All hands to the lawnmower
New Zealand Grand Prix drivers aren’t the only ones who do laps of the Manfeild track and burn through tanks of petrol.
Manfeild ground staff Dave Mccurran and Sue Lobb are busy preparing the grounds for this weekend’s grand prix in Feilding.
While Fulton Hogan mows the grass on the inside of the track, ride-on mowers and tractors can’t reach all parts, so Manfeild staff have to prepare the rest of the facility and that’s no small task.
Mccurran’s duties include mowing the grass on the terraces and weedeating the banks he can’t take a lawnmower on, sweeping the asphalt and track, removing loose branches and leaves, cleaning inside the garages and setting up the suites.
Mowing the grass is the big job though and it takes about three days to do all of it.
It is believed Mccurran does the equivalent of a lap of the track while he’s doing his mowing duties, about 3.3 kilometres.
He said he would use about 15-20 tanks of petrol for the weedeater.
He wasn’t sure how much cord he would use, but the amount would be staggering. The mower burns through about 20 litres of petrol.
Manfeild operations manager Steve Easthope said 100 tonnes of gravel was delivered for the gravel traps on the side of the track. They are there in case of a crash.
Mccurran also has to spread to gravel in the traps to meet specifications.
It takes about 12 hours to mark the track, with about 9km of paint on the course.
About 6km of that is white paint.
About 900 people from race crews and teams will be at the meeting this weekend, with teams starting to arrive from today.
There will be 10 support classes and the Toyota Racing series in action this weekend.
About 900 people from race crews and teams will be at the meeting this weekend, with teams starting to arrive from today.