The Southern Festival of Speed was a classic and

historic racing Historic motorsport or vintage motorsport, is motorsport with vehicles limited to a particular era. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines, from road ...

series held in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It started in the late 1980s with the revival of the 1950s

Dunedin Street Circuit Dunedin Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit for classic and motorsport club racers following some of Dunedin's 1950s street circuit. It is situated at the southern end of Dunedin's city centre, some south of The Octagon. Races on the s ...

. It comprised rounds at three permanent circuits and one temporary Dunedin circuit. It was organised with assistance from various local car clubs that included the

Otago Sports Car Club Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

The Events

The 2008 Southern Festival of Speed was New Zealand's Classic Series for classic and historic cars. It was a four venues - seven racing days. The event featured an international set of drivers; the 2002 event had 20 foreign teams from the United States, Hong Kong, Great Britain, and Australia. The Series is designed for a wide range of classic and historic vehicles, including, motorcycles. It consists of three circuit meetings include a hill climb, various supporting events and functions. It also visits four principal cities in the South Island that includes

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

. The following figures indicate the distances coverage and the average time quoted by AA

. The accompanying map shows the location of each event.

395 km/6.25hrs,

is 163 km/1.55hrs,

to Dunedin 217 km/3.10hrs, and finally Dunedin return to

via

Omarama Omarama is a small town (population 291 at 2018 census) at the junction of State Highways 8 and 83, near the southern end of the Mackenzie Basin, in the South Island of New Zealand. Omarama is in the Waitaki District, in the southern Canterbu ...

and

Mount Cook Village Aoraki / Mount Cook, often referred to as Mount Cook Village, is located within New Zealand's Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park at the end of , only south of the summit of the country's highest mountain, also called Aoraki/Mount Cook, in the So ...

662 km/8.80hrs.

Bruce Pidgeon Memorial

Date: Saturday 9 February to Sunday 10 February 2008. Location:

Timaru International Motor Raceway Timaru International Motor Raceway is a motor racing circuit situated about 10 minutes or outside of Timaru, New Zealand. The circuit is accessible from either State Highway 1 or the Timaru-Pleasant Point Highway. It is often called ''Levels'' b ...

The circuit's owner, South Canterbury Car Club, ran the event.

Skope Motor Racing Classic

Date: Saturday 2 February to Sunday 3 February 2008. Location:

Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park Euromarque Motorsport Park (often referred to as Ruapuna) is a permanent motor racing circuit owned and operated by the Canterbury Car Club Inc on land leased from the Christchurch City Council. It is located at 107 Hasketts Road in Templeton, N ...

The event was run by Mainland Classic Committee, and the two-day event included practicing and racing on Saturday and racing in classes on Sunday. Prizes were given at the track on Saturday, and entries were limited to 200.

Leitch Motorsport/Southland Times Speed Fest

Date: Saturday 16 February to Sunday 17 February 2008. Location:

Teretonga Park Teretonga (means "Swift South" in Maori) is a motor racing circuit situated south-west of Invercargill, New Zealand. It is home of the Southland Sports Car Club. The circuit was established in 1957 and is the southernmost FIA-recognised race t ...

Current

2007 incorporated a hill-climb (Three Mile Hill) in the Dunedin event. Since 2009 the Southern Festival of Speed Dunedin leg is an occasionally run or 1/8 mile sprint.

References

* * {{cite web , title=High speeds on Princes St , website=Otago Daily Times , date=December 7, 2009 , url=http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/84787/high-speeds-princes-st , ref={{sfnref , Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News , 2009 , accessdate=June 22, 2016

External links

DCC SFOS pageHistoric Racing Club page
Motorsport in New Zealand Sports competitions in Dunedin Historic motorsport events