Cloaked in controversy, speedway at Western Springs has ended.
After 96 years of huge crowds and spectacular motorsport action, Auckland’s Western Springs Speedway had its final meeting on Saturday, 22 March.
The evening’s premier race was a 96-lapper for midget cars, with a five-minute refuelling break at 50 laps.
A crowd estimated at 20,000 or more turned out to farewell the Springs as a motorsport.venue.
The event marks the end of an era for a venue synonymous with speedway racing since 1929. Set in a natural amphitheatre near central Auckland, it proved a perfect venue for racing, and by 1937, the first midget car races were drawing crowds in their thousands.
After WW2, the Springs was more than just a sports venue, it was Auckland’s Saturday night entertainment mecca. With massive crowds packing the terraces, speedway became woven into the city’s fabric, drawing families back year after year. As decades passed and motorsport evolved, the Springs remained a place where racing history was made. Over following decades, the stadium became one of the world’s best speedway venues, hosting legends like Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs and Ronnie Moore on two wheels, and American stars like A.J. Foyt and Sleepy Tripp on four wheels.
Auckland Council, and its predecessor the Auckland City Council, has juggled the complaints of local residents and the response of the vocal motorsport community for several decades, with the embedded group of councillors supporting closure growing stronger and stronger.
Finally, in 2024, the Council voted 11-8 to invest $11 million into upgrading Waikaraka Park in Onehunga, intending to make it the Speedway’s new home from the 2025-2026 season.
The highly controversial decision to relocate the Speedway comes after extensive discussions and planning by the Auckland Council.
The move was rubber-stamped despite strong opposition from the Speedway and wider motorsport community and alleged fraudulent handling of the process by the Auckland Council which is now facing legal action challengh9ing its processes in the weeks leading up to the decision.
The Serious Fraud Office is now investigating multiple letters of support used in the final meeting with council CCO Tataki Auckland Unlimited and local governing bodies. One of these letters, written by Speedway New Zealand, was not used by the Council in the way intended and was instead used to mislead the councillors. SNZ was only supportive of the investment and upgrades at Waikaraka Park.
SNZ stated its position had been completely misrepresented.
General Manager of SNZ Aaron Kirby said if the true intent of their letter was not conveyed to council members, the organisation would withdraw the letter of support altogether.
“Speedway New Zealand does not support the closure of Western Springs Speedway for numerous reasons that we feel have not been given an opportunity to speak to, let alone consult our members on.
“We believe the implication that we support the masterplan will have far-reaching consequences of both our organisation and the sport.”
During the final meeting on the stadium’s future, TAU and Auckland Council ignored Speedway’s statement, voting to close Western Springs Speedway and allocate the $11 million in funding toward the upgrades at Waikaraka Park. Waikaraka requires upgrades likely to cost more than $18 million.
One of the Council members who opposed closure is Albany Ward Councillor John Watson. He says several of the letters of support presented to the meeting were “completely fabricated, fraudulent and misleading.”
Mayor Wayne Brown says the move aims to provide a sustainable, long-term future for the sport in Auckland. He said Western Springs faced constraints such as limited event numbers and operational losses, making the relocation “a practical solution.”
TAU’s Director of Auckland Stadiums, James Parkinson, says moving speedway from the Springs will enable the council to make more revenue from the site.
“The greatest cost to TAU of Speedway at Western Springs is the opportunity cost through not being able to host higher yielding activity. If we were in a position of operating the stadium without speedway, there would be a projected improvement of up to $1.1 million.”