 | |
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Wellington Street Circuit |
| Number of times held | 12 |
| First held | 1985 |
| Last held | 1996 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 15 |
| Distance | 50 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 15 |
| Distance | 50 km |
| Race 3 | |
| Laps | 15 |
| Distance | 50 km |
| Last Event (1996) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 John Bowe | Dick Johnson Racing |
| Race Winners | |
| John Bowe | Dick Johnson Racing |
| John Bowe | Dick Johnson Racing |
 Greg Murphy | Holden Racing Team |
TheWellington 500 was a 500 km (310 mi)street race fortouring cars which took place atWellington City inWellington,New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1987 event was a round of the1987 World Touring Car Championship.
The final running of the race was in 1996, a non-championship sprint event for teams from theAustralian Touring Car Championship.[1]
The race was first proposed in 1984 and first took place a year later, albeit with a different layout from that to the original proposal. Initially dubbed theNissan Cue 500, the first event in 1985's title was changed at the last minute to the Nissan Sport 500 due toCue Magazine's demise in the week preceding the event. The following yearMobil became a naming sponsor and the Nissan Mobil 500 name was born.
The Nissan Mobil 500 was actually a two-event series with the first round being held at the Wellington Street Circuit and the second atPukekohe Park Raceway south ofAuckland, known as thePukekohe 500. The event was run to theGroup A touring car regulations of the time. Despite the event name, the distance was on occasion less than 500 kilometres due to the slow average speed of the circuit.[2]
For the first race in 1985, theFIA delegate who inspected the Wellington Street Circuit was1960 Armstrong 500 winnerJohn Roxburgh from Australia. He voiced serious concerns about the narrowness of the circuit as well as safety and the circuit did not pass inspection. For the race to be able to go ahead the promoters had to re-write the regulations turning the event from an international race to a national race, thus eliminating the need for FIA approval.[citation needed]
In1987, the Nissan Mobil 500 Wellington Street Race was a round of the inaugural FIAWorld Touring Car Championship. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own Group A rules. Both the factory backedBMW Motorsport (Schnitzer) andFord (Eggenberger) teams were disqualified from some races for technical infringements. Also,Formula One bossBernie Ecclestone had been given power over the WTCC at the last minute over the original organisers, the NZ based Strathmore Group. Ecclestone imposed aUS$60,000 registration fee per car which saw only a small number of cars eligible for championship points. With some races decided by stewards hearings, the WTCC generally descended into a farce by the end of 1987 and the series was not run again in 1988.[3][4][5] An EggenbergerFord Sierra RS500, which had been disqualified from the1987 Bathurst 1000, won the1987 Wellington 500.
Despite the WTCC's demise, the race maintained a point of interest for international teams and drivers in the years following the WTCC event with the popularity of the Group A regulations. The 1988 event was a part of the inauguralAsia-Pacific Touring Car Championship. Schnitzer Motorsport dominated the event in this period, winning four consecutive times forBMW. With three different co-drivers, each of these were won byEmanuele Pirro who became the most successful driver in the event's history.[6]
Following the end of Group A regulations, a combinedSuper Touring andproduction formula was used in 1993 and 1994. The 1993 event was the final 500 kilometre race held, with sprint races used in 1994 and 1996.[1] The 1994 event was again held as a round of the Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship which was run for the second and final time. After no event was held in 1995 due to a lack of funding, the circuit was used for a final time in 1996, as a non-championship event for the teams of theAustralian Touring Car Championship who had moved toGroup 3A Touring Cars regulations in 1993. Twelve cars competed in the event, as part of a two-event series in New Zealand which also included races at Pukekohe. The format consisted of three short sprint races, and the overall winner wasJohn Bowe forDick Johnson Racing.[7]
Despite its popularity, the race never returned after 1996. TheWellington City Council cancelled the event in part because the construction of theTe Papa national museum and theQueen's Wharf Events Centre clashed with the layout of the race track route. In addition the main sponsors Mobil requested a higher level of rate payer subsidy from the City Council.[2]
In 2004, there were plans to revive the race as a V8 Supercars event, to feed on its high popularity in New Zealand, with many popular New Zealand drivers competing in that series inAustralia. As the roads where the circuit used to be have now been demolished to make way for a museum and other buildings, it would have had to be run on a new course. There was a new proposal in 2006 with a new layout. Both of the 2006 proposals were revoked through theResource Management Act 1991.
The proposed race was eventually dropped in favour of theHamilton 400 at thestreet circuit ofHamilton, which hosted V8 Supercars from 2008 to 2012 before the series returned again to Pukekohe.
During 1985-1996 the track changed layout many times. The circuit initially ran along Cable Street to the Taranaki Street Gates, and this was extended to the Herd Street Loop for the 1987 WTCC event. The extensions for 1987 also included Horseshoe Hairpin being lengthened. By 1991 the back straight (Jervois Quay) was modified to make a safer turn onto Cable Street. For 1993 the layout was forced to change due to the construction of the Queens Wharf Events Centre and Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand), which meant the loss of the "traditional" layout.
The fastest official race lap records at the Wellington Street Circuit are listed as:
| Class | Driver | Vehicle | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Circuit: 3.228 km (1993–1994, 1996) | ||||
| Super Touring | Paul Radisich | Ford Mondeo Si | 1:35.230[8] | 1993 Wellington 500 |
| Group B | Owen Evans | Porsche Carrera RS | 1:37.890[8] | 1993 Wellington 500 |
| Group N | Craig Baird | BMW 325i Coupé | 1:43.820[8] | 1993 Wellington 500 |
| Grand Prix Circuit: 3.228 km (1987–1992) | ||||
| Group A | Jim Richards | Nissan Skyline (BNR32) GT-R | 1:28.390[9] | 1991 Wellington 500 |
| Group B | Owen Evans | Porsche 911 | 1:38.980[9] | 1991 Wellington 500 |
| Group N | Possum Bourne | Subaru Legacy RS | 1:43.460[9] | 1991 Wellington 500 |
| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 4 |  Emanuele Pirro | 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 |
| 2 | Peter Brock | 1986, 1987 |
 Allan Moffat | 1986, 1987 | |
| Roberto Ravaglia | 1988, 1989 |
| Wins | Team |
|---|---|
| 4 | Schnitzer Motorsport |
| 2 | Holden Dealer Team |
| Wins | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 6 | BMW |
| 2 | Holden |
| Ford |
41°17′21″S174°46′43″E / 41.2893°S 174.7787°E /-41.2893; 174.7787
