Holden will be celebrated at this weekend’s Taupo Historic GP as racing legends and some awesome machinery will feature alongside future stars for the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship opener.
Greg Murphy, Craig Lowndes, Steven Richards and Jack Perkins will celebrate the role of Holden in racing as some of the marque’s famous touring cars will lap the Taupo circuit.
Perkins will drive the 1993 Castrol VP Commodore his father Larry shared with Greg Hansford to take the last victory for a Holden engine. Richards will drive the Castrol Perkins Racing VY Commodore he piloted in 2003 and Carrera Cup ace Harri Jones will be behind the wheel of the first VE to take a victory from 2007 built by HRT for Mark Skaife.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro as shared by New Zealand aces Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway will also cut some laps by a to be confirmed driver, while Murphy will be reunited with the Holden Monaro 427 he won the Bathurst 24 Hour in alongside Peter Brock, Todd Kelly and Jason Bright.
The Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship boasts a 20-strong entry list included 15 internationals as it cements itself as the leading open-wheel category of the antipodes.
An impressive field of Formula 5000s bring the nostalgia and will contest the Historic GP, which is sure to be a highlight.
Other categories on the bill include a Holden All-Comers event, Historic Touring Cars NZ, Historic Sports Sedans, Saloons and GTs, Formula Open NZ and Formula Junior/F3/Historic Formula Ford.
Guests from New Zealand’s motorsport past include the legendary Kenny Smith, Dick Bennetts of West Surrey Racing fame, Graeme Lawrence, Ray Stone, Max Rutherford, John Windelburn and Racing Ray Williams.
The series will again be televised live on Sky Sport in New Zealand and Fox Sports in Australia, as well as Pasifika television and streamed offshore via motorsport.tv.