A few months back, New Zealand-based Pukekohe Park announced ceasing motor racing activities in 2023. One petition later, the iRacing developers announced they would preserve Pukekohe Park Raceway in their subscription-based racing sim.
On April 2, 2023, the last motorsport event will take place at the racecourse before the site turns its attention to thoroughbred racing activities.
Paul Wilcox, ATR chief executive, said that the motorsport closure marks the end of an era, but that it will allow the Club to continue in its efforts to safeguard the nature of thoroughbred racing in Auckland.
"We can appreciate today's announcement will be big news for many," Wilcox said. "Motorsport has undoubtedly had a strong association with Pukekohe Park, becoming synonymous with our racecourse since the first-time cars and bikes raced on it in 1962."
"However, our purpose is to facilitate thoroughbred racing at our Auckland venues with our vision being to provide a sustainable future for our sport in New Zealand."
While, right after the announcement, a petition was formed to have iRacing immortalise the legacy of Pukekohe, that was apparently not the main reason for the decision.
“Within a few hours of the announcement about Pukekohe Park’s repurposing, we reached out to iRacing to scan the circuit and they agreed almost immediately,” said MotorSport New Zealand CEO, Elton Goonan.
More than 7000 people signed an online petition in support of the digital version of the circuit, as well as Supercars and IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin, who is known as the 'King of Pukekohe'.
“While we were working in the background, the petition and campaign of James Anderson, a passionate fan and sim-racer, certainly helped get this across the line,” added Goonan.
“iRacing is proud to help preserve such an important piece of New Zealand motorsport history as Pukekohe Park,” said iRacing executive vice president Steve Myers.
“From Supercars to the New Zealand Grand Prix, Pukekohe hosted many of the world’s top racers and most competitive racing series over nearly 60 years. By bringing the track to iRacing, future generations will have the opportunity to lap the famous circuit exactly as it was before its closure, giving them a sense of what made this track so beloved to so many.”
Is iRacing planning on continuing its business like it is doing now for generations to come? And is immortalisation truly possible in live-service, subscription-based games?
Personally, I doubt calling this endeavour "immortalisation" until the laser-scanning data gets released either into public access or at least a classic pay-to-own game.
To be fair though, every digitalisation effort is highly appreciated. After all, a piece of motorsport history is about to disappear. So we should do everything in our power to preserve such historical venues.
What do you think about this coming addition to iRacing? Let us know in the comments down below!
The End of an Era
Earlier this year, the track owners of Pukekohe announced ceasing motorsport activities. The venue will continue its horse racing activities, however.On April 2, 2023, the last motorsport event will take place at the racecourse before the site turns its attention to thoroughbred racing activities.
Paul Wilcox, ATR chief executive, said that the motorsport closure marks the end of an era, but that it will allow the Club to continue in its efforts to safeguard the nature of thoroughbred racing in Auckland.
"We can appreciate today's announcement will be big news for many," Wilcox said. "Motorsport has undoubtedly had a strong association with Pukekohe Park, becoming synonymous with our racecourse since the first-time cars and bikes raced on it in 1962."
"However, our purpose is to facilitate thoroughbred racing at our Auckland venues with our vision being to provide a sustainable future for our sport in New Zealand."
A New Beginning
However, this end of the motorsport era at Pukekohe will enable one virtual rebirth. iRacing has announced to laser scan the New Zealand race track and, therefore, "preserve" it.While, right after the announcement, a petition was formed to have iRacing immortalise the legacy of Pukekohe, that was apparently not the main reason for the decision.
“Within a few hours of the announcement about Pukekohe Park’s repurposing, we reached out to iRacing to scan the circuit and they agreed almost immediately,” said MotorSport New Zealand CEO, Elton Goonan.
More than 7000 people signed an online petition in support of the digital version of the circuit, as well as Supercars and IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin, who is known as the 'King of Pukekohe'.
“While we were working in the background, the petition and campaign of James Anderson, a passionate fan and sim-racer, certainly helped get this across the line,” added Goonan.
“iRacing is proud to help preserve such an important piece of New Zealand motorsport history as Pukekohe Park,” said iRacing executive vice president Steve Myers.
“From Supercars to the New Zealand Grand Prix, Pukekohe hosted many of the world’s top racers and most competitive racing series over nearly 60 years. By bringing the track to iRacing, future generations will have the opportunity to lap the famous circuit exactly as it was before its closure, giving them a sense of what made this track so beloved to so many.”
Pukekohe's Digital Future
One interesting keyword in there is "future generations". This begs the question of how iRacing wants to enable the enjoyment of their circuits for entire generations.Is iRacing planning on continuing its business like it is doing now for generations to come? And is immortalisation truly possible in live-service, subscription-based games?
Personally, I doubt calling this endeavour "immortalisation" until the laser-scanning data gets released either into public access or at least a classic pay-to-own game.
To be fair though, every digitalisation effort is highly appreciated. After all, a piece of motorsport history is about to disappear. So we should do everything in our power to preserve such historical venues.
What do you think about this coming addition to iRacing? Let us know in the comments down below!
