One of the local racers in attendance was Whanganui local Melissa Tate.

Principal of the Shirley McDouall School of Dance by day and motorbike racer by night - or rather on weekends - Melissa has come to race tracks ever since she was a little girl.

“My father [Colin Tate] has been racing for a long time ... I will miss Pukekohe, but the atmosphere here at Manfeild is great, too.”

Speaking after the festival, McGeady said it was a huge success.

“It went extremely well - and we didn’t even advertise it properly yet. There had to be between 800 to 1000 motorbikes [of visitors] in the carpark on Sunday alone.

“I don’t have any total numbers, but it was probably similar to our last festival at Pukekohe, so starting off where we left last year is great.”

He said while having to move on from “Puke” had been tough, the new venue brought along some great opportunities.

“We are looking at how to grow this event over time. Manfeild is a worthy replacement for Puke and feels like home already.

“The kind of support we had from the community and the atmosphere on the day was just great. Everybody was smiling and interacting with each other. It had this feeling of togetherness.”

Manfeild Park Trust chairman Hamish Waugh said he was stoked with how the festival went.

“It was fantastic, the place was packed. It was probably one of the biggest motorsport events we had here in a while.”

He couldn’t say exactly how many people came through the gates, but that it would take 2500 to fill up the embankments.

“I don’t think there are any barriers for Manfeild to replace Pukekohe.

“The festival had 43 successful years at Pukekohe ... I’m certain we can give them at least 43 successful years at Manfeild.”

Waugh said the trust was yet to “debrief” with the NZCMRR, but the festival’s future at Manfeild was looking positive.

“It was great for the town, the district and the region, there was a noticeable uptake of people out and about ... So I hope they loved it here as much as we loved hosting them.”