictionary r ...

for a relaxed

Tasman Series The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

during the European winter. For many years Pukekohe was the venue for New Zealand's premier production car race, the Benson and Hedges 500 mile race (later 1000 km) featuring drivers such as

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, a ...

, Dick Johnson and Jim Richards. In 1996 the New Zealand Mobil Sprints held one round in Pukekohe. Pukekohe Park Raceway also held an annual round of the popular Australian V8 Supercar race from 2001 to 2007. However, the

round moved to

Hamilton Street Circuit The Hamilton Street Circuit was a temporary street circuit in Hamilton, New Zealand. From 2008 to 2012 it hosted the Hamilton 400 as part of the V8 Supercars championship. From 2010 to 2012, ITM, New Zealand's largest group of independent tra ...

in 2008. On 5 July 2012, it was announced that V8 Supercars would return to the circuit in 2013 as part of a 5-year deal with the circuit operators following a series of upgrades to accommodate for the series' return. The changes to the track included a series of corners before the hairpin turn, meaning safer, slower races. The upgrades also included a new race control building, timing building and corporate viewing facility opposite the main grandstand as well as the addition of overhead pedestrian bridges. In the centre of the circuit there is a thoroughbred training centre, which dictates the use of the site as it owned by th
Counties Racing Club Inc
The club is host to 14 horse race meetings a year and is used six days a week as a stables and training facility. On 20 July 2022, Pukekohe Park announced that it would cease hosting motorsport events on 3 April 2023, citing a desire to focus on its horse racing events and club facilities.Auckland's Pukekohe Park Pulling Pin on Supercars
''

Auto Action ''Auto Action'' is an Australian motorsport magazine. The first edition was published on 24 February 1971. It became part of Australian Consolidated Press and was included in its 2012 sale to Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german ...

'' 20 July 2022

Layout history

New Zealand Grand Prix

The

has been held at Pukekohe on 29 occasions, the first being in 1963, and the last to date being held in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Between 1964 and 1975, the NZ Grand Prix at the circuit was also a round of the

. Winners of the NZ Grand Prix at Pukekohe include Kiwis

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...

Craig Baird Craig George Baird (born 22 July 1970) is a New Zealand former racing driver who now is the driving standards observer for the Australian Supercars Championship. Honours In the 2010 New Year Honours, Baird was appointed a Member of the New ...

, and

Paul Radisich Paul Radisich (born 9 October 1962, in Auckland) is a retired New Zealand racing driver and businessman of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years — both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New ...

, internationals such as Australian Frank Gardner, Italian

Teo Fabi Teodorico Fabi (born 9 March 1955) is an Italian former racing driver. He competed in Formula One and sports car racing, and claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Teo is the older brother of former Formula One dri ...

, and Brazilian

Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship p ...

, as well as

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Champions

John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...

, Graham Hill,

and

Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...

(Rosberg's wins in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and 1978 were before his World Championship win in ).

Supercars Championship

In 2008 the Supercars Championship round in New Zealand moved to the

so Pukekohe held its final event on the weekend of 20–22 April 2007. In 2013 Supercars returned to Pukekohe after the Auckland government confirmed that stakeholders would put $6.6 million into making the circuit more suitable for Supercars. These upgrades include a new chicane on the back straight, more pedestrian bridges and a makeover of the circuit's appearance.

Lap records

The official race lap records at the Pukekohe Park Raceway are listed as:

Notes

References

External links

Pukekohe Park

Official Website of V8 race

NZV8s' Pukekohe Park Raceway info

2012 Upgrades
(for April 2013 V8 Supercars) {{Tasman Series circuits Motorsport venues in New Zealand Supercars Championship circuits New Zealand Grand Prix 2023 disestablishments in New Zealand