TQ has said that the track will be used 4 - 6 times a year for what he wants, meaning the rest of us can get stuffed
jason_247,
Feb 23, 6:26pm
but how would he turn a profit. or is this just cheaper than him building a private playground
twink19,
Feb 23, 10:39pm
he doesn't need to turn a profit, its only pocket money, VIP pet foods and Daryll Lee etc edit, he wont be getting it anyway
twink19,
Feb 26, 3:24pm
I heard that the board of directors of Taupo Motorsport Park resigned today, where does that leave it
fordcrzy,
Feb 26, 4:10pm
up $#!T creek id say. only hope is for the membership to take control and make a strong case to the doofuses at the council NOT to sell up thier sare in a fire sale. $3 million was the figure i heard which is PEANUTS compared to what itd cost to build another track.
twink19,
Feb 26, 4:18pm
$3.650 mil valuation is$12 mil
fordcrzy,
Feb 26, 5:16pm
exactly. they must be seriously stupid to flick off the track for that sort of money to someone who will kill a huge income bringer to the area in the form of regular track racing
elect70,
Feb 26, 6:12pm
Thatsthe problem having council as major shareholder , they dont run as a bisuness & any loss can be put onto ratepayers . to seell it at $M3.6 would be scandalous . that would be chump change for Tony Quin . The only good thing about him owning it would be aussie races possibly as add ons to existing SI events .
fordcrzy,
Feb 26, 6:17pm
the debt they have is historic. the track is doing ok at the moment. its just the old debt hanging over thier heads. prob is the council is being hounded by a bunch of hippie trampers and nanas who think motorsport is the devil and they should sell up NOW.
kazbanz,
Feb 26, 6:29pm
the very worst of them has to be the "catlady"--built her cattery 10 YEARS after the original track was built then objected to the noise of a RACETRACK-- for gosh sakes. what did she think she was building next to --a fish farm
socram,
Feb 26, 7:07pm
From another site. TQ had offered the 3.4 or 3.6 million, but there is a debt of $6.5 million.
Cat lady types - one person can move into an area and screw it for everyone else. Crazy. Ditto Pukekohe and we all know about Western Springs. If I was the only person in a neighbourhood who wanted something specific in the area, would I get it? Of course not. So why is one person allowed to get their way to the detriment of everyone else because it is motorsport?
Move the cat lady types out or buy them out or send Gareth Morgan around.
kazbanz,
Feb 26, 7:17pm
in fairness-Taupo came under pressure the second HD opened --theres only so many tracks needed for 4.5 million
budgel,
Feb 26, 7:36pm
I agree, HD being closer to two major population centres, Auckland and Hamilton, puts it in the box seat.
socram,
Feb 27, 5:47am
TQ's offer was rejected, so business as usual.
They do need better sign-posting and a public kart track running midweek would be a useful addition, given Taupo's reputation for attracting thrill seeking visitors. It makes a lot of money for Highland park I gather and is run by just one person.
A venue totally dependent 100% on a full sized race track is not the way to make money. I think that maybe the Taupo board needs to wake up to the potential commercial opportunities, before it is too late.
Although it may appear that we have too many tracks, I don't agree. There are plenty of competitors and race meetings are usually self funded from entry fees - except Tier 1 of course, which is a joke.
At an average $12,000 per day to run a meeting of six grids, $2,000 a grid plus the MSNZ levy of $50 per competitor is all it takes and with a grid limit of say 40 cars most make money once 15 cars per grid are reached.
With U2K Cup, ERC, 4 x BMW Classes, Alfa Trofeo etc with about 350 cars between them, certainly the stronger classic side alone needs tracks.
Add club cars, various bike classes, trucks, all the single seater classes, about 3 or 4 Muscle car classes, GTs, sports cars, Sing Song Utes, Falcodore Utes, Mini 7s, Pre 65, Historic Sports Sedans, Vintage cars, karts, OK, maybe even the various warring V8 factions, Classic Trials etc. there is still a real need for the circuits. Add the midweeks bookings, practice days, play days, corporate days, driver training open days etc., and you can soon see why trying to actually get a track booking at the existing tracks isn't so easy.
