From inception, Pukekohe Park Raceway has been subject to a love/hate relationship within the Kiwi motorsport community. Its location and proximity to our largest city has ensured it has hosted the biggest and most important racing events on the New Zealand motor racing calendar. Yet its facilities and presentation often fell well short of international standards, and of a track befitting its status. Indeed, throughout much of its history it has been the worst-equipped permanent racing track in New Zealand.
Pukekohe’s existence was the result of necessity rather than desire. By 1962, motor racing in New Zealand had become enormously successful, and every summer the nation played host to a series of races contested by current Formula 1 teams and drivers wishing to escape the harsh northern winters; every January New Zealand would become an international motorsport mecca, where races would be held on consecutive weekends. From here, many participants would continue on to Australia before finally heading back home.
In 1950, the first New Zealand Grand Prix (NZGP) was contested at the RNZAF Base Ohakea, 25 kilometres north of Palmerston North. Following a two-year hiatus, the event was held again, at what would become its home for the next decade: Ardmore Airport.
The creation of the NZGP came one year after a similarly important race was first conducted on the wide-open spaces of RNZAF Station Wigram near Christchurch. Together, these two events would be coveted by drivers in what would become the first Tasman Series in 1964, consisting of four races in New Zealand, followed by four in Australia. The importance the biggest and best Formula 1 teams placed on winning the Tasman Series was immense.
The 1962 NZGP was won by
