KEY POINTS:
Before a race car has even sped around the Hamilton V8 Supercar circuit, next weekend's inaugural event is being hailed as a triumph.
Ticket sales are booming, with organisers hopeful they will eclipse 180,000 for the three days of racing around the street circuit.
If that mark is
achieved, they are in with a chance of beating the 182,000 record attendance at last year's Bathurst 1000 - Australasia's biggest motor race.
"It's a very positive sign for us that in our inaugural year we go in with a crowd that is around the same level as Bathurst last year," race director Steve Vuleta said.
The buzz around the event has drawn interested racegoers from across the spectrum. National Party leader John Key will be trackside, as will several sports stars. Corporate booths will be packed with the known and the notable, and all but a few of the grandstand seats have been snapped up.
Home town Super 14 side the Chiefs take on the Crusaders next Friday, and several of the Crusaders' All Blacks stars are expected to stay on in Hamilton to take in the race.
Mr Vuleta said he didn't care who came, as long as the crowds flocked to Hamilton every year.
"Success for us will be people coming back. We've got to put on a great event that makes people say, 'We want to come back to this'."
He stresses "event", because there is much more to the V8s than a car race. Throw in a charity dinner, free concerts for ticket holders, the rugby and a range of other events in the Waikato next weekend, and the town is buzzing.
"There's a tremendous amount of excitement out there for it," Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock said.
"I don't know if people have had to be converted to it. My overwhelming sense is that most people just got it from day one and got in behind it. For me the most pleasing thing about this whole event has been the extent to which the city, whether people are interested in motor racing or not, simply identified it as a good opportunity and embraced it."
Some people have been inconvenienced by the race, especially business owners with premises on the street circuit, who claim their turnover has plummeted since the crash barriers started to be assembled.
Others, such as Lyndon and Cheryl-Ann Hemi, are looking forward to making a profit. Their central townhouse is still available for rent for $10,000 for race week, although that price is negotiable.
