Mike Pero Motorsport Park

Mike Pero Motorsport Park

Powerbuilt Raceway Long Circuit
Location	Christchurch, New Zealand
Time zone	UTC+12:00
Coordinates
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 (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, 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. If the driver nail one of the ripple strips which are like walls in the circuit, the single seater will not survive the race.

Maps of the various layouts

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (longest layout).svg

  Longest possible layout

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (Grand Prix Circuit).svg

  Grand Prix Circuit

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (outer loop).svg

  outer loop (Club Circuit minus the Dipper sequence)

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (Club Circuit).svg

  Club Circuit

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park ('B Circuit').svg

  "B Circuit" (no other name)

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park ('A Circuit' AKA Trioval).svg

  "A Circuit" AKA Trioval

• Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park ('A Circuit' AKA Trioval plus 'Dipper').svg

  "A Circuit" AKA Trioval plus the Dipper sequence

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.

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.

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

External links

• Ruapuna Speedway Official website
• Canterbury Car Club Official website
• The 2010 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge New Zealand
• Track info
• Ruapuna Park in Google Maps