Monaco-style race would suit Chch

Press, 27 May 1978, Page 23

Monaco-style race would suit Chch

BRUCE BATTEN is folI lowing the Formula One ! motor-racing “circus” on ■ its annual tour around ! Europe. This is the first of [ his reports, special to “The Press.” The 1980 New Zealand I Grand Prix around Hagiey i Park? The thought has I probably never crossed ■ your mind, and if it had it ; would have been readily : dismissed. ' But if New Zealand I motorsport organisers ; begin to follow a current trend in North America, the possibility might not ) seem so distant. Closing j off city streets and holdI I ing motor-racing meetings around them died in New Zealand with the disappearance of the annual j Renwick, Waimate and ! Dunedin fixtures. Now only motor-cycle. I racing comes to town to meet the people. In North America, however, new street circuits are springing up annually. This year it is almost certain that the Canadian Grand Prix, the final round of the world drivers’ championship, will be held in the streets of ! Montreal and not at Mos- ‘ port Park, making it the third grand prix on this year's calendar to be held on a street circuit. The others are Monaco and Long Beach, California. In addition, the rich North American Formula Atlantic series takes in a number of these temporary tracks, so it seems they must have some 1 value. ! Perhaps the Americans have taken a cue from their European counterparts, who have continued to cordon off city centres for motor-racing throughout the history of the sport. Monaco is, of course, the most famous example. The little seaside principality has hosted a grand I prix through its narrow i streets since 1929. But Monaco does not have a much longer history of street racing than the southern French city of Pau, near the foot of the Pyrenees, to which ' racing teams have visited annually since 1933. It was at the recent European Formula Two championship meeting at Pau that I first con- ! templated the potential of I Hagiey Park.

The streets used for the annual Pau Grand Prix surround a lush, scenic park, with streams trickling down the hillside, flower beds adding variety of colour and trees providing the relief of shade on a hot May day. The circuit winds through fast sweepers, tight chicanes and hairpins, uphill and down for 2.75 km, allowing spectators a wide variety of vantage spots as they amble from place to place through the park. The pits are sited in a sports arena, and there is a permanent concrete grandstand along the main straight, which stands as a monument to the grand, prix throughout the year. It all adds considerably to the attractiveness of the racing. Between 25,000 and 35,000 people turn out each year to view the Pau Grand Prix, twice the best attendance figures achieved these days in New Zealand.

The town’s people hav.e accepted this annual attraction readily. The organiser Mr Jean Pierre Brunier, toid me that only about 20 people lodge objections each year. The people of Pau otherwise recognise the economic value of having the motorracing fraternity and the attendant press in town for the best part of a week, and also the publicity the town receives as a tourist attraction.

The organising committee, which works throughout the year, does all it can to restrict the inconvenience to the citizens whose properties front onto the circuit. The crash barriers, which are installed a coup!; of weeks before the meeting, are designed with removable sections to allow residents to continue using their driveways, and for race day, residential areas are fenced off to prevent spectators from intruding on private property.

There is always some concern over the littering of the park and trampling of the gardens, but Mr Brunier emphasised that a working bee the day following the meeting each year has always been able to restore this area to a standard which satisfied the city council. It sounds an expensive

exercise. The Pau meeting costs a little more than $200,000 annually, — for crash barriers, road surface maintenance, wages for the organising committee, and promotion. But that amount is recouped through gate-takings.

The popularity of street racing in North America at present has given rise to portable safety facilities — barriers and mesh-fenc-ing that can be taken from circuit to circuit, helping to cut costs. You might ask what advantage there would be in holding the Lady Wigram Trophy Race for instance, in Hagiey Park, rather than at its traditional Wigram venue. The Formula One McLaren driver, Patrick Tambay, calls this “bringing motor-racing to the people.” They can often walk to the circuit, and with today’s safety structures, are able to stand right next to the track, see the driver working, changing gear, braking and manoeuvring. And in a picnic atmosphere. For the driver, Tambay says, a different approach is required for racing through streets as opposed to racing around a permanent circuit. A driver must be smooth, to avoid the curbings, the car mustbe perfectly balanced, and it offers a bigger challenge in overtaking, as opportunities are usually far more rare and must be capitalised on. As street circuits are generally slower than permanent circuits the racing is often closer, too. For the organising club, there are not the financial commitments throughout the year to maintain buildings and land. These astronomical costs have in recent years forced circuits like Nivelles in Belgium, Mosport Park in Canada, and Levin in New Zealand, into complete or virtual abandonment.

So, while the Canterbury Car Club is doing an admirable job in its extension of RUapuna Park, an annual “meet rhe people” race day in Christchurch city might win the sport new fans who would then hanker to see . the new Ruapuna. And if the experiences in other parts of the world are an indication, the Hagiey Park Grand Prix would also be a certain revenue-winner for the city.