Turf damage may block supercross repeat

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

COLLATERAL DAMAGE: A Waikato Stadium groundsman sprays the turf after the weekend supercross event left the grass dying.

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A repeat of last weekend's Australasian supercross championship round at Waikato Stadium is in doubt after the turf took a hammering in the event.

About 5000 tonnes of soil were poured on to the field last week for the biggest supercross race held in New Zealand.

The event was touted as a success, with Global Action Sports' Mike Porra saying he wanted the Hamilton round to become a permanent fixture on the Australasian supercross calender.

However, Hamilton City Council event facilities manager Mark Christie said any future decisions would heavily depend on the results of grass and soil tests.

Mr Christie said the turf had been damaged by the event but it was due to be replaced anyway as it had come to the end of its cycle. "It has always been planned to re-turf because it is part of the 8-10 year depreciation cycle. That is why we can have an event like the supercross.

"We will have to see how much damage the turf has sustained and how long it takes before it can be used for the next event before we will decide anything. Next year we do not have the luxury of re-turfing the ground."

When the soil was trucked off yesterday the grass underneath was brown and dying and a strange smell lingered in the stadium.

"When you have covered the grass for more than four days it doesn't get what it needs to grow. Without water and light it doesn't take long for the grass to start dying off," Mr Christie said.

The top layer, between 70-100 millimetres of the field, will be removed next week and new turf would be sown in January. Mr Christie said the field would be ready by the start of next year's Super 14 rugby competition.

"Once the turf is in it only takes about 10 days before you can play on it."

- © Fairfax NZ News