December 1995 will see the last running of the waterfront touring car race
in Wellington, New Zealand. This race, formerly known as the Nissan Mobil
500, has built up quite a reputation since it began in the mid-80s and was
a round of the world touring car championship in 1987. The Schnitzer BMW
team has been a regular visitor, and winner, although Tim Harvey was the
overall winner last year in a Motorola BMW. The meeting is a round of this
year's FIA Asia-Pacific touring car championship.

It's a street race, partly through streets near the centre of the city and
partly right on the waterfront -- if a driver managed to leap the wall
he'd be in the water. It's not quite Monaco but it is a special setting
and makes excellent TV.

Now the Wellington City Council has decided not to support the race after
this year, because of complaints about noise, traffic rerouting etc.
Earlier the council helped bankroll the race as part of its atempts to
make Wellington appear to be a fun place (the city is renowned in NZ for
its awful weather, earthquakes and general dullness).

The race itself will probably survive; the most likely option is that it
will just pack its bags and go to Auckland. Which could be a good thing in
the long run.

Bernard Carpinter