This week, the first structures were transported from Pukekohe to their new home – Thunder Ridge Motorsport Park – located between Tauranga and Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty.
The facilities include the former race control, office block, training rooms and podium.
They were first used by Supercars in 2008 on the streets of Hamilton before being moved to Pukekohe in 2013.
The project is being led by former Hampton Downs Motorsport Park architects Tony Roberts, Roger Williams, and Gary Stirling with Sean McCaughan and Mike Coory.
Bulldozers have begun carving out the track, and it’s hoped Thunder Ridge will open early next year.
“Once the shape of the track has been correctly sculpted into the land we will have a much clearer view of what the end result should look like,” said Roberts.
“It’s certainly the case that it is going to be a spectacular facility visually and will echo the atmosphere of some of the great road courses of the world – like Lime Rock and Laguna Seca with their elevation changes and forest settings.
“Today though, digging the first sod, hearing the bulldozer fire up and get started was just an excellent moment for all of us and the best possible practical start to this major project.”
This article first appeared on Speedcafe.com, a sister site to MotorRacing.com.
