Published: 21 Sep 2020

The South Canterbury Car Club’s track is race fit a year ahead of time thanks to a boost from the Timaru District Council Stimulus fund.

The club was granted $62,096 from the stimulus fund to help fast track the completion of the reseal of the Levels Raceway, just outside of Timaru.

The funding enabled a 7,800 sq m section of the track to be sealed by roading contractor Fulton Hogan, completing the project ahead of time and at a lower cost than the initial staged plan.

The $2 million Stimulus Fund was set up in the aftermath of the Covid-19 lockdown to enable fast tracking of local projects that would provide economic and employment activity, while delivering new or improved facilities for the community.

It has funded ten projects ranging from the upgrade of Alpine Energy Stadium to the works to enable the C-Play feature playground at Caroline Bay and the Geraldine Domain redevelopment.

Visiting the raceway, Mayor Nigel Bowen said that it was great to see the funding in action within the community.

“From an economic stimulus point of view this was a fantastic project to support, and it’s great that they could complete the work so quickly.

“Ensuring the raceway is kept up to modern standards is key to ensuring they can continue to host a calendar of events through the year, which have huge downstream economic benefits to the district’s accommodation, hospitality and retail sectors.

“The car club also actively support the community from enabling fundraising to supporting community use of the track by everyone from the Police to youth groups.”

Kevin Pateman, President of the South Canterbury Car Club said that accessing the stimulus funding meant that they could complete the project this year, rather than spreading it over two years.

“Having all the machinery on site already meant that there was a cost saving to be had, but doing it all in one ensured a higher quality finish, with fewer joins and even a better surface consistency from using a single batch of bitumen.

“Every three years our track is inspected by Motorsport NZ to keep its FIA Category 3 license, which allows the club to run international events as well as National Championships including the NZ Touring Cars and Super Truck Racing.

“Work like this is critical to ensure we can meet these standards and ensure we can attract high calibre events to the district.”

Last updated: 24 Feb 2021