MikeHawkey.com

A recent weekend took my small follower and I to Pukekohe. Armed with my ‘vintage’ Canon EOS 300D we ventured to what was known as Pukekohe Raceway. At the time of visiting, I thought the place looked a little run down from memory… my observations were founded in that the actual raceway (opened in 1963) closed in 2023, bar a couple of later events, the last being D1NZ (drifting) giving the track a final farewell.

As well as the ‘run down’ feeling, the visit was awash of memories – Supercar Races, Open Class, V8’s, Drifting, NZ Grand Prix… some just relic history in NZ Motorsport today. The noise gone, but almost still present in the ghost of the breeze passing through on a otherwise hot day.

It’s still in a stage of decommission as it turns into a race horse venue. Gone are the pit buildings, the over bridge and armco barriers. Remnants of race life still visible in a non locked shed and the demolishing area.

So much of historical Pukekohe township (to me a visitor) is built around the shadow of its motorsport history – it has a Possum Bourne Retirement Village! (One of our great Rally Drivers now gone). Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, Paul Radisich – all big names of their time who tested vehicles to the limit there. The area feels a little odd without it frankly. But times always change. The owners decided to repurpose to thoroughbred ventures and we have a nice world class car facility/track an hour down the road from there in Hampton Downs. Also, digitally the track has been scanned for future e-racing with iRacing – which was cool to read about.

So a belated farewell from me Pukekohe Raceway. Thanks for the memories!