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New Zealand’s Grand Prix hits Manfeild Circuit

7 February, 2017

Featuring one of the busiest, and arguably best, schedules in recent years, the 62nd New Zealand Grand Prix will take place over the weekend of February 10–12 at the newly renamed Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon facility.

The increasingly popular Castrol Toyota Racing Series will once again conclude a stellar season, with the final race of the series’ five-consecutive weekend, five-circuit, fifteen-race schedule taking place at the Grand Prix, kicking off at 3.30pm on Sunday — that’s a full-on ‘year’ of racing if we’ve ever seen one. 

This is, of course, the first Grand Prix event of the 2017 calendar, and continues the tradition of New Zealand being one of only two countries worldwide permitted to use the phrase ‘Grand Prix’ for its premier single-seater racing outside Formula One.

We also benefit from the difference in seasons between hemispheres, being that our series runs in New Zealand’s summer months, which is the ‘off season’ for our northern hemisphere brothers. This means that some of the best young drivers in the world flock to our shores to compete in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series in the hopes of sharpening their skills — and perhaps an endless summer holiday — while attracting lucrative attention from manufacturers and other major teams.

One of three Formula One teams represented at the upcoming event — Ferrari — are here in the form of their current academy driver, Kiwi Marcus Armstrong. Red Bull Racing are also represented by their latest up-and-comer Richard Verschoor, while Sahara Force India is campaigning Jehan Daruvala — a youngster who caught the team’s eye after winning a racing competition in India called ‘One In a Billion’.

Alongside the three is a line-up of 17 other ‘who’s who’ of racing, including Australian Thomas Randle, who has shown blinding pace in recent races. He heads to the Grand Prix meeting vying for the title with Red Bull’s Vershoor.

A line-up like that needs a strong supporting cast, and this year won’t let you down — the BNT New Zealand Touring Cars have produced some stunning races, with former Bathurst winner Jason Bargwanna and his Richards Toyota Camry breaking the stranglehold of champion Simon Evans in the SMEG Holden in spectacular style in the two recent South Island rounds. The Toyota 86 Championship, ENZED Central Muscle Cars, Tradezone GTRNZ, Portergroup V8 Utes, Pirelli Porsche, and Formula 1600 will also duke it out over the weekend.

With testing on Friday, two qualifying sessions and a race on Saturday, then a Sunday-morning race as a build-up to the main event on Sunday afternoon, it’s going to be a full-on weekend!

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.

2027 Star Insure Calendar Competition Terms and Conditions

2 July, 2026

2027 Star Insure Calendar Competition
We’ve partnered up with Star Insure in search for 13 outstanding classic cars to feature across the 2027 Star Insure Calendar and the December issue of NZ Classic Car Magazine. One standout entry wins the ultimate honour: cover placement on both the calendar and the magazine, with the remaining 12 featured across the monthly pages.
Email your photo to [email protected] and include your full name, postal address, phone number and vehicle details (year, make and model). Entries close Friday, 31 July 2026. *T’s & C’s apply.
Read more to find out the full details >>