The on-again off-again first race in the New Zealand round of the 2004 V8 Supercars Championship Series was officially postpone at 2:45pm just as the pit lane was about to be opened.

Certain key drivers took a tour of the track just before they were due to take their cars on the track and successfully lobbied to have the racve cancelled.

"AVESCO were very sensible, maybe some others groups were not," Greg Murphy said after leading the drivers on their tour of the track. "It is extremelly wet, and this is a sensible decision.

"I feel sorry for the guys out there in the crowd who have sat here all day, I hope they come back tomorrow."

Marcos Ambrose expressed similar sentiments, but not all drivers were in accord. Craig Lowndes said he was ready to go, and Paul Morris is apparantly vert upset about the cancelation.

It is expected that all three races will be run tomorrow with a slightly rejigged race program.