Multi-millionaire and motorsport enthusiast Colin Giltrap is lining up a bid for Whenuapai Air Base, the Independent Financial Review reported today.
Speaking from London, Mr Giltrap said he was launching a bid for Whenuapai with Frank Radisich and Peter Sinton, both directors of Auckland Motorsport Park and V8Supercars Whenuapai.
The car salesman, reputed to be worth $293 million, has bankrolled New Zealand's entry in the international A1 Grand Prix.
He told the business weekly he planned to use the airbase to stage both the New Zealand leg of the A1 series and the V8 Supercar races, now held in Hamilton.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is scheduled to quit Whenuapai by 2015.
Air New Zealand, listed infrastructure investment company Infratil and the Waitakere District Council have been pushing for Whenuapai as a second civilian airport.
A move to Whenuapai would be bad news for the Taupo Motorsport Park, which will host its second A1 New Zealand leg in January and is planning a $3 million capital raising on the NZAX.
