Wellington 500
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The Wellington 500 was a 500 km (310 mi) street race for touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand. The race was first proposed in 1984 and first took place a year later with a different layout from that to the original proposal.
Initially dubbed the Nissan Cue 500, the first event in 1985's title was changed at the last minute to the Nissan Sport 500 due to Cue Magazine's demise in the week preceding the event. The following year Mobil became a naming sponsor and the Nissan Mobil 500 name was born.
The Nissan Mobil 500 was actually a two-event series with the first round being held at the Wellington Street Circuit and the second at Pukekohe Park Raceway south of Auckland.
In 1987 the Nissan Mobil 500 Wellington Street Race was a round of the inaugural FIA World Touring Car Championship. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success - the FIA feared it would take money away from Formula 1 and stopped sanctioning the Championship.
The race went through four different types of touring cars classes from Group A to Supertouring then the category now known as V8 Supercar. There would not be another race after 1996 due to political reasons, despite being a popular event for both drivers and spectators. In 2004, there were plans to revive the race as a V8 Supercar event, to feed on its high popularity in New Zealand with many popular New Zealand drivers competing in that series in Australia. As the roads where the circuit used to be have now been demolished to make way for a museum and other buildings, it would have to be run on a new course. There was a new proposal in 2006 with a new layout.
Both of the 2006 Proposals were revoked through the Resource Management Act.
The proposed race has now been dropped in favour of the street circuit of Hamilton.
[edit] Winners List
| Year | Driver | Car |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Michel Delcourt/ Robbie Francevic |
Volvo 240 turbo |
| 1986 |  Peter Brock/ Allan Moffat |
Holden Commodore |
| 1987 | Peter Brock/ Allan Moffat |
Holden Commodore |
| 1988 |  Emanuele Pirro/ Roberto Ravaglia |
BMW M3 |
| 1989 | Emanuele Pirro/ Roberto Ravaglia |
BMW M3 |
| 1990 | Emanuele Pirro/ Johnny Cecotto |
BMW M3 |
| 1991 | Emanuele Pirro/ Joachim Winkelhock |
BMW M3 |
| 1992 | Tony Longhurst/ Paul Morris |
BMW M3 |
| 1993 | Owen Evans/ Bruno Eichmann |
Porsche 911 |
| 1994 (race 1) |  Tim Harvey |
BMW 318i |
| 1994 (race 2) | Joachim Winkelhock |
BMW 318i |
| 1996 | John Bowe |
Ford Falcon |
