Wigram – The Motor Racing Circuit

Motor Racing at Wigram – Part 4

Following the conclusion of World War II there was a renewed interest in motor racing in Canterbury, but no suitable circuit could be found. Any track chosen needed to be close to the city of Christchurch and provide good vantage points for public viewing. The first option was, with Council permission, to use already existing public roading. However the Police raised objections to road closures for this purpose.

Pressure was on to find a solution that would enable a major meet to be held in 1949 as a dress rehearsal for an even bigger event planned for the following year, the 1950 Canterbury Centenary. An international motor race was envisaged as providing one of the major Provincial celebrations marking this significant anniversary. What was proposed was a Canterbury Centenary Road Race, run on Grand Prix lines.

Fortuitously the winds of good will were blowing in a favourable direction and a great site became available, Wigram aerodrome. In 1948, but in a low key exercise, Wigram had already been used for a one-off ‘Standing Start’ motor club meeting. This had proved to be a positive experience both for motor enthusiasts and for the air base authorities.

The organisers of the proposed 1949 event had close personal contacts with the Papanui RSA which in turn provided a channel to the national President of the RSA, Major General Howard Kippenberger. Kippenberger was a Canterbury man (born at Ladbrooks) and had the ear of the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Peter Fraser. Through their good offices, and with the support of the Wigram Air Force base staff, the Ministry of Defence gave its consent for the perimeter tracks at Wigram to be made available for this purpose.

A new motor race circuit, of potential international quality, was in sight.

Both the 1949 and the 1950 Wigram racing events were managed by the Canterbury Car Club, but from 1951 the running of what now became an annual meet was taken over by the newly formed Motor Racing Club.

This association with Wigram would last for 45 years, from 1949 until 1994 when the move to Ruapuna was made in light of the pending closure of the air base and negotiations for the sale of its land.

Part 2 – At First a NZ Air Force Base – Wigram

Part 3 – Motor sport of another kind

Part 4 – Wigram, the Motor Racing Circuit

Part 5 – Wigram Motor Racing: The First Decade

Part 6 – The Hey-day of International Motor Racing at Wigram