Scott McLaughlin has joined calls for iRacing to digitally scan Pukekohe Park before the circuit closes next year.
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing announced last week that motorsport activity will cease at the facility in April 2023 due to an expansion in horse racing activities.
As such, this September’s ITM Auckland SuperSprint is highly likely to be the very last Supercars event at Pukekohe.
Already, a petition has been started in the hope that iRacing will add the track to its simulator platform and that is an idea McLaughlin, whose first points-paying Supercars Championship race win came at the venue, supports.
“Pukekohe is where I got my first win in Supercars; won there in front of my home fans, which is amazing,” said the New Zealander.
“Then had some tremendous championship battles throughout the years, and I watched a Supercar for the very first time there, so that’s sort of where the fire for me burned.
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“I wanted to be a race driver from that point when I first saw a Supercar on the hill there at Pukekohe.
“So, it’s sad. Some of these tracks that are built in residential areas, it’s inevitable that’s going to happen, especially in New Zealand or Australia, but unfortunately, it’s the way it goes.
“But we’ve got tremendous memories there that we should all be proud of and enjoy for years to come.
“I just hope iRacing scan it.
“Yeah, shout out to Steve Myers.”
Steve Myers is the Executive Vice President and Executive Producer at iRacing, which includes five Australian circuits on its platform.
Among those five are Oran Park and Sandown, the former of which closed in early 2010 and the latter of which could well be consigned to history in a matter of years.
Both live on in the virtual world, as it is hoped Pukekohe will too.
At time of writing, the Change.org petition pertaining to the New Zealand circuit had passed 5700 signatures.
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