The very first NZ Festival of Motor Racing was held in 2010 and celebrated a true legend of the sport in Bruce McLaren. The festival is essentially a celebration of a legendary motor racing personality, a particular marque or an historic era in the sport.
Since the Bruce McLaren tribute there has been the following events:
Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is the home of the NZ Festival of Motor Racing and also promote the annual event, which will continue to celebrate the rich history of motorsport. Read on for more interesting insights and the news archives from previous events.
Formula 5000s have headlined the NZ Festival of Motor Racing since it’s inception in 2010 and the single seater V8 machines, which are an absolute crowd please, will continue to wow crowds at future NZFMR events, which are now the home of the Tasman Revival Series.
Here is the history of the now Tasman Revival Series, which was first known as simply the Tasman Series.
In 1964, the legendary Tasman Series was run for the first time. The series started annually in New Zealand in early January and comprised of four events held respectively at Pukekohe, Levin, Wigram and Teretonga race tracks over consecutive weekends.
On completion of the New Zealand leg of the Tasman series, many cars and drivers crossed the Tasman Sea to continue the series at four (sometimes three) race tracks in Australia.
From 1964 until 1969, racing cars were essentially Formula One or Formula Two cars that ran to regulations specified for the ‘Tasman Formula’. The series attracted big name drivers and huge interest from motor sports enthusiasts and media all over the world – putting New Zealand firmly on the map as a motor racing centre.
Series winners 1964-1969
From 1970 – 1975 the Tasman Formula changed to allow the big Formula 5000 V8 cars to race. With the change of specification for cars, and apart from Chris Amon, few ‘stars’ or F1 international drivers competed any further in the Tasman Series.
However, there were many quality international F5000/Formula A drivers who did compete including those from Australia, NZ, UK, USA, Sweden and Belgium.
Series winners 1970-1975
Even today, the lasting popularity of these amazing cars in New Zealand can be clearly seen by the fact that the biggest F5000 retro series in the world is held on these shores – the Tasman Revival Series.
In 2003 the Historic Racing Club (HRC) launched the Tasman Revival Series in New Zealand as part of their annual summer classic and historic motor race series. The event has been held annually at Pukekohe. Taupo became involved as well in 2008 and 2009. A feature of the annual HRC Tasman Revival Series has been the Tasman Grand Prix trophy, awarded to the winning F5000 car in the Tasman Revival GP race. The Tasman Revival Series will be part of the NZ Festival of Motor Racing.