The businessman/racer owns Taupo International Motorsport Park as well as fellow North Island venue Hampton Downs Motorsport Park and the South Island’s Highlands Motorsport Park.
He was already on-record as saying he would be proposing a New Zealand double-header to Supercars off the back of the Taupo event and his cause could hardly have been done any harm by how the weekend played out.
A three-day attendance of 67,411 was achieved despite the circuit’s location in the centre of the North Island, away from larger population centres, with most Saturday and Sunday tickets sold out.
“There’s been a lot of talk but I have a habit of walking as well,” said Quinn after Sunday’s race.
“So, I think the talk will develop into walk.
“You know, I really want to devote a lot of my time that I’ve got left to motorsport.
Secure your spot today.
“I’ve invested heavily into it and I love it and we’re successful in it, and long may that continue.”
Team owners Matt Stone and Brenton Grove both expressed their support for a second New Zealand event when queried on the subject over the weekend, as did RACE Chairman Barclay Nettlefold in an interview on local radio.
“The government is excited, they have been fully supportive both commercially and financially,” Nettlefold told The Rock.
“And that’s the beauty of it — it brings so much money and relevance to the region, and the region is just jumping.
“What’s the investment to get us here, we might spend $5 million to get us here, so on that basis, why don’t we do a back-to-back? Why don’t we work with government to find a suitable back-up weekend?
“These are discussions that we need to have, and creating a little bit of a sub-championship inside our championship.”
Quinn himself makes at least three team owners eager for a second New Zealand event, considering his 40 percent stake in Triple Eight Race Engineering.
It was the performance of the Red Bull Ampol Camaros in Sunday’s race at Taupo, when Will Brown beat Broc Feeney to victory in a thriller, which made for an even more special occasion, and a rare feat in Supercars.
“I don’t have words for it, to be fair,” said Quinn.
“I believe it’s the first time that’s ever happened, that a guy that owns a track and team to win.
“To come away from what really was a fantastic weekend for everybody; for the fans, for the result, for the government, the success of the track and to all those people that said when it was announced that it could never happen in Taupo, the roads aren’t good enough, there’s not enough beds, all these problems that we were saying it’ll never happen…”
Taupo is the third New Zealand circuit to host a championship points-paying Supercars event, after the Hamilton Street Circuit and the now-closed Pukekohe Park.
Discussion about this post