After the races back on the Harbour Circuit in 1984 and 1986 there was a short break before racing returned to the Oval Circuit. The Oval had been highly regarded as a racing circuit when it was used between 1960-62. However, since the sixties a motorway had been built in the area and this fundamentally affected the return to the Oval. Wilkie Road between The Glen and Bridgeman Street had been cut in half and you could no longer travel between these two points on this road. And Bridgeman Street no longer joined up with Andersons Bay Road. The circuit layout would have to be substantially revised.
At this point the organisers had a cheeky brainwave- why not use the new motorway? Remarkably, the authorities said yes to the idea. For the next eighteen years one Sunday each February the Dunedin Southern Motorway section of State Highway One would be closed to allow a street race to occur.
Two versions of the circuit were used between 1989 and 2007. In 1989 it ran clockwise and started on Princes Street, more or less outside the petrol station opposite the Oval ground. The cars headed north and made a right turn into Jervois Street then another right to head south on Crawford Street before veering left onto Andersons Bay Road. Then it was right onto the motorway before exiting at The Glen at a very sharp hairpin where the road width narrowed considerably. From the hairpin it was up the hill on South Road and down the other side past the cemetery. To lower the speeds of the cars as they arrived back on Princes Street the circuit used a chicane established by requiring the cars to turn right at the bottom of the South Road hill as though they were going to turn towards South Dunedin. However, they then flicked quickly left to head north on Princes Street again. This was the "long" version of the resurrected Oval Circuit and it ran like this for two or three years before switching to a "short" version.
The short circuit wasn't all that much shorter but it cut out the Jervois Street block. Off of Princes Street the cars now turned right into Andersons Bay Road at "Tramsheds Corner" directly opposite the bus depot. The rest of the circuit layout was the same.
In 1993 the direction of the circuit was changed to anti-clockwise but this only lasted 2 or 3 years before reverting to clockwise.
As with the 1984 and '86 races on the Harbour Circuit the races on the Oval from 1989 to 2007 were for classic and historic racing cars. There was also a class for "Clubmans" cars as a thank you to the Otago Sports Car Club members whose volunteer work was essential for setting up and dismantling the circuit and for marshalling on race day.
The end of street racing in Dunedin had its genesis in a tragic event in Queenstown in 1998. Queenstown had been briefly running its own street race event. During the 1998 running a competing car crashed into a group of spectators, killing two and injuring several others. The Queenstown circuit had been prepared to the safety standards of Motorsport New Zealand, the governing body of motorsport in the country. However, the police decided to charge four people who had been involved in the organization of the race with a number of different offences, the most serious of which was manslaughter. The police position was that, effectively, the organization of the event had been deficient and members of the public had been placed at risk. During the subsequent trial a deal was struck that saw the charges against the individuals dropped and charges laid against Motorsport NZ instead. The organization pleaded guilty. It was a sobering experience for motorsport in New Zealand and, not surprisingly, immediate steps were taken to tighten up safety standards at racing circuits, especially temporary street circuits. From the early 2000s the Oval Circuit seemed to have new safety requirements placed on it every year. No-one disagreed with the need to make the sport as safe as possible but the cost of meeting the requirements was becoming prohibitive. After the 2007 event it was announced that the cost of making the circuit comply with the regulations had reached crisis point and no further events could be run.
However, most of the basic infrastructure of the circuit still exists. Significant armco barriers were erected on parts of the circuit by the organizers and these are still there on South Road hill and along the west side of the motorway between Andersons Bay Road and the King Edward Street overbridge. At The Glen there have been intersection changes and you can no longer enter the motorway here. However, the authorities have left in place the now-redundant piece of road linking South Road and the motorway in case a race is ever held again. Along Princes Street there are still holes in the pavement surface, blanked off by little covers, where the uprights for temporary armco were installed. Technically, it is entirely possible to race on the Oval Circuit again.
The cache is small so BYOP. It is located near some of the armco erected on South Road for the races. GZ also affords a view of the motorway below.
Many thanks, once again, for the invaluable assistance of W.E.K.A. in tracking down some of the information, especially dates, for this cache.
(Note: due to repeated muggling the cache that covers the 1954-58 races has been archived but can still be viewed at GC5TMCT. Similarly, the cache covering the 1960-62 circuit has been archived but the cache page, with its information about the circuit, is still available for viewing at GC5TPEA. The 1984 and '86 cache has also been archived but the cache page, with its information, can be viewed at GC5YF0)