Feedback from the public during an open week in January, was that they were impressed with the magnitude and the quality of Highlands Motorsport Park, says owner Tony Quinn. While he is thrilled the track will be opening its gatesover Easter, he is also looking ahead to the future, describing the current facilities as a ``work in progress.''
Over winter, pit-lane garages and the control tower will be built and all the electronics fine-tuned. Although the work will be constant, the track will still be usable. In November the park will reverberate to the sound of the Australian GT series for glamour cars and Tony emphasises that this will not be a one-off meeting.
He has designed a transport system building six 40-foot containers that will each house four cars that will allow him to easily ship cars across the Tasman.
``The plan is to bring an Australian racing category to Highlands every year. I'm not talking V8 Supercars; I'm talking GT cars, things like Lamborghinis, Ferraris,
Porsches, cars you don't really see,'' says Tony.
The track has resource consent for 16 racing days a year and Tony said he doesn't want to take business away from other South Island tracks.
``I'm more interested in iconic races,'' he explains, adding that Highlands Motorsport Park was built for annual special events, like Bathurst.
``In three years time I hope to look back and have established weekends for events and a good reputation with international car companies and race teams.''
While that is all in the future, Tony's focus is on getting everything right for the Easter opening
weekend. During Highland Motorsport Park's first event, Tony expects to be so busy making sure all the finer details are attended to he may not get a chance to race his own brand-new McLaren supercar around his own track.
``It's quite a sad story but I don't think I'll have time to drive it,'' he says, with a laugh.