Packed season for Teretonga

There are several highlights and milestones in the Southland Sports Car Club’s motor racing calendar at Teretonga Park this season.

The return of international motor racing from January 19-22 with the Toyota Racing Series returning after a two-year hiatus, as part of the Motorsport New Zealand Premier Championship Series, is one of the big headlines of the season.

The series allows Southlanders to see many future stars, with five drivers on this years Formula 1 grid having raced here in the recent past. One of those, Yuki Tsunoda of Japan, raced at the circuit in 2020 and was in F1 just 12 months later.

While the return of international singleseater stars is one highlight there are plenty more. The Classic SpeedFest holds its traditional place on the calendar from February 17-19, while Southern Thunder returns in March with the New Zealand Super Trucks and Mainland Muscle Cars taking centre stage, in what is another of Teretonga Park’s biggest events.

The season begins with the annual visit of the South Island Endurance Series on September 24, with qualifying and two 1-Hour Races plus a 3-Hour Enduro all on the one day. The series has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years and features an absolutely sensational entry list of some pretty special, exotic machinery.

The first weekend of December sees a fantastic programme of racing with a huge array of classes headlined by the spectacular OSCA Super Saloons.

The circuit also celebrates its 65th Anniversary this year, having been opened in November 1957 and this will be celebrated with a club day at the circuit on November 6.

The day will take the form of a Standing 1⁄4 and a Flying 1/10th in the morning before a BBQ lunch and then a race meeting in the afternoon, with the Noel McIntyre Drainage Club Saloons and Sports & Racing Cars.

Teretonga Park is the oldest permanent motor racing circuit in the country and with the impending closure of Pukekohe Park Raceway in Auckland, and the demise of places such as Levin and Wigram, it will soon be the only circuit left that hosted the Tasman Series in its heyday of the 1960’s, when drivers of the Grand Prix era such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and their peers would spend the European winter racing here.

The club itself will also celebrate its 75th Anniversary next year with activities in the planning stage.