NZ Motorsport: A brief history of the Nissan Mobil 500 Wellington street race

The Nissan Mobil 500 was an awesome race event that was held on the closed streets of Wellington. It started in 1985 and was originally called the Nissan Sport 500. This was later changed to Nissan Mobil 500 after Mobil became a sponsor in 1986.

In 1987, the race became an official round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship and cars like the Schnitzer BMW M3's raced alongside NISMO Nissan Skyline's. The WTCC did not race at Wellington after problems involving F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone charging an exorbitant amount to enter car's in the event.

From 1988 onwards, the Nissan Mobil 500 featured racing series such as Group A and the Australian Touring Car Championship. These races were televised all over the world and even featured onboard camera's inside the car's. The arrival of Group A saw the introduction of beasts like the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R which decimated pretty much everything. It was no surprise then that the GT-R was banned in 1993 after complaints from teams like Holden that simply could not keep up with the turbocharged GT-R.

Unfortunately in 1996 the street race was cancelled for a number of reasons and despite a revival attempt in 2006, the event has never been held again. Over the course of the race, the layout has changed twice due to safety concerns and developments. I hope that one day they will revive the Nissan Mobil 500.

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