The Repco Supercars Championship will hold a category first in 2026 – back-to-back events in New Zealand for the first time.
Ruapuna Motorsport Park near Christchurch will join Taupo International Motorsport Park as the second track in an NZ double header across two weekends in April 2026.
Australian touring car tracing has a storied history across the Tasman, from the action-packed street races in the nation’s capital of Wellington in the 1980s and 90s, to the V8 Supercars Championship events at Pukekohe and Hamilton.
In 1987, there were two trips to Wellington bookending the touring car season. The first event was dominated by the Holden Dealer Team as there was no hint of the drama to come just weeks later. Peter Brock and Allan Moffat led an HDT 1-2.
The inaugural World Touring Car Championship held its penultimate round to make the second race in Wellington, known as the Nissan Mobil 500, following rounds at the Bathurst 1000 and Calder Park Raceway.
As global Group A touring car regulations faded in the early 1990s, the Nissan Mobil 500 Series struggled to attract the same level of international interest as had been seen in the 1980s, so the event regulations were changed to suit the new Super Touring formula, which raced alongside production cars for 1993 and ’94, with the final 500km race held in 1993.
Following low field sizes and struggles for funding, the Wellington Street Circuit was not used for 1995, and the final event in 1996 was a non-championship sprint round of the Australian Touring Car Championship, won by reigning champion John Bowe for Dick Johnson Racing.
Following an absence of five years, a championship round for what was then known as V8 Supercars was revived for 2001 and beyond. Held at Pukekohe Park Raceway, Kmart Racing’s Greg Murphy dominated, winning four of the first five rounds from 2001 to 2005.
The presence of V8 Supercars in New Zealand, along with Murphy’s success, propelled ‘Murph’ into legendary status amongst NZ sports fans.
The third and final race of the 2005 event ended in bizarre circumstances after a monstrous crash on the pit straight. Craig Baird and Paul Dumbrell came together, with Baird’s WPS Falcon tearing a hole in the fence separating the circuit from the horse racing track. Due to the inclement weather and the lengthy delay, cars finished the race in near darkness, with the commentary team of Leigh Diffey and Neil Crompton struggling to sight cars on their monitors.
Pukekohe’s facilities left much to be desired from what the series was accustomed to, and while the circuit produced exciting racing, the series still looked for alternate options for the NZ round.
Plans to revive the Wellington Street Race surfaced in 2005, albeit a different layout than what was used previously due to landscape changes in the city. Ultimately, Pukekohe was dropped at the end of the 2007 season for a brand new street circuit in Hamilton.
The Hamilton 400 was held between 2008 and 2012. An unpopular venue with local residents, the circuit produced some great races, and a Gold Coast-style chicane on the back straight gave fans constant action.
Future three-time champion Shane van Gisbergen notably took his first career Supercars race victory in 2011, holding off a hard charging Lee Holdsworth. A torrential downpour in the previous race of the weekend caused chaos, as cars struggled to navigate the pitlane’s downhill entry and slick concrete surface.
Upgrades to Pukekohe Park Raceway allowed for Supercars to return in 2013, closing the short history on Hamilton. Upgrades were made to the barriers around the circuit, with concrete replacing fragile Armco for most of the length, and a chicane was added ahead of the back straight hairpin in an effort to slow cars down, and to add another passing opportunity.
And just to add another future Kiwi star to their maiden wins list, Scott McLaughlin secured his first race win at Pukekohe in 2013 for Garry Rogers Motorsport … and we all know what he has gone onto achieve.
In 2022, it was announced that the ownership of the racetrack at Pukekohe would cease operations of the circuit, and demolish the infrastructure. Developers of the online racing simulator iRacing had scanned the circuit before its demise, allowing it to be immortalised online, alongside other beloved lost circuits such as Oran Park.
Shane van Gisbergen took a popular victory in the final race at the circuit following an enthralling battle with Cam Waters, to a standing ovation from the capacity crowd.
The Repco Supercars Championship did not race in New Zealand in 2023, but returned in 2024 to Taupo International Motorsports Park, a new venue for the series. Racing at Taupo has been well-received by competitors and fans alike, and for 2026 the series will hold back-to-back rounds in NZ for the first time since the Wellington and Pukekohe non-championship races of the ‘80s and ‘90s.