Hamilton City Council (HCC) and V8 Supercars today announced the early termination of their agreement to stage the annual ITM400 Hamilton V8 Supercars street race. This means that next year’s event – scheduled for April, 2012 – will be Hamilton’s final V8 Supercars event. In 2010, following the financial demise of the previous promoter, V8 Supercars stepped in to save the event and took on the a... more...

Hamilton’s 2011 ITM400 V8 Supercars race attracted more than 31,000 race-going visitors to the city, 7,500 more visitors than for the inaugural event in 2008. A snapshot survey of event goers by Touchscreen Marketing and Research, commissioned by Hamilton City Council, showed the average weekend spend by each visitor was $210. This resulted in a direct spend by visiting event attendees in the cit... more...

Hamilton has become the first city on the international V8 Supercars circuit to have a dedicated iPhone application. The Hamilton iPhone app, developed by local company Vo2, will be launched at the ITM400 Hamilton event on 15 April, to coincide with the three days of racing and entertainment. The application can be downloaded from Apple’s iTunes store. It carries event information including dri... more...

Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker has confirmed Council’s commitment to V8 Supercars Australia and its promotion of the V8s in the city next year. Ms Hardaker says the recent publication of the cost of the V8s and the fact that it is much more than Council and ratepayers would have wanted should not detract from the fact V8 Supercars Australia is now behind promoting and managing the event in Hamilto... more...

A public report to Council on the V8 Supercar event was released today showing that the total cost of the event over three years has been $27. 4m. This does not include commercially confidential amounts such as event sponsorship payments. The public report gives more detail around the financial information already contained in Council’s Long-term Plan; including costs paid by Hamilton City Council... more...

Australian and international motorsport leader, V8 Supercars Australia, is to run Hamilton’s ITM400 from next year. The deal, announced today, sees V8SC take over from current promoter Caleta Streetrace Management (CSM). CSM has stepped aside from their role as promoter as they are no longer in a financial position to run and grow the event. V8 Supercars Australia already runs eight of the 15 ... more...

The V8s will officially kick off next month with a launch party in Garden Place. Hamilton hosts its third annual V8 Supercar Streetrace on 16-18 April, when thousands of drivers, teams, corporate guests and motorsport fans come to the city for the New Zealand leg of the V8 Supercar series. The ITM400 Hamilton is the biggest single sporting fixture in New Zealand and coverage of the event showca... more...

Hamilton's newest piece of public art will be unveiled next Tuesday 21 July. Passing Red is a dynamic and interactive work by nationally-acclaimed, local artist Gaye Jurisich which sits along the full length of the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars pit lane on Mill Street as part of the Landscape Mitigation Plan. The work was chosen from a number of high calibre proposals last year by Hamilton City Counc... more...

The upcoming 2009 Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars Street Race is just a few days away. Tonight at midnight the roads that form the race circuit will be closed to traffic so that the last of the concrete safety barrier blocks can be put in place. Racing will take place only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.   The traffic management plan for the event is very similar to last year. It will be operativ... more...

With the 2009 V8 Supercars race revving up to start in the city, Hamilton has launched the ultimate challenge to fans from around the country who think they can make the muster and take on the best that Hamilton can throw at them in the Hamilton Supercharged Challenge! Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock says, "The people of Hamilton are great hosts, we had an excellent start to the V8 Supercars event in ... more...

With the 2009 V8 Supercars race revving up to start in the city, Hamilton has launched the ultimate challenge to Southern fans who think they can make the muster and take on the best that Hamilton can throw at them in the Hamilton Supercharged Challenge! Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock says, "The people of Hamilton are great hosts, we had an excellent start to the V8 Supercars event in its first year ... more...

With the 2009 V8 Supercars race revving up to start in the city, Hamilton has launched the ultimate challenge to Tauranga and Bay of Plenty fans who think they can make the muster and take on the best that Hamilton can throw at them in the Hamilton Supercharged Challenge! Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock says, "The people of Hamilton are great hosts, we had an excellent start to the V8 Supercars event ... more...

With the 2009 V8 Supercars race revving up to start in the city, Hamilton has launched the ultimate challenge to Wellington fans who think they can make the muster and take on the best that Hamilton can throw at them in the Hamilton Supercharged Challenge! Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock says, "The people of Hamilton are great hosts, we had an excellent start to the V8 Supercars event in its first yea... more...

