Speedway GP Auckland 2012-(Updated) Now Confirmed (Read 2,724 times)

From Speedway GP site.

Friday 7th October 2011, 15:07

The FIM Speedway Grand Prix series will launch in New Zealand next year as the brightest stars of the shale collide in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time in almost a decade.

Western Springs Stadium in Auckland will stage the first ever FIM New Zealand SGP on Saturday, March 31, 2012. Tickets will go on sale next month on November 4.

The meeting will be jointly promoted by SGP rights holders BSI Speedway and Bill Buckley, principal of Springs Promotions. Western Springs Stadium is situated in the city of Auckland and is currently home to midget car racing.

FIM director of sports for speedway, Ole Olsen and his team, who build temporary tracks in Cardiff, Copenhagen and Gothenburg, have been tasked with turning it into a World Championship speedway circuit.

And BSI Speedway managing director Paul Bellamy cannot wait to see the place play host to the likes of new world champion Greg Hancock, Polish icon Tomasz Gollob and Aussie legend Jason Crump.

He said: “Taking the SGP series out of Europe has always been a huge goal for us, so we are delighted to be bringing the sport’s biggest names to New Zealand.

“The country has provided some of the sport’s all-time greats, including Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs and Ronnie Moore.

“I hope that bringing the stars of today to Western Springs will inspire a generation of young riders in New Zealand and encourage them to follow in the footsteps of past Kiwi world champions.”

Buckley has always been a huge fan of speedway solos, as they are known in the land of the long white cloud. So he is pleased to be playing his part in putting New Zealand firmly back on the shale sport map.

He said: “I’m delighted our dream of bringing World Championship speedway back to New Zealand has become a reality.

“I’ve always been a huge motorsport fan and attended the FIM Doodson British SGP in Cardiff last June. The Grand Prix series is speedway at its very best and I’m sure we can put on a great show to get the 2012 World Championship underway.”

Expanding the series beyond Europe is a strategy that speedway’s global governing body, the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) also welcomes.

Roy Otto, president of the FIM CCP track racing commission said: “Developing the SGP series into new territories such as the southern hemisphere is an objective the FIM embraces.

“New Zealand is a country steeped in speedway history. We are looking forward to renewing this legacy and giving the sport a platform on which to build on for the future.”

From Speedway GP site

Saturday 8th October 2011, 14:00

Kiwi legend Barry Briggs says staging the inaugural FIM New Zealand SGP in Auckland on March 31, 2012 will give the shale sport “a terrific shot in the arm” in his homeland.

The four-time world champion cannot wait to see speedway’s brightest stars visit Western Springs Stadium to launch next year’s World Championship series.

Briggs joined six-time world champion Ivan Mauger and double World Final winner Ronnie Moore in making his nation one of the sport’s strongest 20th century superpowers.

It’s fair to say the Kiwi talent pool has dried up over the past couple of decades, but Briggs hopes the SGP magic will breathe new life into New Zealand’s speedway scene.

"Having such a prestigious event as the Speedway Grand Prix in New Zealand will help remind people of the heritage the sport has there."
- Barry Briggs
He said: “I am a big fan of the Grand Prix series and attend many of the rounds in Europe including the showpiece event in the UK at Cardiff’s magnificent Millennium Stadium. They stand alongside anything that motorsport, on two wheels or four, has to offer.

“It is great news that the series is going to New Zealand and that Bill Buckley is to promote it at Western Springs, which will provide a great track for the boys to strut their stuff.

“Speedway at home has been in the doldrums for a few years but this will provide a terrific shot in the arm and help those trying to raise the profile of the sport again.

“It is only recently that Denmark and Sweden passed New Zealand’s record of World championship wins. Ronnie, Ivan and I managed to amass 12 in our day, but it is 22 years since we managed the last one.

“Having such a prestigious event as the Speedway Grand Prix in New Zealand will help remind people of the heritage the sport has there.”

New world champion Greg Hancock topped the rostrum the last time a Grand Prix round was held in the Southern Hemisphere, triumphing at the Australian SGP in Sydney in 2002.

Having raced in every SGP event since the Grand Prix series was launched in 1995, the Californian is delighted to see the competition grow beyond its traditional European roots.

He said: “I think everyone has been waiting for this. It has been a long time coming. It’s a big move, but they’ve said the globe on top of the trophy is the symbol of us going more global.

“Now they’re going to do it and it gives a motivating and inspiring feel to the sport.

“I was starting to wonder how long it would take before they were able to make the deals and make this thing bigger than it is. But here were are and I’m glad that I’m still going to be a part of it.”

FIM director of sport for speedway Ole Olsen is the man who will oversee the transformation of Western Springs from a midget car track into a World Championship speedway venue.

He is certain the circuit will be well received by the sport’s biggest names when they make the long trek to the land of the long white cloud in March.

He said: “I was at Western Spring in February of this year and we quickly learned that the clay surface, while perfect for the cars, doesn’t work for speedway.

“But our experience of laying tracks at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Ullevi in Gothenburg and PARKEN in Copenhagen, has taught us the exact nature of the materials required and they have already been sourced in Auckland.

“The top surface will be removed early in March, which will allow us plenty of time to bed down a new track which should generate some terrific racing. The size and shape of the track is fantastic and I am sure the boys will just love it there.”

Where can we purchase tickets from?? They go on sale Nov 4 right??