track days in NZ in Jan/Feb?

[capuletia]

I'm a kiwi living in the UK, and I'm taking my English b/f to NZ (his first trip there) in Jan/Feb. For Christmas I'd like to get him a track day in NZ while we're there (to show him that sheep aren't the fastest form of transportation down under). Any suggestions on where to look for such a thing?

We're there from 28 Jan to 15 Feb, arriving and departing from Auckland and travelling around the North Island, but haven't got a fixed itinerary yet. He drives a Lotus Elise and has done a number of track days on various circuits in the UK, so has plenty of experience.

Thanks!

[Kiwi XTR2]

Just checking, you're here from 28 Jan to 15 Feb. Reason being, some of us are doing a trackday at Pukekohe on 22 Jan.

In the North Island there 3 tracks (with another on the way in a few years)
- Pukekohe
- Taupo
- Manfield

If you don't know where they are the maps on this thread show the route a group of Lotus nutters followed on a brief tour recently.
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=315737&f=123&h=0

When you say 'get him a trackday' do you mean - spectate and blag a few passenger laps or hire a track car?

I'll have a look for the track calendars tomorrow.

[capuletia]

Thanks. By getting him a trackday I mean hiring a track car as well - he wouldn't be nearly as happy in the passenger seat!

But if that proves too expensive, it could still be nice to take him to one of the tracks to spectate for a bit.

[renn68]

Test Day Calanders for each of the tracks below;

Pukekohe www.countiesracing.co.nz/modules.php?name=Calendar
Taupo www.taupofasttrack.com/ under bookings
Manfield www.manfeild.co.nz/testdays.asp

hth

[Esprit]

And to clarify what George said above... a "test-day" is basically an open-trackday where you can pay your entry fee and basically anyone with a Registered/WOF'd car can turn up and have a play.

[renn68]

I'm not sure who hires out race cars as such but you can hire them as part of 'instruction'

You could try Dave Slater (Honda Integra) [e-mail] www.motorracingschool.co.nz/index.shtml , he operates out of both Pukekohe and Taupo, or Richard Lester (Mitsubishi EVO IV) [e-mail] www.lestermotorsport.co.nz/ and he operates primarily out of Taupo.

I've used both as instructors in my own car - although I did drive Daves HQ race car before he got the Teg. Both are top blokes - you might even want to spring for a hotlap or 2 with Richards 16yr old son Jono, who races GT3's

[Esprit]

Champion idea Renn... doing some instructional stuff would be a great way to get to drive something better than an MX5 Rental around the track

[Kiwi XTR2]

Given the choice I'd try for Taupo

As long as you can get Track 1, 2 or 4. Track 3 is only 1.3km and not the most exciting.

[capuletia]

Excellent, thanks for all the tips!