Hamilton City Council and Frankton businesses are teaming up on a campaign to ensure Frankton continues to be its usual hub of activity in the lead up to the 2009 Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars street race. Throughout the month of April over 100 businesses in Frankton will be offering Hamilton shoppers irresistible mega deals as part of Frankton's Mega Deal Month. Hamilton City Councillor Angela O'Lea... more...

Following official due process, a series of four tree removals and four tree plantings will take place in Hinemoa Park from next week. The tree work was a recommendation which came out of last year's Independent Review of the Hamilton 400 and aims to improve visibility at critical areas on the circuit while ensuring the tree removal is mitigated with new plantings. A limited notified resource con... more...

The Frankton Community Liaison Group will be holding two open days this week for members of the Frankton residential, retail, commercial and business community. The forums are intended for sharing information for discussion of ideas around what it means to host the event in Frankton. The open days will take place at Agora Café, Kent Street, Frankton. Thursday, March 5th (4-7pm) Friday, March ... more...

Work for setting in place foundations on Commerce Street, and across the road in the Forlongs Car Park entrance, for the new High Street pedestrian overbridge begins today.   The contractor, Spartan Engineering, expects to start marking up and initial road cutting around 3pm today (Thursday), and is expected to take approximately two hours. This initial work is starting early to avoid the f... more...

The partnership between Hamilton, the Porter family and the Hamilton 400 organisers will continue this year with a repeat of last year's Mark Porter Memorial Dinner. The charity dinner will be held on Thursday, 16 April. The organising committee has announced that CPS, an organisation dedicated to preventing harm to children, will this year be the benefitting charity. CPS is a national organisa... more...

Following a call for Expressions of Interest earlier this year, Hamilton City Council's Public Art Committee has chosen a dynamic and interactive work, Passing Red, by nationally-acclaimed, local artist Gaye Jurisich, to become the city's newest piece of public art. Once built, Passing Red will fit across the full length of the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars pit lane on Mill Street, a distance of appr... more...

A series of resolutions aimed at continually improving the Hamilton 400 event and its impact on Hamilton were passed by Council at a meeting on 17 September. The resolutions come as a result of Council considering the findings of Peter Stubb's independent review of the Hamilton 400 and cover a range of focus areas: Closure of the Hamilton 400 circuit to road traffic Following appropriate legal ... more...

A review of the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar event conducted by independent chairperson Peter Stubbs has been received and will be considered at a Council meeting next week. The report identifies 57 issues for consideration and presents over 100 recommendations as a result of an extensive investigation and analysis of feedback. The review’s primary objectives are to assist in improving the event year... more...

Hamilton City Council is calling for artists to think "creative and dynamic" when it comes to the V8 Supercars pit lane. Expressions of Interest are now open for the Pit Lane Public Art project, a project which Council hopes will deliver to the city another piece of public art which adds value to the site and reflects Hamilton's unique identity. Once it is installed the art piece will contribute ... more...

An independent post-event analysis of the inaugural Hamilton 400 has shown that the economic impact on the city was approximately 40% greater than originally estimated. The study undertaken by Horwath HTL Limited during the week of the Hamilton 400 says that $28. 3 million of new money was generated for the local economy as a result of the city hosting the event. Horwath HTL completed an economic ... more...

The first report resulting from the review of the Hamilton 400 V8 event says all critical resource consent conditions were met and concludes that the maximum number of people attending the event next year may increase. The first report from the independent chairman of the review board deals specifically with compliance conditions outlined in the resource consent. The report covers a debrief with... more...

The process of gathering feedback on the Hamilton 400 V8 event from interested parties will close off at the end of this week to ensure momentum is maintained on the formal review. Council and the promoters have already received hundreds of comments endorsing the event as well as a variety of suggestions for improvement in future years. Many of the comments have come as a result of three public m... more...

The review process for the Hamilton 400 V8 event is now well underway with the appointment of the independent chairperson Peter Stubbs. Mr Stubbs is an Auckland lawyer specialising in event and marketing law and a previous deputy chair of Tourism New Zealand. One of the conditions of the resource consent for the V8 event is for a review to take place. While this is required to be completed withi... more...

