Euromarque Motorsport Park

History

The track was opened in November 1963. The circuit was a fairly simple sealed surface road course, at just a mile in length and comprising essentially a flat tri-oval with an extended main straight down to a hairpin bend. In 1976 the main straight was widened and a staging area added to allow drag racing to take place. The biggest change in the circuit's history came in 1993 when it was extended to 3.330 km, along with other renovations.

The circuit

The track surface is hot mix bitumen and runs for 3.330 km in a counter-clockwise direction with many fast sweeping corners. It rewards smooth and tidy drivers.

It supports six layouts, from the 1.200 km "A Track" to the 3.380 km "Grand Prix with dipper".

The track features on the motorsport racing simulation game Project CARS 2 as Ruapana Park.

Layout History & Track Configurations

File:Ruapuna-Park.svg|Original Circuit (1963–1992) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park ('A Circuit' AKA Trioval).svg|'A' Trioval Circuit (1993–present) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park ('A Circuit' AKA Trioval plus 'Dipper').svg|'A' Trioval Circuit + Dipper (1993–present) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park ('B Circuit').svg|'B' Circuit (1993–present) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (Club Circuit).svg|Club Circuit (1993–present) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (outer loop).svg|Outer Circuit (1993–present) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (Grand Prix Circuit).svg|Grand Prix Circuit (1993–present) File:Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (longest layout).svg|Long Circuit (1993–present) File:Ruapuna Circuit Map.jpg|Ruapuna Circuit (Mike Pero Motorsport Park) map

Events

The circuit hosts both 2 and 4 wheeled events. The "Skope Classic" is a major annual event held at the track. The two-day-event includes practice and racing on Saturday and racing in classes on Sunday for classic and historic cars. It is one of the events of Southern Festival of Speed.

The track hosted the New Zealand Grand Prix in 1998 and 1999. New Zealand born driver Simon Wills won both races in his Reynard 94D. In May 2025, Supercars announced that, for the first time, a second New Zealand event would be added to the 2026 calendar, joining the Taupō Supercars round at Taupo International Motorsport Park. The initial deal was for three years and included various upgrades to the circuit.

Naming rights

Since 2013, Mike Pero, founder of Mike Pero Mortgages and Real Estate, had a naming rights sponsorship deal to Ruapuna, which was known as Mike Pero Motorsport Park. This deal ended in 2023, with Euromarque replacing.

For 10 years before, the naming rights had been held by Powerbuilt Tools.{{Cite web | access-date = 8 January 2014 }}

Lap Records

The official lap record for the Euromarque Motorsport Park is 1:15.810, set by Scott Dixon on 5 December 1998. While the unofficial all-time track record is 1:11.265, set by Liam Lawson in a Rodin FZED on 21 January 2022. As of February 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Euromarque Motorsport Park are listed as:

Ruapuna Speedway

Adjacent to the main circuit (on the south side) is the Ruapuna Speedway. The track has hosted important motorcycle speedway events, including multiple qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship starting in 1976 and the New Zealand Solo Championship on 17 occasions from 1965 to 2007. The track is operated by the Christchurch Speedway Association, and has no relation other than the name and land it shares, with the paved circuit.

Notes

References

References

1. "Mike Pero Motorsport Park". Canterbury Car Club Inc.
2. "About Us".
3. "Ruapuna Park".
4. (n.d.). "On track for competitive driving". toyotaracing.co.nz.
5. "Maps".
6. (22 May 2025). "Supercars confirms first-ever New Zealand double-header {{!}} Supercars". www.supercars.com.
7. "Euromarque Motorsport Park - Lap Records".
8. (16 January 2016). "2016 Lady Wigram Trophy Race Weekend R5 - Toyota Racing Series - Race 1".
9. (11 February 2024). "Michael Shin dominates for first FRegional Oceania win".
10. (5 September 2025). "R24 - Race 4 - Open Saloons - Handicap".
11. (11 February 2024). "2023–24 Super Sprint NZ Championship - Round 5 - TA2 - Race 3 - Results".
12. (11 February 2024). "Herne’s TA2 hat trick delivers Australia Trans-Tasman Series Lead".
13. (18 January 2015). "2015 Summer Fuel Festival R13 - Toyota Finance 86 - Race 2 (8 Laps)".
14. "World Championship".
15. "World Championship".
16. "HISTORYCZNE ZESTAWIENIE WYNIKÓW 1929-2023".