Part 13: The New Zealand Grand Prix... No really.

Little old Aotearoa New Zealand has its own Grand Prix, and has had for 67 years. No, really. 

OK, so it's not on the F1 calendar, but it is a reasonably well regarded race on the international development circuit. Recent winners include Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson, Richard Verschoor and Mitch Evans. In days gone by it was won by legends such as Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and Keke Rosberg.

The Grand Prix race, hosted at Hampton Downs, was backed up by three fully packed days of racing from various support categories. One of my objectives this year is to attend more live motorsports events, so off I popped. My objective is to get a better feel for how things play out behind the scenes, to get a better mental picture in place – ready for if and when I ever make it into a real race.

I attended the final day, Sunday, which saw 19 races across multiple classes. The variety of cars on show was vast – tiny Formula Fords, classic Muscle Cars, GT3s and 4s, Toyota GT86s and the headline Tatuus FT-60 from the Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

Son of F1 legend Alex Wurz, Charlie won CTFROC Race 2. He finished 5th in the Grand Prix.

The headline Grand Prix race itself was not the most exciting race, being easily won by well regarded Laurens van Hoepen:

I was nearly knocked off my feet by their wake. Where else can you get this close to a Grand Prix?:

The paddock was open to walk around. The atmosphere was very chill. Fans mingled freely with drivers and engineers. 

As a Toyota 86 owner I particularly enjoyed seeing this racing series. Maybe one day!:

This was also my first time watching GT3 and GT4s. I've spent hundreds of hours racing them in my sim rig – so it was great to see them in the flesh at last.

It wouldn't be New Zealand without a bit of number 8 wire. There were a couple of very 'homemade' classes on show too. Have you ever seen a race featuring the likes of a Dodge Viper, a Lotus Elise, A Mazda RX7 a Ford Mondeo and whatever these things are below? I have now. The closet thing I can liken it to is wacky races. This race also featured a staggered start, meaning the slower cars had tens of seconds head start. Towards the end of the race the faster cars had caught up making for a tight finish.

Oops, left these in the tumble-dryer too long. 

The Classic Muscle class was epic. The sound was like Tom Jones trying to out-sing an erupting volcano.

I had such a great day, and a real contrast to the disappointing WRC event I attended last year. Excellent organisation, heaps to see, ample facilities, convenient parking and basically unrestricted access to the paddock and the entire track (though you'll want to bring a fold out chair!) While it definitely doesn't have the glamour of the likes of Monaco, I don't think you can get closer to high level of motorsport anywhere in the world.