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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from Newstalks EDB.

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Speaker 2: Supercars coming to the South Island for the very first time.

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Speaker 2: Ruapoona Motorsport Park in christ Church will stage a Supercars event.

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Speaker 3: For three years starting next year.

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Speaker 2: The decision forms part of a North and South Island

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Speaker 2: double header, with Toeport to remain on the circuit through

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Speaker 2: until twenty twenty eight. The move marks the first time

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Speaker 2: New Zealand has hosted two events since Supercars began in

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Speaker 2: nineteen ninety seven.

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Speaker 3: Rupoon A Raceway is a proud club run.

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Speaker 2: Venue with deep local routs and a passionate motorsport community,

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Speaker 2: now poised to shine on the international stage. Mark Wetterall

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Speaker 2: is the general manager of the Canterbury Car Club. He

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Speaker 2: joins us now, Mark, thanks for taking the time and

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Speaker 2: congratulations on this news that came through in the last

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Speaker 2: couple of days. How significant is this for motorsport in

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Speaker 2: your region?

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Speaker 4: This is wh This just opens up doors for funding

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Speaker 4: opportunities to help developed the park and improved the track

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Speaker 4: for you know, for decades to come.

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Speaker 2: What sort of work has gone on behind the scenes

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Speaker 2: to get the steal across the line.

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Speaker 4: There's been a lot of a lot of hard work, meetings,

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Speaker 4: track inspections and back and forward. You know, we've got

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Speaker 4: good local support with closures in the in the council

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Speaker 4: and some government support there, so you know, it's all

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Speaker 4: come together. Definitely a team effort from from everyone involved.

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Speaker 2: As the conversations were going on, did you did you

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Speaker 2: get the feeling that Supercars liked what they were seeing?

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Speaker 4: Absolutely from from the first visit. There was a lot

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Speaker 4: of positivity that came out of it. And then I

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Speaker 4: guess we just knew, you know, the location of christ Church,

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Speaker 4: close to the port, close to the airport, we've got

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Speaker 4: good accommodation and restaurants and stuff. We felt it was

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Speaker 4: the right place. But you know we might be a little.

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Speaker 3: By Well, I don't think so at all.

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Speaker 2: As you say, you're not far from you know, from

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Speaker 2: christ Church, infrastructure, accommodation, It seems so obvious.

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Speaker 3: I kind of wonder why it hasn't happened before now.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Well I've been in the role eleven years and

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Speaker 4: probably it's been something that I've wanted to see happen,

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Speaker 4: but I probably just thought it was a dream and

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Speaker 4: one of those things that just you know would never

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Speaker 4: happen at a little club own circuit, but yeah, really

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Speaker 4: cool to see it, you know, come to come to

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Speaker 4: through a.

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Speaker 2: Fruish how much development now needs to be done on

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Speaker 2: the track and the surrounds to upgrade to get things ready.

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Speaker 3: For next year.

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Speaker 4: It's not a huge amount. In year one. We've just

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Speaker 4: got some safety upgrades on the track if it of,

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Speaker 4: you know, like tire bundles and gravel traps, some a

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Speaker 4: realignment of pit entry. A lot of the other things

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Speaker 4: that people probably think we need to do don't have

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Speaker 4: to be done. We've got a sort of the board's

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Speaker 4: got a ten year vision strategy that we're hoping to

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Speaker 4: do in the next sort of three to five years.

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Speaker 4: And then that includes the epelane garaging, some corporate facilities,

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Speaker 4: new race control building and that. So they sort of

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Speaker 4: they're not align with supercars. Well they're aligned, but they're not.

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Speaker 4: They don't form the Supercars deal.

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Speaker 2: So the fact that this is a three year deal though,

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Speaker 2: surely gives you the chance to progress that plan with

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Speaker 2: a high degree of certainty.

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Speaker 4: Mark that is what we hope it will do. And

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Speaker 4: you know, like a lot of the conversations we've been

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Speaker 4: having have been waiting and hinging on the supercars decision.

