Supercars locks in Taupō, adds Christchurch race at Ruapuna Raceway
'We've always wanted to race in the South Island, and thanks to the commitment of the New Zealand Government, ChristchurchNZ, Christchurch City Council and the incredible work of the Canterbury Car Club, that dream will become a reality from 2026,' Howard said.
'Christchurch is a motorsport city, and Ruapuna is a circuit with huge potential.
'This is a passionate community with a proud history, and we are thrilled to bring Supercars to the South Island for the first time.
'Since Supercars' first visit to New Zealand in 2001, more than 2.3 million fans have attended championship events across the country and we're thrilled to be bringing a second event to the country that makes up 20 per cent of our total audience.
'We know what Supercars means to New Zealanders. This is going to be a two-week celebration of Kiwi motorsport that will rival any on our calendar.'
The addition of Ruapuna underscores Supercars' long-term commitment to New Zealand – currently home to five of the Championship's brightest stars and some of its most dedicated fans.
Following a sell-out return to New Zealand in 2024 at Taupō Motorsport Park the 2025 event saw Kiwi Matt Payne win the coveted Jason Richards Memorial Trophy on home soil.
Ruapuna Raceway will benefit from a multimillion-dollar upgrade ahead of the event, with a community-led vision to enhance sustainability, accessibility, and facilities, including track resurfacing and a rebuilt supporters' lounge.
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Otago Daily Times
8 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
‘Son of Queenstown' remembered
The late Bruce Grant. PHOTO: SUPPLIED If Queenstown's the world's adventure capital, no-one epitomised that better than Bruce Grant. That even applied to the tragic end of his life — succumbing to "the mother of storms" after becoming the first Kiwi to summit the world's second highest mountain, K2, without oxygen. Only 31, this 'son of Queenstown' — as he's described on a plaque in the Gardens — had already packed in a lifetime of adventures. Born in the Sydney St maternity home his family once lived opposite, Bruce's mum Ros, who's 93, was a teacher and his dad, the late John, a builder. The youngest of four siblings, he started skiing earlier than the others — "he sort of got dragged along", sister Christine, one year his elder, says. He attended primary and secondary school on Ballarat St, finishing at the latter's new Fryer St campus. Christine says then-skifield owner Mount Cook provided schools with ex-rental gear which Bruce started with. The pair would later miss a lot of school as they ascended the ranks to national ski team selection. New Zealand downhill champ for five years, he and Christine skied that discipline, under the influence of a Canadian coach, at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Bruce finished 31st and was also chosen for the '88 Calgary Olympics, but an injured leg didn't recover in time for him to compete. He got into parapenting soon after it was introduced to Queenstown, first flying solo before becoming a commercial tandem pilot for eight years. After summiting many mountains, including Mt Cook seven times, he'd often ski or parapente off them, sometimes for films he starred in. One was The Leading Edge, for which Queenstowner Mathurin Molgat hired him after watching him ski The Remarkables. "He was an exceptional athlete, and he never said 'no'. "If you said, 'you want to do this, Bruce?' it didn't matter what the adventure was, he was in it." They even tried, before crashing, to mountain bike down The Remarkables' 'Elevator' chute. Mathurin found him the strong, silent type. "We drove up to Mt Cook and I think there were about four words exchanged. "He was a very content, self-contained character." Christine says he also meditated — "he was contemplative". A sculpture in his memory in the Queenstown Gardens. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER In terms of extreme adventure, skiing down Austria's long and difficult Hahnenkamm run put him in elite company. His main mountaineering buddy was then-Queenstowner Kim Logan, who marvelled at some of his amazing Fiordland climbs. Although about 10 years his senior and more experienced, he says Bruce was mentally and physically the better mountaineer. "His safety margin was higher than mine." The pair were among rescuers who saved the life of a German backpacker on the Routeburn Track in extreme conditions, winning them all Royal Humane Society bravery medals. Kim recalls the police afterwards shouted them breakfast at Queenstown's then Gourmet Express and they got "absolutely smashed" on Irish coffees — "forget about the coffee, just bring us the Irish [whiskey]". The pair's '95 assault on K2, considered the world's most dangerous mountain, was preceded by a major community fundraising effort. Kim says he turned around just after Camp 4 —"it was my own condition and the weather" — and a few hours later expedition leader Peter Hillary did, too. Bruce and five others subsequently reached the summit, but all perished soon after when "the mother of storms" blew through, Kim says. Christine's sure if they'd had an inkling they wouldn't have summitted. "There was a very strong wind which was unforeseen really, in my understanding it came from the bottom up." Ironically, at the same time his brother Andrew, nicknamed 'Buzz', was experiencing a huge storm after summiting Mt Cook. When Kim returned to Queenstown, a memorial service was held in the Anglican church, after which hardy souls ventured in very wild weather to the Gardens where Christine's husband Dan Kelly's sculpture of a hand grasping an ice axe, in Bruce's memory, had been installed that day. At the time, Christine told Mountain Scene: "Bruce achieved a majority of his goals, there's not many people who could ski off Mt Cook, let alone fly. "He was aware of the fragility of human life in nature, he understood the reputation of K2 fully. "He achieved this goal, who knows what he would have achieved next?" Bruce Grant won every Dash for Cash he entered. Thirty years after his death, Sunday's Dash for Cash on Queenstown's Coronet Peak — a fundraiser for the Bruce Grant Youth Trust — is being held in his honour, from 2pm.
NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Formula 1: Liam Lawson qualifies inside top 10 again, to start ninth at Hungarian Grand Prix
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1News
a day ago
- 1News
Lawson says recent results 'not enough', needs more good races
Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson is hoping to finish with more points when he lines up for this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old Racing Bulls put in a great performance at Monday's Belgian Grand Prix, making it into Q3 and crossing the finish line in eighth – bagging four points in a race marred by mixed conditions and delays. Following the race, Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said Lawson had a 'near-perfect race'. Ahead of Monday's race at the Hungaroring, Lawson said, in the context of the whole season so far, of which he has scored points in three races: "It's not enough. 'We need to be doing it on nearly every weekend if that's the target,' he said. ADVERTISEMENT 'To have two or three of those races over the first half of the season is not enough. So obviously, going forward to the second half of the year, we're trying to replicate this more.' He said the biggest challenge faced by teams and drivers this year was the closeness of the grid. Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track at Silverstone (Source: Getty) Lawson's best Q3 lap in Belgium was just over 0.1 seconds slower than Williams driver Alex Albon's, which landed him in fifth. The pace of the cars this season wasn't just influencing qualifying, Lawson said, but also race day. 'Even on tracks that are maybe easier to overtake, they're sort of difficult because you don't have a three, four, or five-tenth pace advantage, you have a one or two-tenth pace advantage.' It meant qualifying was now even more critical, which Lawson admitted had been a struggle for him this year. 'I think where our weekends are falling away, at least on my side, has been normally in an average qualifying. ADVERTISEMENT 'The main target is just extracting everything I think through practice on the weekends, making sure we have the car in the best place going into qualifying and then for me as well getting everything out of it and just doing a better job honestly.'' Hungary also marks the final race before the summer break – meaning Lawson would have finished his first half-season as a full-time driver. Reflecting on the season so far, Lawson said he was starting to find some stability after a 'rocky' and 'unexpected' start – adjusting to a new team after being dropped by Red Bull after just two races. 'We're in a better place now. But I think, in general, the speed's been there most of the year and it's nice that we're able to get a couple of good results. 'But as I said, I think as a whole we need to be doing that more. To have two or three of those races over the first half of the season is not enough.' Lawson is back on track at 11.30pm on Friday night (NZ time) for the first practice session of the weekend. Qualifying starts at 2am on Sunday, and it's lights out at 1am on Monday for the race.
