KEY POINTS:
Watching a pack of roaring motor vehicles leave the grid ranks among the most exhilarating spectator experiences in sport.
Hamilton will be similarly buzzing about the way the V8 Supercars have taken off in the city.
Well done Hamilton - a job superbly done. Holding a major Super
14 match in the city at the same time also proved a big success - the rugby union should take note and repeat the double dose in future.
It is tempting - way too tempting - to get in a dig at Auckland at this point for turning down the chance to host the Supercars. What were we thinking of? Crazy.
Eat your heart out Auckland, if you have one, because you blew a mega-opportunity. The Hamilton 400 has proved that such events are about so much more than just sport.
And as Hamilton will willingly concede, the best is yet to come.
These sorts of city-centre carnivals are about bringing people together, meeting challenges, providing new experiences and increasing a city's prosperity. They help cities grow through increased wealth and by expanding people's horizons.
While Hamilton glows in the weekend's supercar and rugby success, Auckland's sporting checklist makes frightening reading.
The professional rugby team betrays a glorious past; the Warriors continually fail to live up to potential; there is a dire stadium situation; we've had two failed soccer franchises; the yachting centrepiece has sailed for foreign shores; and nobody knows if we have a viable test cricket venue. On top of that, the Queen City snubbed the V8s.
Mid-sized Hamilton, to compare, has the best rugby stadium in the country, a nice little test cricket ground, and is the guaranteed host of the biggest, most exciting sporting event in the land.
The Auckland doubters might like to know that Hamilton put this V8 deal together with a minimum of fuss. Until the middle of last week, traffic even continued to flow through the racing areas.
Hamilton has shown a cautious faith in itself, a willingness to get behind the event and take any disruptions on the chin.
It could have turned into a nightmare when you consider all the structures and technology that have to be put in place. But there have been few controversies to speak of.
And the Hamilton people I've spoken to, from a crane driver who has worked on the race area since January to the people running the hostel where I stayed, are humbly glowing with pride and can't wait for the racing next year and beyond.
This debut for the street racing, after the shift from the Pukekohe track, has been a stunning success.
It drew a remarkable turnout of people, many of whom happily flopped down in front of a large screen and didn't even watch the cars live.
There will be a long list of checks as the city administrators and race organisers attempt to make future events even better.
Among the priorities will be maximising the vantage points for corporate and general admission spectators alike. Not everything has gone smoothly, and some in the posh seats found their view was blocked primarily because the stand was too close to the track.
As someone who could count the number of big motor racing events attended on the pedals of an automatic car, I'm far from an expert in this. But the organisers might look at creating better viewing areas near the unruly, exciting race corners.
The major impression though is that the majority of V8 Supercar spectators will be back, including a couple I met who watched Saturday's race on television because their grandstand viewing was not up to scratch.
Some of my fellow hostel guests, from New Zealand and Australia, have already inquired about booking places for the next seven years.
The benefits to this city will be enormous.
In the end, maybe it all turned out for the best. Auckland's ambivalence (or is it a lack of confidence?) might have harmed the event.
The Queen City's penchant for agonising over anything would have turned the Supercars into the wacky races. Instead, the event has found a wonderful new home which has welcomed them with wise heads, enthusiastic hearts and open arms.
Brendon McCullum is the talk of cricket after he smashed his way to a record score in Indian Twenty20 cricket. Who gives a toss. McCullum can score all the runs and money he likes over there but the place where cricketers are to be judged is in tests. McCullum is - as yet - short of greatness in that arena.
The media reviews of the NZRU's Rugby World Cup review have been far more scathing than the long-worded report itself. Releasing this meaningless, redundant tome many months after the Cardiff capitulation has proved a divisive disaster.
If anything, it has undermined the All Black regime and exposed the administration as buck-passers, since they are the ones who okayed Graham Henry's radical, failed schemes in the first place.
The New Zealand Rugby League organised a similar report 20 years ago after the Kiwis were crushed by Australia in the league World Cup final at Eden Park. That was also a public relations disaster, which alienated leading players, as Richie McCaw may be feeling now.
You can't win in this ticking timebomb game. The report was either going to confirm people's criticism of the All Blacks, or be dismissed as a whitewash because the fans and pundits had formed their own opinions.
This column's advice: holding official post-mortems such as this should be kicked into touch. The rugby bosses should have enough nous to sort their own mess out. Or get out.
HIGH: Supercars. And a fabulous Chiefs' victory in Hamilton.
LOW: The Warriors - another failure across the Ditch.
