New Zealand Championship Racing Returns To Ōtautahi Christchurch

Championship motor race action returns to Christchurch with next weekend’s 9-11 February round five of the Super Sprint MotorSport New Zealand series – to the Euromarque Motorsport Park at Ruapuna.

It is also a return of the V8s with the first ever trans-Tasman TA2 Muscle Car challenge where eight Kiwi teams will compete against eight Australian teams – their cars being freighted across for the event. The end prize is the Jason Richards Memorial trophy.

Future F1 hopefuls contesting the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (CTFROC) will again ply their craft at the 3.33km circuit – and up for grabs for the first time since 2018 will be the Lady Wigram Trophy.

Previously won by the likes of Bruce McLaren, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart and current F1 driver Lance Stroll, it was last won by Christchurch’s Marcus Armstrong.

A total of six categories will fill the Euromarque Motorsport Park.

• Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (CTFROC)
• Summerset GT New Zealand
• Toyota 86 Championship
• Nexen Mazda Racing Series
• Formula Ford
• TA2 Muscle Cars (Dodge, Chev, Mustang new-generation Trans-Am)

Several promotional events precede the on-track action:

Tree planting at Lady Wigram Retirement Village (mayor of Christchurch and CTFROC drivers), demonstration runs of the Toyota FT-60 and 1972 Lady Wigram Trophy winning F5000 car of Graham McRae, marae visit and pōwhiri, school visits by cars and drivers.

From 6:30pm Thursday there will be a park and display outside Te Pae Convention Centre in central Christchurch and at 6:45pm will be the unveiling of a world first motorsport project.

The Toyota 86 Championship and CTFROC cars have testing sessions on the Thursday with all categories having practice sessions on the Friday.

Qualifying and racing starts on Saturday, continuing through to the Sunday afternoon – with the weekend concluding Lady Wigram Trophy race from 4:18pm

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