Petrolhead excitement builds as second leg of New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing approaches
Wednesday 27 January 2010, 6:02PM
By NZ Festival of Motor Racing
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Huge crowds are expected once again this weekend as the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing moves to the second leg at the historic, and hugely challenging Pukekohe Park.
The event marks the 40th anniversary of the passing of Kiwi racing and engineering legend Bruce McLaren. Many cars appearing over the weekend were either designed, built or raced by the legendary motor racing genius.
The feature race on Sunday – the Tasman Grand Prix – will be the headline event, with 30 Formula 5000 cars at least battling over the historic circuit and Hampton Downs winner Kenny Smith looking to maintain his dominance.
The F5000s will be supported by nine other classes including saloons and single seat racing cars from the past five decades. Those classes captured the imagination of thousands over the weekend, with official figures at 3,000 for Friday, 8,000 for Saturday and a capacity 10,000 for Sunday.
A good number of those spectators were making their first visit to a motor sport event, and many came in period dress to give a genuinely authentic historic feel to the meeting.
One seasoned campaigner and motor racing journalist described the first leg of the meeting at Hampton Downs as ‘the best motor sports event in New Zealand for 40 years’ and it is hoped the action on offer at Pukekohe this weekend will also bring out – and wow - the crowds.
Cars from Ferrari, Chevrolet, Lotus, Aston Martin, MG, Lola, March, Cooper and Brabham are all confirmed, as are cars from home constructors McRae, Begg and of course, McLaren. Many have been rebuilt or restored specifically for the meetings.
Another first for the event is the Show and Shine evening which kicks off at 4.30pm at Pukekohe. A $10 entry gets you as close to the drivers and cars as you like for photographs, chats with drivers and questions about some of the amazing machines in the country for the unique festival.
Practice begins at 9.30am on Friday, and racing from 9.00am on Saturday and 9.00am on Sunday. There will be a variety of displays and exhibitors on and off track for spectators to enjoy in between the racing action.