Wellington V8 Supercar race won’t happen

UPDATE The saga surrounding the future of the V8 Supercars in New Zealand has taken a fresh twist. Last week Wellington ruled itself out of contention, because of difficulties obtaining resource consent. The decision appeared to spell the end of hopes of the series being staged in this country. However Defense Minister Mark Burton has today attended a meeting in Wellington, to discuss the possibility of holding races at Auckland's Whenuapai airbase.

Mr Burton has not been available for comment, but his spokeswoman Debbie Hannan says it was a constructive meeting, and although no decisions have been made, but the minister and his officials now have a lot to think about. While keeping quiet on the details of the proposal, one of its authors, Pete Sinton says he is pleased with today's discussions. Mr Sinton says officials in Wellington will now review the proposal to decide whether to put together a fresh bid. Supercar organizers AVESCO say they know nothing about the Whenuapai proposal. NZ City

05/16/05 Wellington's longest serving councilor is criticizing the city's mayor, after plans to bid for the V8 Supercars race were shelved. Mayor Kerry Prendergast is blaming difficulties in getting resource consent for the decision, but Helene Ritchie says it was irresponsible to even consider the bid, which has cost Wellington ratepayers around $175,000. Ms Ritchie says it was unfair to have raised the expectations of race enthusiasts to the point where they thought the city could host the race. NewstalkZB