Bruce Mclaren
December 3rd, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
An exodus to New Zealand of some of the world’s most iconic and valuable racing cars is fully underway as more than 120 head to our shores for the first ever New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing in January.
The event, which kicks off with the first major international event at the brand new Hampton Downs facility on January 22nd, 23rd and 24th before shifting to Pukekohe for the following weekend (29th-31st), will mark the 40th anniversary of the passing of Kiwi racing and engineering legend Bruce McLaren.
There are almost 400 entries — with cars valuing tens of millions of dollars — confirmed. A total of 123 are international entries and organisers believe this is easily the largest amount of cars to travel to the country for a motor sports event.
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.
The cars date from the fifties through to the mid seventies and the racing will include ten classes for single seaters, sports cars and saloons and the highlights will be one of the biggest ever fields assembled of Formula 5000 cars and a field of spectacular CanAm cars, including McLaren’s that raced in the hands of Kiwi legends Denny Hulme and Bruce Mclaren himself.
In keeping with the period cars, all spectators to the event are being encouraged to wear period clothing from the fifties and sixties. “We really do want everyone to get into the spirit of the event,” commented event organiser Jim Barclay. “This will be like a trip back in time and it would be great to see some of the many superbly restored and well-cared for classic cars in New Zealand come out for those weekends.”
“If the event is a success it has a great chance of becoming one of just a handful of globally recognised international historic motoring events, alongside the likes of the Goodwood Revival, Pebble Beach in the USA and the Philip Island meeting in Australia.”
Entries have come from Australia, the United Kingdom, the USA, Denmark, Belgium and even Dubai with around 1,000 international motorsport visitors expected to descend on New Zealand.
To find out more head to www.nzfmr.co.nz
October 28th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
Early bird ticket prices for the NZ Festival of Motor Racing will expire on 31 October 2009 at 5pm.
Event organisers encourage those planning on attending the event to act now and take advantage of the 15% ticket saving.
“With only 13 weeks until the Festival it is the right time to be planning ahead,” says Festival of Motor Racing organiser Jim Barclay.
Ticket sales have been going extremely well, with a large contingent of foreign enthusiasts buying at the early bird price.
An estimated $100 million plus of some of the sport’s most iconic racers will gather for meetings at the tracks — January 22nd-24th at Hampton Downs and January 29th-31st at Pukekohe – with the first theme a celebration of the life and achievements of racer and race car builder Bruce McLaren.
Click here to find out more or to buy tickets online to NZ Festival of Motor Racing.
October 5th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
As you may be aware the eyes of the motorsport world will fall on New Zealand when we welcome the biggest ever gathering of iconic historic and classic racing cars in this country for the double-head NZ Festival of Motor Racing which takes place over consecutive weekends at Hampton Downs and Pukekohe.
Around NZ$100 million plus of some of the sports most iconic racers will gather for meetings at the tracks on January 22-24 at Hampton Downs and January 29-31 at Pukekohe – with the theme being a celebration of the life and achievements of legendary Kiwi racer and race car builder Bruce McLaren.
Discounted Early Bird tickets are available for a limited time through the event website, www.nzfmr.co.nz
There are only very limited numbers of tickets available at these advanced prices, so get in now to avoid disappointment or higher prices.
August 27th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
Preparations are coming along well for the upcoming Festival of Motor Racing to be held in January next year. Recent developments have seen the name of the festival change from the former ‘Tasman Revival Series’ to attract a bigger population with the new ‘Festival of Motor Racing’. From now the NZ Festival of Motor Racing will be held annually in January each year. Each year the festival will be held at Hampton Downs MotorSports Park and at Pukekohe race track. Every Festival will celebrate either a noted driver or a different marquee of car. The first Festival of Motor Racing will celebrate Bruce McLaren with the 2011 event to celebrate Chris Amon.
The final programme of events for the festival is yet to be completed, but provisional dates have been set. The festival will run from Wednesday 20th January to Sunday 24th January 2010 at Hampton Downs and from Wedesday 27th January to Sunday 31st January 2010 at Pukekohe race track. There are many different historic racing classes planned for the festival and highlights will include the Formula F5000 and Invited F1 class, the Formula Junior and Invited F3 Class and the Invited Early Historics Class. Some very special vehicles will also be on display at the festival lead by a Ford 10 Special once owned by Bruce McLaren and a 1958 Cooper Climax formerly raaced by Mclaren.
To find out more about the NZ Festival of Motor Racing, click here to visit the website.
May 12th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
The Kiwi motor racing documentary Trio at the Top is now available to view online at the NZ On Screen website.
The documentary uses archive footage and interviews to tell the story of motor-racing legends Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, and Chris Amon. The trio topped podiums in the sport’s ‘golden age’ – one of those eras when unlikely Kiwi talent managed to dominate a truly global sport. The Team McLaren racing team that four times Grand Prix winner Bruce McLaren founded in 1966, has been the most successful in Formula One. That same year McLaren and Amon teamed up to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in 1967 Hulme was Formula One world champion.