kazbanz,
Feb 27, 6:38am
Socram-but how does the $12000 pay the track any more money? forgive me please if I'm out of touch here. The TRACK gets paid a fixed sum for facility use. -It used to be $3000 for a weekday. Then there was garage rental on a day by day basis. I know its more to use the tower as well. So that's it rental fee done. regardless of field size etc. That IF you have 90% use of the track is a reasonable chunk of change. Silly thing is they have available TWO tracks so should be raking it in. keep in mind too its 365 days a week they need filled. Winter time is a lot harder to fill the days. I agree this time of year weekends are fully booked. But have a look at the booking sheets for may and june and it won't be so rosey. Now if things were as they used to be in the "awwwd days" I would agree with you 100% -because back then the track was owned by the club so if they ran a meeting everything got plowed back into the club. Again I might be out of touch here -I used to run track days at taupo from in the old "four corner" days right up till the current facility was fully operational. But its been a few years since I turned a when down there. I totally agree with you re multi use facilities. I always thought back in the day that bay Park raceway was onto the right idea. road race track round the outside of a speedway track. But not quite thought out -Round the "oval" at the bottom could be the pits Then over the pits double sided stands so spectators can watch road race during the day and speedway at night-same control tower etc. Then yep a kart track in the infield. but it all comes down to money invested.
fordcrzy,
Feb 27, 3:49pm
thank effing bejus for that
quickbuck,
Feb 27, 6:50pm
+1.
Was starting to worry what is going to happen in 2 weekends time.
For those playing at home, did you realise it is the final round of the New Zealand Superbike Nationals in Taupo on March 13 + 14?
Round 3 is the weekend before.
jason_247,
Feb 28, 10:23am
as was said it was rejected. as a quick point i asked the council about it. this was their reply.
Hi Jason, thanks for the message. The offer is to the shareholders of the Motorsport Park of which the Council is not one. The Council just holds first mortgage over the land and buildings. It will be a shareholder decision whether or not to accept the offer.
so they dont get a say anyway
kazbanz,
Feb 28, 2:20pm
I did wonder about the huge number of race guys out at Hampton downs last night. --a fair few guys trying to get setups sorted.
mardyyy,
Feb 28, 4:34pm
Reminds me of an objection raised by Transit or local Council, cant recall which but is typical of the BS protests about legitimate and existing activity. A helicopter company wanted to move from one part of an airport to another into a facility previously used by a small airline. The fear? Helicopter activity might distract motorists.
gabbysnana,
Feb 28, 5:04pm
if you go online you can see who all the shareholders are and how much money they put in, so do they all stand to loose money on whatever is happening?
quickbuck,
Mar 1, 10:17pm
Incredible. Along those lines, one of the busiest sections of Highway (SH1 + SH3 joined) goes right past the biggest Air Force Base in the country. (longest runway). Also the base that has all but 5 of the NZDF Helicopters on it. (so that would be quite a few, not going to give away our total capability) and yet there has not been one single crash caused by drivers being distracted by them!
We even get fixed winged aircraft fly right over top of you on approach when you are traveling north.
However the number of near misses caused by the Weigh Bridge and the vehicles parked in it is incredible!
Totally off topic I know, but I am still in Facebook mode. Sorry, as you were.
socram,
Mar 2, 8:28am
The track obviously doesn't get any more money if they are hiring it out. The $12,000 was the cost to put on a race meeting by the hirer. That normally includes the track hire, hire of extinguishers, PA system, radios and other track costs. Added to that is ambulance, breakdown/recovery, timekeepers, probably marshal's lunches and water, MZNZ permit fee and sundry expenses such as a paid commentator, programme printing, secretarial costs. If the gate is manned and spectators charged an entry fee, unless you have volunteers, then you'll be paying someone for that too.
In the case of HD, the track gets any garage income, paid directly to them by competitors.
My figure of $2,000 a grid was for running a National car race meeting if I hired the track. I have no idea how Taupo currently runs but I assume they have a similar structure When a club such as Taupo as shareholders/part owners runs a meeting at a track, presumably all or part of the profits of a race meeting are paid to the club.
In the case of the south island clubs totally owning the track, then it is much more straightforward. Presumably they too charge whatever they like and make a profit or theoretical loss on their own meetings.
kazbanz,
May 23, 3:44am
he sorcram--no offence meant mate--Im coming from the prospective of a guy who used to regularly hire the track. The information I posted was as told to me a few years back before HD came along. On a side note--or maybe not. HD have realised one thing that Taupo haven't. There is a decent demand for the track in the evenings by track day junkies who can take a few hours off mid week but not a whole day. The simple logistics of HD means they have full "grids" for the evening track sessions.
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