The Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is situated in rural northern Waikato (about halfway between Auckland and Hamilton on the Waikato Expressway), New Zealand near the Meremere drag strip and the dirt track club. History The motorsport park is an ambitious privately funded enterprise by two motorsport friends, Tony Roberts and Chris Watson. Roberts and Watson purchased two dairy farms from Envirowaste in December 2003 and began the long task of getting resource consent to build the Motorsport Park. Opposition from Transit NZ and the Corrections Department (their new prison is 2 km away) caused delays due to concerns over traffic, litter and odour, which was ironic with the landfill only away. The concept of apartments on the edge of the circuit was entirely new and untested in the market. Roberts and Watson came up with the concept from observing its success alongside golf courses to help fund the project. It was a major success, with the 80 apartments selling in only 5 weeks in 2006 and returning $26 million to help fund the project. With construction beginning in February 2007. The completion was planned for late 2008, but a particularly wet winter pushed the opening out to October 2009. Some of the circuit was built on swampy ground, and Fraser Thomas Ltd, the engineers on the project utilised modern pre-loading technology to ensure that the land would be stable enough to support a race track. The earthworks were carried out by Ross Reid Ltd, who purchased laser controlled graders to ensure an accurate build of the circuit. In January 2010 Hampton Downs was officially opened by the Waikato District Mayor, Peter Harris, at the Bruce McLaren Festival. This Festival was the first of the very successful Historic Motorsport Festival promoted to celebrate a famous New Zealander, or car marque. Hampton Downs has become a major venue for local motorsport without the restrictions imposed by tracks that share the use with the horse racing fraternity like Pukekohe Park Raceway. It also reflects a modern approach to motor race track design and associated amenities. The 160ha development's initial plans also included an industrial park, events cafe, motor lodge, lifestyle blocks, 80-trackside apartments and convention centre (re-located Britomart Pavilion) and the track is already booked out five days a week for driver training and various industry promotions. In 2015, Tony Quinn purchased the complex and work started almost immediately to complete the circuit