Red, Orange, Green … Go!
No shortage of constraints
International motorsport facilities are usually backed by plenty of cash. In the same vein, international motorsport track licensing bodies set safety requirements that are designed for greenfield developments on unlimited areas of land.
In New Zealand, motorsport has less of a profile and sometimes struggles to find the level of sponsorship attracted to sports like rugby. From 2002 to 2005 Mr Abbott and Mr Maskell concentrated on raising capital, as well as working through the resource consent process.
Final design work couldn’t commence until construction funding was approved in 2005. Once under way, Connell Wagner had to deliver on two hard deadlines – the track had to be ready for an international drag-racing event in January 2006 and a round of the New Zealand V8s championships two months later.
To meet the project’s time and cost limitations, the fast-track delivery method was chosen – where design proceeds in tandem with construction. “We backed ourselves that we had the right approach,” says Mr Flannery.
Connell Wagner was responsible for all civil works design, budgets, construction observation, safety design and resource and building consent approvals. Starting construction without a finalised design is a significant risk – one that needed considerable skill to ensure budget, programme and other outcomes were achieved. “There was huge pressure to stay ahead of construction,” says Mr Flannery.
Accommodating cars, motorbikes and drag racers competing in local, national and international events was a complex challenge. Each regulating body – Motorsport New Zealand, the FIA, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the National Hot Rod Association and the New Zealand Drag Racing Association – had its own set of demands that couldn’t be compromised.
Safety requirements included features like barrier offset distances, corner run-off lengths, spectator control and pit lane access. Connell Wagner maintained ongoing contact with each body to ensure the track was fully compliant. In the case of the FIA, site models had to be sent to France for checking at the organisation’s headquarters.
There was limited space at the motorsport park and a deceptively large fall from one end of the site to the other. There were also surrounding constraints, for example, a neighbouring gliding club meant heights on the site had to be controlled. Connell Wagner’s approach was to use the site’s existing features as much as possible, control the volume of earthworks, and minimise the impact on the local landscape.
