Waikaraka Park Reopens With New Zealand's First New Track in 25 Years
Saturday 29 November 2025. Auckland's Waikaraka Park reopened after an $11 million rebuild, and Auckland Council reckons it is the first new speedway track built in New Zealand in nearly 25 years.
The upgrade was delivered by council agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited on behalf of the local board. What the money bought:
- A purpose-built new track, laid to international standards, with the aim of faster and closer racing
- Lighting towers producing 500lux across the racing surface, enough for broadcast
- A pit area for up to 130 racers, forty more than the old one
- A lease running to 2051, held with longtime tenant the Auckland Stock & Saloon Car Club
"Aucklanders and visitors can now enjoy a modern, international-standard speedway facility, with faster racing and an improved fan experience. With a long-term deal secured that guarantees the presence of four-wheel speedway classes at Waikaraka Park, it is great to have a facility that preserves the viability of speedway in Auckland for years to come."
— Nick Hill, Chief Executive, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited
Waikaraka has hosted speedway since 1967. It now carries all of Auckland's four-wheel classes, including the midgets and sprintcars that used to race at Western Springs.
That last part is the complicated bit, and it is not really a story about a track. Speedway New Zealand has said publicly that it supported upgrading Waikaraka but never agreed to close Western Springs, and the decision that moved the sport is now the subject of a judicial review heard in the High Court in July 2026.
We have written up where that fight actually stands separately, because the new track and the argument about how it came to exist are two different things and both deserve to be reported straight.
Waikaraka's own 2026/27 season is on its track page, and it is a busy one.
Figures and quote from Auckland Council's release on the reopening. Reported by RNZ and the NZ Herald.