As the dust settles after the biggest weekend Hamilton has ever seen, Council elected members have nothing but praise for how Hamilton residents responded to the challenge of hosting the largest annual event in New Zealand. And while infrastructure deconstruction is underway, a post analysis of the event and planning for next year has already begun. Numbers over the V8 weekend surpassed all expe... more...

It's usually a cold day in a hot place when you'd see Ford and Holden "it" boys Greg Murphy and Jason Bright waving the same colours. But the cold day is here. Come race day both motorsport legends are going green to make the most of pit stops and maximise their vehicle performance with Hamilton City Council's Drive like a Saint campaign. Bright says that "Fans can be winners this race weeken... more...

From midnight Wednesday 16 April [tonight] all roads that form the Hamilton 400 V8 race circuit will be completely closed to all vehicles until 6am Monday 21 April. This includes the appropriate sections of Mill Street, Tristram Street, Norton Road, King Street, High Street, Empire Street, Lake Road and Hall Street. All vehicles that residents and occupiers want to be able to use over the race... more...

Council is utilising the Hamilton 400 in conjunction with V8 Supercars Australia to increase awareness of environmental sustainability issues as they relate to major events and to positively impact on environmental behaviours over the race event weekend. The native trees being planted at Whitiora School represent 2000 native trees that Council will be planting in the gully along Resolution Drive ... more...

Hamilton City Council is planning a comprehensive review of the V8 Supercars event, as required under the event Resource Consent, and has decided the process will be managed by an independent chair person. Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock says there are sure to be some learnings from staging the event this year and it is important that the process is seen to be as thorough and independent as possible t... more...

    This Sunday [13 April, from Saturday night midnight] the Lake Road/King Street intersection and roundabout will be closed to traffic for the installation of the cross track pedestrian overbridge. Access to properties and businesses will remain open until Wednesday night midnight.   The intersection will remain closed until 6am Monday 21 April following the Hamilton 400 rac... more...

Hamiltonians and visitors to the city are invited to walk the track for the new Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar event on Thursday 17 April. This is a unique opportunity with the circuit being complete and closed a day before the racing starts. The circuit will be closed only from the Friday in future years, thus this being a one-off opportunity to see the event area from the track, just as the drivers ... more...

As the big V8s prepare for their first ever showdown in the inaugural Hamilton 400, a special timetable of free bus services designed to lessen the amount of traffic congestion and reduce the carbon footprint of the event has been announced. All city buses and additional services to and from the Hamilton 400 will be free from 17-20 April thanks to a special partnership formed between the Hamilto... more...

The inaugural Hamilton 400 festivities will be launched in style with Hamilton mayor Bob Simcock hosting the Hamilton Mark Porter Memorial Dinner on Thursday April 17. The black tie gala event will be held at the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion and will honour the memory of local V8 driver, Mark Porter. The evening will also raise funds for Hospice's pediatric service Rainbow Place, which is devoted to... more...

With just over two months to the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars street race, the race is on to finalise preparations for the track for what will be Hamilton's and the country's largest event and an action-packed weekend. One of the final sections of the track to be prepared is the contouring and resealing of Norton Road Roundabout. The contractor Downer EDi Works has completed the widening of the rou... more...

Hamilton City Council is hosting another V8 Trader Forum next week. The forums are designed to give Hamilton retailers and hospitality operators the inside track on what to expect of New Zealand's largest annual event. The Trader Forum will take place at 10am on Tuesday 29 January in Council's Reception Lounge in Garden Place. The meeting will provide information about proposed road closures in t... more...

The following roads works are scheduled to be undertaken during the period of Thursday 22 November to Monday 24 December as part of the programme of works preparing the track for the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars street race to be held in Hamilton 18–20 April 2008. King/High Street track run off Construction just started. Traffic can expect heavy earth moving trucks in the area. Impact on normal tra... more...

The following roads works are scheduled to be undertaken during the period of Wednesday 31 October to Tuesday 19 November as part of the programme of works preparing the track for the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars street race to be held in Hamilton 18–20 April 2008. Lake Road/King Street The roundabout is being removed, the road reshaped (chicane shape), realignment of underground services and the i... more...

The following roads works are scheduled to be undertaken during the week of Monday 24 to Friday 28 September as part of the programme of works preparing the track for the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars street race to be held in Hamilton 18–20 April 2008. Tristram Street/Rostrevor Street Installation of a large removable centre island– traffic may experience some delays. Tristram Street/Willoughby St... more...

