Last week we were once again delivering the Sucrogen Townsville 400. It is such a pleasure being involved in this Event with V8 Supercars and we were really proud of the product our collective teams put together.

It is such a great community event and one that we hope to be a part of for a long time to come. Congratulations to everyone involved.For the past few months, we have been working with V8 Supercars on an upgrade proposal for Pukekohe Park in New Zealand. During the Townsville event last week, it was announced by V8SC that this proposal was successful in obtaining Government funding and the NZ round of the Championship would move to Pukekohe Park in April, 2013.iEDM provided conceptual master planning, funding feasibility and application documentation for V8 Supercars to assist in this process.

The NZ$6.6 million project, which will be jointly funded by Auckland Council, Major Events New Zealand and V8 Supercars, will provide safety, operational and patron amenity upgrades to the existing circuit.

iEDM will be providing all engineering project management, design and delivery of these upgrades as well as event overlay master planning and detailed design.Works will include resurfacing parts of the track, installation of new concrete barriers and debris fence, construction of up to 2 new pedestrian bridges, pit and paddock upgrades and other patron amenity upgrades.Pukekohe Park was chosen by V8 Supercars due to its close proximity to Auckland.

The Event is expected to annually contribute around NZ$7.5 million to the economy of Auckland as well as provide a range of legacy benefits to the region.There are some unique challenges with this project to bring the circuit up to the required safety and operational standards required by V8 Supercars.

Timing the construction between existing events is going to require careful planning and upgrading the circuit, while maintaining the heritage of the venue is also something we need to pay attention to.

The project timeframe is extremely tight, with the first event less than 9 months away.The Pukekohe Upgrade is another project we are very excited and proud to be involved in, with V8 Supercars.

We are sure that the project will be a success for all parties involved.Photo: Courtesy of V8 Supercars – the last round of the Championship held at Pukekohe, in 2007.