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Speaker 4: So you know, I'd like to be able to, hopefully,

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Speaker 4: you know, in a year's time, say hey, we're on

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Speaker 4: tractor to get everything done, and that would be the ultimate,

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Speaker 4: you know, the whole for me.

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Speaker 3: The track itself, how much works needed? Do you need

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Speaker 3: to widen it in certain areas for example?

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Speaker 4: No funny, a lot of the social media chat and

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Speaker 4: the experts that know what's going on the track will

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Speaker 4: stay as it is. It's yeah, that is narrow. They

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Speaker 4: you know, I think stock blotsam you know, focused on

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Speaker 4: that that it is narrow, but they creates passing opportunities,

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Speaker 4: different kind of racing and NDEDB eight and then we

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Speaker 4: had the Supertours say race sign on the track as

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Speaker 4: it was.

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Speaker 3: Do you have to up spectator facilities at all?

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Speaker 2: I get the feeling you want what twenty thousand there

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Speaker 2: when the event rolls around.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Look, I think in the first year we'll be looking

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Speaker 4: at some temporary grandstands, but by year two we hope

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Speaker 4: to have permanent grandstanding around the park, so that will

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Speaker 4: accommodate a lot more.

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Speaker 2: Seats for those who have never been to or opponent

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Speaker 2: and this is an opportunity for you to really do

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Speaker 2: a cell job for us.

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Speaker 3: What makes it such a good race track in your view?

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Speaker 4: I think it's a real real balanced technical track. You know,

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Speaker 4: you've got you've got a couple of far sections and

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Speaker 4: then we've got the infield which is a bit winding,

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Speaker 4: a bit technical, and I think you know that's where

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Speaker 4: a lot of the good passing maneuvers sort of happen.

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Speaker 4: And so yeah, the track's a lot of a lot

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Speaker 4: of fun to race and you know, we've had a

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Speaker 4: lot of positivity from professional drivers that seem to enjoy it.

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Speaker 4: And we obviously host the South London Endurance Series most

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Speaker 4: years and we get a lot of international drivers that

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Speaker 4: will turn up to that and they our praises all

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Speaker 4: the time.

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Speaker 2: And no dates confirmed yet for next year. Topau was

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Speaker 2: in April this year. Is it likely to be consecutive weekends?

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Speaker 1: Is that?

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Speaker 2: Has that been confirmed that they'll be? Is that what

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Speaker 2: a double header means? Consecutive weekends?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think anything. Crock Den was that yet.

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Speaker 4: I think they'll wait for the Formula One calendar to

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Speaker 4: come out and then'll oft in the Australia round and

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Speaker 4: then they'll they'll work out how the two New Zealand

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Speaker 4: rounds work. April it will be that most likely time.

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Speaker 2: Have you thought about what it might be like to

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Speaker 2: get a Kiwi winner on your track?

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Speaker 4: Ah ho?

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Speaker 2: How cool?

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Speaker 3: That'd be so good?

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Speaker 2: We have one earlier this year, didn't were the Jason

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Speaker 2: Richards Memorial Trophy going the way of a Kiwi? So

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Speaker 2: who knows? Maybe you'll get a similar scene at Royapoona

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Speaker 2: next year. Mark, terrific news this week. Congrats to you

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Speaker 2: and your team who I know I've put in a

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Speaker 2: huge amount of work behind the scenes and with support

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Speaker 2: from your local council and others in the christ Yeage region.

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Speaker 2: Can't wait to see how do a Poona goes next

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Speaker 2: year and beyond excellent. Thank you very much, no, thank

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Speaker 2: you Mark for joining us. Mark, wead to all General

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Speaker 2: manager of the Canterbury Car Club. Superb News, so two

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Speaker 2: Supercars events in twenty twenty six for at least three years,

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Speaker 2: Topor and Ruapoona a double header, so back to back

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Speaker 2: weekends probably I think we can safely assume in April

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Speaker 2: of twenty twenty six. Those dates will be confirmed a

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Speaker 2: bit later in the year. They're great to have supercars

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Speaker 2: coming to the South Island for the very first time

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Speaker 2: at Ruapoona in twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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