Pukekohe Park Raceway is being dismantled following the end of motorsport at the historic Auckland venue in 2023.
Circuit owners Auckland Thoroughbred Racing shut down the car racing element of the facility amid plans to sell off parts of the land for housing.
According to a rezoning request lodged earlier this year, parts of the front straight, final turn, hairpin, and dogleg are to be replaced with more than 600 homes.
While the circuit’s tarmac remains for now, significant demolition work on the existing infrastructure around it has already taken place.
Amid the shocking sight of an internationally recognised sporting icon being destroyed, a local company has detailed how the circuit’s tyre barriers have been recycled.
Ward Demolition Limited, run by successful V8 Ute turned TA2 racer Peter Ward, shared images of the process to social media, declaring the project a “surreal moment”.
“If you think about it, we recycled an already recycled material,” read the post.
“Tyres once used on cars, trucks or tractors, were then utilised as crash barriers at the racetrack.
“We’re proud to give them their third and final purpose as fuel at Golden Bay Cement works. These tyres have had an incredible lifespan.
“Each tyre was chopped and shredded down to size before they were trucked up north.
“The metal wires that were separated during this process were sent to the scrap yard for a 100 percent diversion from landfill rate.
“As motorsport fans who grew up at this racetrack it was a surreal moment being involved in its destruction. R.I.P Pukekohe Racetrack.”
In a separate reuse effort, more than 100 truckloads of concrete barriers from Pukekohe are set to be utilised at the new Thunder Ridge Motorsport Park.
That 3.2km facility, located at TECT Park between Tauranga and Rotorua, is slated to open in 2026.
Pukekohe became the first international venue to host the Supercars Championships in 2001 and last did so in 2022.
Supercars returned to the country in 2024 at Taupo International Motorsport Park, with that event to be joined by Ruapuna, Christchurch, next year in a Kiwi double-header.
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