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Sam MacNeill of the Toyota Racing Series - Source: Courtesy of Sam MacNeill -
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Taupo has lost the New Zealand A1GP motor racing round, and is to be replaced by the new Hampton Downs circuit in the north Waikato.
A1GP New Zealand on Tuesday confirmed that, following submissions from Taupo Motorsport Park and Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, its preference was for Hampton Downs to host the race in early November.
Hampton Downs - midway between Auckland and Hamilton - confirmed on Tuesday it intended to be open for business from June and have its international circuit completed by September.
That would allow an A1GP double header in Australasia to go ahead with the Gold Coast round in October and the Hampton Downs round in early November.
"We will be making a recommendation to A1GP directly that if the event comes back to New Zealand in 2009, our preference would be for a race at Hampton Downs with an early November date," A1GP promoter Gary Dawson said.
"Taupo has done a really great job over the past three years but the commercial reality for the event and the series is that it needs to be closer to larger population bases and Hampton Downs sits neatly between both Hamilton and Auckland."
