Colourful entrepreneur Tony Quinn has given the middle finger - literally - to critics who believed the New Zealand town of Taupo was not big enough host a Supercars event.
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More than 67,000 fans were at Taupo International Motorsport Park across three days for the first Supercars round in New Zealand since Pukekohe Raceway closed in 2022.
It could not have been a better weekend for circuit owner Quinn, who is also a major shareholder in championship leaders Triple Eight.
Joining winning driver Will Brown and Red Bull Ampol teammate Broc Feeney, who finished second, in their press conference, the Scottish-born Quinn was beaming.
"I believe it's the first time ever that a guy who owns a track and a team wins," Quinn said.
"It was really a fantastic weekend for everybody - for the fans, for the result, for the government, for the success of the track."
Quinn signed off on his answer by directing a middle finger at the journalist who asked about the weekend, but he was actually giving it at critics.
"For all those people that said when it was announced that it could never happen in Taupo - roads are not good enough, there's not enough beds and all these problems that it would never happen," he said.
Taupo will host a Supercars round until at least 2026, but there is a push for a second event in New Zealand.
Quinn also owns the nearby Hampton Downs venue, which was set to make its Supercars debut in 2020 before COVID-19 scuppered those plans.
He also owns Queensland Raceway in Ipswich.
Australian Associated Press
