From a McLaren to a Swift . . .

The sight of 32 McLaren Supercars passing in convoy on New Zealand roads during the last week must have stunned passers- by throughout the country.

The epic journey from Auckland to Queenstown began at the Viaduct Events Centre on Sunday, and Matthew Hansen took part in the first leg to the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo.

His description of what it’s like to get behind the wheel of not one but two McLarens in convoy on the road, and on the track in Taupo, starts on page 13. He returned from the thrilling drive to his Suzuki Swift Sport, missing the leather, power and full- on thrill of the supercars.

There was also the mental adjustment from driving $ 300,000- plus cutting- edge motors to his more modest daily transport. Despite the comedown, he was happy his super mini Swift has a manual gearbox.

His posts on the Facebook page created a stir. You TONY VERDON can view the pictures and video there, including what happens when more than 30 McLarens turned up one after the other at the BP service station in Taupo.

There were many overseas McLaren owners on the journey, some of whom explored other parts of the north before the official McLaren convoy began. Hopefully all of them enjoyed the priceless experience of driving their super cars in the birthplace of the McLaren marque, not to mention the traffic- free back roads they travelled in the South Island.

There was also the thrill of opening up their cars at Taupo and Hampton Downs.

While the McLaren drive was undoubtedly a highlight of the year for Hansen, writers are still busy sampling exotic machinery here and overseas, to be featured in coming weeks. ABOUT US