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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!

NZ Classic Car magazine, November/December 2026 issue 408, on sale now

18 October, 2026

Star status for classic Porsche
A long search ends: finding the right car
Unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963, the Porsche 911 heralded an iconic lineage of sports cars, known for their exceptional performance, remarkable racing reliability, and adaptability, second to none.
New Zealand Classic Car, in conjunction with Star Insure, recently conducted a photo competition to find 13 suitably impressive classics to grace the pages of the magazine’s 2027 calendar. A flood of entries showed that Kiwis recognise eye-catching designs and restorations. Many are handy with a camera, too, and have entered some outstanding results.
The choice was not straightforward, with multiple stunning entries, and Geoff Long’s immaculate 1990 Porsche 911 (964 Factory designation) took top honours. Fortunately, Geoff had Ethan Hanlon handy to take the accompanying photos while working in his office.
“I’ve got a young employee who is doing work experience in my office at the moment, and he’s a very avid photographer. So, I said, I’ll buy you breakfast and then why don’t we go and take some photos. He found the right spot, and he spent over an hour photographing.”
Originally sold new in Japan, hence the right-hand drive, the Porsche was resident there for four years before being exported to New Zealand, as Geoff recalls.
“I bought it two-and-a-half years ago, but I looked for it for over two years, because it’s just the colour scheme, interior and exterior I was after. The service file that came with it is extensive; I mean, it’s been beautifully looked after, which is what I wanted to continue, as it does get driven. It doesn’t sit in the garage.”

Classics on the green

16 October, 2026

Many pretenders vie for the title, but the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance gets my vote as the biggest thing since sliced bread.
The 71st edition of the world’s pre-eminent and best-known concours event featured 28 classes, judged by a 180-strong jury, which also chose the recipients of 26 special awards.
The size of the event, the number of visitors, and, most mind-numbingly, the sheer number of amazing cars, is almost overwhelming. There are so many quality cars to gaze upon, and so many people gazing at those cars, that it is almost impossible to cover everything.
Notable among the many attractions were the centenary celebrations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an elegant Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, Hermann Graber’s Swiss-bodied cabriolets and coupés, the jewels of Otto Vu Italian V8s, early Alfa Romeos, Lincoln and its centenary, and cars with unorthodox propulsion systems.