Work has started on the one of the most significant features of the Hamilton V8 street circuit. Pit Lane will cover a 280m long area located on the south side of Mill St between Hinemoa Park and Fraser Tech Rugby Club. Foundations are being laid for what will become the platform for the pit garages and race control structures. The garages themselves are temporary structures that will be erected j... more...

A Community Liaison Group has been formed and is now meeting regularly and providing feedback from the Frankton area to Council and the event promoter regarding issues arising from the V8 Supercars event. The group is made up of individuals from the Frankton area and surrounds that are interested in the effects and benefits of the V8 event to the area. Each member was appointed based on their in-... more...

Landscape work in preparation for the V8 event begins in earnest this weekend with the removal of trees identified for the development of the area. Approximately 50 trees identified as part of the resource consent will be removed over the weekend, mainly in the Mill St and King St areas. As part of the overall landscape mitigation plan approximately twelve trees have already been transplanted and... more...

Next week sees the start of major works along Mill St to prepare the street circuit for the V8 Supercars event next April. A schedule of works is planned for the coming year to prepare the 3. 4km Frankton/city circuit for the seven year race. Current and future works planned include: The median along Mill St will be removed, and the road surface reshaped and resealed to make the road surface f... more...

New kerbing work to prepare the street circuit for the V8 Supercars event next year gets underway this week on the Hamilton circuit. The kerbing works are among the first taking place on the 3. 4km Frankton circuit in preparation for the seven year race. The kerbing works will take place in 3 locations - on the corner of Mill and Tristram Sts, at the corner of Tristram St and Norton Rd, and at th... more...

Works to prepare the street circuit for the V8 Supercars event in 2008 have commenced. A schedule of works to be staggered throughout the year has started with the removal this week of the tree on the Rostrevor street roundabout. The Pin Oak had been identified in the resource consent as a tree requiring removal for the circuit. The Rostrevor/Tristram street intersection will remain a roundabou... more...

The resource consent for what will be the country's biggest annual event, the V8 Supercars street race in Hamilton, has become official. The period for appeals to the Environment Court has now passed, with no objections to the decision by the independent commissioner to grant the resource consent for the event. The confirmation of the resource consent means full planning can now proceed for the ... more...

Tim and Celia Hope have confirmed to Council that they will not appeal the commissioner's decision to grant Hamilton City Council a resource consent for the V8 Supercars streetrace in Hamilton. While the Hopes remain opposed to the streetrace on social and environmental grounds Mr Hope said they would prefer to continue to focus their efforts into more constructive causes. "We believe our effor... more...

Hamilton City Council has received approval of its resource consent application to host the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercar Championship in the city as an annual street race from 2008 to 2014. The streetrace has been a highly sought after event by other New Zealand cities due to the significant economic return, wide reaching media profile and excitement and vibrancy it delivers to its host c... more...

A date has been confirmed for hearings relating to the application for resource consent for Hamilton to host the V8 Supercars event commencing 2008. Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council have jointly lodged for resource consent as the application relates to the event area as well as to three remote car-parking areas. The hearing will commence on Monday 6 November at 9am in the Counc... more...

Hamilton is to get free public transport citywide during the weekend of the V8 Supercar event under a deal struck by the Event Promoter. A progressive transport passenger strategy has been developed that promises to maximise accessibility during the event for both event goers and residents of the city. Several transport initiatives have been identified as part of the strategic planning of the V8... more...

Large numbers from the Frankton community turned out to get more information about the proposed V8 Supercars event at two information and consultation days specifically targeted at affected residents and businesses. Communication manager Sarah Bettle says that between 600 and 800 people attended the information days held at the Hamilton Workingmen's Club. "The majority of people who came along o... more...

The street racetrack proposed for the V8 Supercars event in Hamilton in 2008 has now been finalised in readiness for public consultation. The track has been shortened from what was originally announced and no longer goes directly past as many residential properties as previously proposed. Residents, business and property owners in the vicinity of the track are being directly contacted with upda... more...

Hamilton has secured the rights to New Zealand's only Australian V8 Supercar street race, an event that will launch the city onto the international stage with the first of seven years of racing beginning April 2008. Hamilton mayor Michael Redman says the city has been working for nearly a year to position Hamilton as the exclusive New Zealand host city for the world event in an arena of fierce ... more...