A long-mooted move to run two events in NZ is finally gaining traction following the category’s return to the country last April at Tony Quinn’s Taupo Motorsport Park.
Supercars publicly confirmed late last year that it is investigating a second NZ event, noting the sell-out success of Taupo and the fact there are five Kiwi drivers on the grid.
That declaration followed meetings between Supercars and the Central Otago District Council, home to another of Quinn’s circuits, Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell.
While Highlands has been heavily tipped to snare Supercars, Christchurch outlet The Press this morning revealed that Ruapuna is also in the mix.
A review of the circuit’s facilities is reportedly taking place with plans afoot to upgrade the venue to enable it to host an international event such as Supercars.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is a noted motorsport fan and had in 2023 been the driving force behind a private proposal to revamp the 3.3km track, which is run by the Canterbury Car Club and located just 15km west of the city.
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Funding from the New Zealand Government will likely be key to getting a Supercars double-header over the line and a desire to drive tourism towards Christchurch may work in Ruapuna’s favour.
Highlands is situated in Central Otago, an already popular tourism region that features the world-famous Queenstown.
Quinn noted on Speedcafe’s KTM Summer Grill series that Taupo was chosen over his Hampton Downs venue in northern Waikato for the 2024 event due to the NZ government’s tourism goals.
Supercars’ current Taupo deal attracted a reported $5million in NZ government funding and extends through 2026.
Hampton Downs is also out of the running for the potential double-header due to the fact it would require infrastructure used at Taupo and potentially dilute the crowd at both events.
Quinn told Speedcafe that “I’m pretty sure [the second event] would end up in the South Island, and it just depends where” and noted Ruapuna as an option.
“You can go to Christchurch, they’ve got 400,000 people. You could probably get a good crowd there,” he said.
“The track, Ruapuna needs a lot of work done to it and the city is still recovering from the [2011] earthquake.
“Christchurch is a lovely town, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing if the V8s went there. I think it would be a good event, but it would be quite costly.”
Quinn is optimistic that Highlands – which is five hours from Christchurch by road – is the best fit for the category and NZ.
“Anybody that’s been to Highlands cannot deny that it’s one of the best places that you can go to race a motor car,” he said.
“And if you’re going to promote New Zealand as a tourism destination, Highlands is in the centre of Central Otago, which is, you know, surrounded by Queenstown, Wanaka… all of the jet boats and everything that you could possibly think of.”
In 2024 Taupo became just the third NZ circuit to host a Supercars Championship event, following previous visits to Pukekohe (2001-07 and 2013-19) and the Hamilton street circuit (2008-12).
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