Mike Pero Motorsport Park

Mike Pero Motorsport Park
Location Christchurch, New Zealand
Time zone UTC+12:00
Coordinates 43°31′50″S 172°28′47″E / 43.53056°S 172.47972°E / -43.53056; 172.47972Coordinates: 43°31′50″S 172°28′47″E / 43.53056°S 172.47972°E / -43.53056; 172.47972
Owner Canterbury Car Club Inc
Major events Lady Wigram Trophy
NZ Formula Ford
New Zealand V8s
Porsche GT3 Cup
Southern Festival of Speed
TRS
NZ Drift Series
New Zealand Grand Prix
Length 3.330 km (2.069 mi)
Turns 8
Lap record 1:18:099[1] (Daniel Gaunt, Dallara F301-Spiess Holden, 2004)

Formerly known as Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (2004–2013) and now known as Mike Pero Motorsport Park,[2] Ruapuna is a permanent motor racing circuit owned by Canterbury Car Club Inc. It is located at 107 Hasketts Road in Templeton, 13 kilometres (8.08 mi) west of Christchurch, New Zealand.

The track also features a drag strip, pit garages, racing school, speedway circuit and even a radio controlled car circuit. There are a number of configurations of the circuit with licences from FIA Grade 3 to National grades 1, 2 and 3.


The circuit

The track surface is hot mix bitumen and runs for 3.33 kilometres (2.07 mi) in a counter-clockwise direction with many fast sweeping corners. It rewards smooth and tidy drivers.[3]

Maps of the various layouts

Events

The circuit hosts both 2 wheeled and 4 wheeled events. On 2 February and 3 February 2008, the Mainland Classic Committee ran a two-day event called "Skope Motor Racing Classic" which is one of the events of Southern Festival of Speed. The two-day-event include practising and racing on Saturday and racing in classes on Sunday in classic cars. Entries were limited to 200. The track hosted the 1998 and 1999 New Zealand Grand Prix. New Zealand born driver Simon Wills won both races in his Reynard 94D Holden.

Naming rights

In 2013, Powerbuilt Tools announced that they would not be renewing their contract at Ruapuna Raceway, having held the naming rights for 10 years. [4]

Following Powerbuilt Tool's announcement, Mike Pero, founder of Mike Pero Mortgages and Real Estate, secured a three-year naming rights sponsorship deal of Ruapuna, which is now known as Mike Pero Motorsport Park. [5]

Mike Pero was a six time National Motorcycle Road Racing Champion, [6] from 1976–82, twice 350cc & 500cc racing class as well as two times in the 410cc Production Series. [7] Pero set the New Zealand land speed record for a 350cc motorcycle in 1979. The record of 224km/hr still stands today. [8]

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "Mike Pero Motorsport Park". Canterbury Car Club Inc. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "On track for competitive driving". toyotaracing.co.nz. n.d. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  4. ↑ "Mike Pero back in motorsport". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Mike Pero back in motorsport". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Mike Pero makes his mark on the track". Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Mike Pero to ride former Grand Prix motorcycle". Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "The romantic side of Mike Pero". Retrieved 8 January 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.