The inspection was on foot rather than on wheels, but that did not faze the 76 people who took part in the tour of the 88ha Highlands Motorsport Park development. They travelled from as far afield as Auckland to view the park progress.
"There's been a very enthusiastic response, especially considering Bathurst was on today, and we'll be holding another tour later this month," one of the people behind the project, Grant Aitken, of Queenstown, said.
Mr Aitken, together with Ian Begg and Allan Dippie, both of Dunedin, came up with the idea for the park about a decade ago and were joined later by Scott O'Donnell, of Invercargill.
"It was our dream to have a motorsport park in Central Otago, and we pursued that, even though some people thought we had rocks in our heads," Mr Aitken said yesterday, during the tour.
The men approached car-racing enthusiast, VIP Petfoods owner, millionaire Tony Quinn, of Queensland, to see if he was interested in a stake in the project.
Rather than buying a share, he offered to "buy the lot" and it was thanks to Mr Quinn's involvement the development had surged forward, Mr Aitken said.
"He's pushed along with this project, and achieved in 10 months what it would have taken us much longer to do."
The 4.5km international standard circuit track should be completed early next year and the first race meeting will be the Australian GT series in November 2013. Race days are limited to 16 a year, under the conditions of the park's resource consent.
The main concept behind the park was a "motorsport country club" where members could use the track and facilities perhaps 350 days a year, Mr Aitken said.
As well as three tracks and a kart track, the complex includes facilities open to the public, including a restaurant, mini golf and a motorsport museum.
The Highlands name was Mr Quinn's idea.
"Tony's described this place as Disneyland for motorsport fans, and it will be a place where big kids can come and play," Mr Aitken said.
The restaurant, based in the former Big Picture building, should be open by the end of next month, making it the first part of the development in operation.
Cromwell Community Board chairman and deputy mayor of Central Otago, Neil Gillespie, said the park would provide "an amazing series of attractions to entice people to come to Cromwell".
