POLL: Did Taupo deliver?

The two, 200km races produced two enthralling contests and five different podium finishers, in different circumstances from Saturday to Sunday.

It is rare that a wet Supercars race is devoid of action and Saturday’s was no exception, before a(n essentially) dry encounter on Sunday featured a dogfight between Triple Eight Race Engineering’s heavyweight duo which saw Will Brown take victory.

Off the track, Supercars proudly proclaimed a three-day crowd of 67,411 people.

That is substantially less than the six-figure attendances which Pukekohe tended to draw, or the 116,698 for the final Hamilton 400 in 2012, but a few points are worth noting.

One, most of the tickets for race days (Saturday and Sunday) sold out weeks ago, so it was difficult, to say the least, to achieve any more; and two, Taupo is relatively remote, being three-and-a-half hours’ drive from Auckland city whereas Pukekohe is part of the Auckland region.

Three, the weekend’s attendance figure essentially matches that of the 2023 Sandown 500 (68,724), an enduro held in a city – ‘in’ being the key word for Melbourne’s suburban Springvale – of five million.

Returning to the contest on the bitumen – bitumen which was of varying quality – and Taupo arguably raced well.

Perhaps lack of experience with the circuit made for less predictable contests, but there was often something of interest going on, including a healthy amount of passing despite the tightness of the layout and hence dearth of particularly hard braking zones.

Turn 1 was perhaps a surprising passing zone, Turn 5 was a hotspot, the Turn 11 hairpin at the top of the circuit was worth keeping an eye on, and a number of drivers made moves work at Turn 12, at the other end of the back straight.

As for that surface, a bit of roughness and variability is hardly unwelcome every now and then, especially in an age when smooth, ultra-modern circuits are criticised for being soulless.

“Chaos is entertainment,” as Chaz Mostert declared.

Furthermore, the back-and-forth layout of Taupo made for some unusual television shots, and the vistas were arguably easy on the eye.

On the other hand, Pukekohe was special, and the sight of a big crowd on the hill watching drivers fight to keep their Supercars on the sweeping main ‘straight’ and bumpy first-corner sweeper was iconic.

Pukekohe, sadly, is gone, and it is debatable as to whether comparisons are fair/reasonable, but they are inevitable.

This reporter even misses the wild chicane which was a signature feature of the Hamilton Street Circuit, although that might not be a widely held position…

So, did Taupo deliver?

We will leave the criteria open to you because the success of an event could be the sporting contest, the broader entertainment proposition, and/or more.

But, what did you think of Taupo? Cast your vote in this week’s Pirtek Poll.