Taupo International Motorsport Park and Events Centre (previously known as the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park) is a motorsports circuit located in Broadlands Road, Taupo,

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 is owned by Tony Quinn who also owns Highlands Motorsport Park and

Hampton Downs Motorsport Park The Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is situated in rural northern Waikato (about halfway between Auckland and Hamilton on the Waikato Expressway), New Zealand near the Meremere drag strip and the dirt track club. History The motorsport park is an ...

. The circuit was an upgrade from a Taupo Car Club's circuit to the new international layout in 2006. The Motorsport Park was completed in 2006 at the cost of

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

13 million. It features driver training facilities, a motorsport business park with 13 first floor corporate suites and a second floor race control, corporate and catering complex.

History

On 21 January 2007 Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the sixth race in the

2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season The 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season was the second season for the A1 Grand Prix series. It began on 1 October 2006, at Circuit Park Zandvoort, and the season ended at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. A1 Team Germany won it with 128 points, 35 poin ...

and on 20 January 2008 it hosted the fifth race in the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season. In order to create more overtaking opportunities, a tighter chicane was introduced at the end of the straight. On 25 January 2009 Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the fourth race in the

2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season was the fourth and final season of the A1 Grand Prix formula. Ferrari supplied the engines for all entrants and advised on aspects of the chassis, based on its championship-winning F2004. A1 Team Ireland be ...

. Owing to the tight 'S' bend close to the start causing collisions in the past, the rolling start was replaced by a standing start for the 2009 event's Sprint race. The Taupo Race Track project has received a Silver Award by the

Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand The Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ) is New Zealand's main business association representing engineers providing consultancy services in a wide range of disciplines. It was founded in 1959 as the consulting division of IPENZ, ...

, praising the high-quality delivery of the project, which was designed and constructed in tandem to achieve very tight deadlines.''Taupo Race Track'' – ''Innovate NZ'', Brochure of the '2007 ACENZ Awards of Excellence', Page 18 However, on 8 May 2008

Newstalk ZB Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio, talk-radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, NZME Radio. It is available in almost every media market, radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in m ...

reported that the motorsport park was NZ$3 million in debt and the owners were seeking equity to help keep their business afloat. The circuit was renamed Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park on 26 November 2015, as a tribute to former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver and team owner

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

. The renaming occurred as Taupo directors announced they would be rebuilding the circuit to maintain its FIA Grade 2 status. However, the circuit is renamed Taupo International Motorsport Park, after Tony Quinn purchased the circuit in November 2021.

The circuit

The track includes four alternative configurations (consisting of , , and ), two separate pit areas, a three-story pit lane complex with 32 ground floor pit garages that is currently under construction. The track also features an

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

standard long, wide

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

with full capacity viewing for 10,000. The motor racing circuit has various licences ranging from National Grade 1 Motorsport Licence, FIA Grade 2 Motorsport Licence and International Motorcycling Safety Standards depending on which track configuration.

A1 Team Ireland A1 Team Ireland was the Irish team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the fourth season, 2008-09. The team Founded by Mark Kershaw and Mark Gallagher in 2005, the team was owned and ...

's driver

Adam Carroll Adam Carroll may refer to: * Adam Carroll (racing driver) Adam Carroll (born 26 October 1982) is a Northern Irish professional racing driver. He last raced in the 2016–17 Formula E season for Jaguar Racing. He has also raced for Team Ireland ...

commented that the track has few bumps and is technical and tight.

Lap Records

The unofficial all-time track record is 1:14.072, set by

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...

on the qualifying of 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand. The official race lap records at the Taupo International Motorsport Park are listed as:

Notes

References

External links

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Circuit info
{{Navboxes , list = {{A1 Grand Prix circuits {{Toyota Racing Series tracks {{D1NZ Locations Motorsport venues in New Zealand A1 Grand Prix circuits Sport in Taupō Drag racing venues in Australasia Sports venues in Waikato 2006 establishments in New Zealand Sports venues completed in 2006