The FIM Speedway Grand Prix series will launch in New Zealand next year as the brightest stars of the shale collide in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time in almost a decade.
Western Springs Stadium in Auckland will stage the first ever FIM New Zealand SGP on Saturday, March 31, 2012. Tickets will go on sale next month on 04 November.
The meeting will be jointly promoted by SGP rights holders BSI Speedway and Bill Buckley, principal of Springs Promotions. Western Springs stadium is situated in the city of Auckland and is currently home to midget car racing.
FIM Director of sports, Speedway, Ole Olsen and his team, who build temporary tracks in Cardiff, Copenhagen and Gothenburg, have been tasked with turning it into a World Championship speedway circuit.
And BSI Speedway managing director Paul Bellamy cannot wait to see the place play host to the likes of new world champion Greg Hancock, Polish icon Tomasz Gollob and Aussie legend Jason Crump.
He said: “Taking the SGP series out of Europe has always been a huge goal for us, so we are delighted to be bringing the sport’s biggest names to New Zealand.
“The country has provided some of the sport’s all-time greats, including Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs.
“I hope that bringing the stars of today to Western Springs will inspire a generation of young riders in New Zealand and encourage them to follow in the footsteps of past Kiwi world champions.”
Buckley has always been a huge fan of speedway solos, as they are known Down Under. So he is pleased to be playing his part in putting New Zealand firmly back on the shale sport map.
He said: “I’m delighted our dream of bringing World Championship speedway back to New Zealand has become a reality.
“I’ve always been a huge motorsport fan and attended the FIM Doodson British SGP in Cardiff last June. The Grand Prix series is speedway at its very best and I’m sure we can put on a great show to get the 2012 World Championship underway.”
Expanding the series outside of Europe is a strategy that the governing body, the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) also welcomes as Roy Otto, FIM CCP Director explains:
“Developing the SGP series into new territories such as the southern hemisphere is an objective the FIM embraces. New Zealand is a country steeped in speedway history and we are looking forward to renew this legacy and give the sport a platform on which to build on for the future.”
Photo - Western Springs Stadium Auckland