Countdown to Taupō Supercars

NEW Zealand’s five Supercars stars are ready to put on a show on their home soil, and they only have to wait fifty days.

The first-ever ITM Taupō Super400 gets on track at Taupō International Motorsport Park from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 April as part of the 2024 Supercars Championship.

The Taupō Super400 will be the first Supercars event to be held in New Zealand in two years. 

Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner and Jaxon Evans, Penrite Grove Racing’s Richie Stanaway and Matt Payne, and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Wood checked out the track in the north island today.

“It’s great to be back in New Zealand and I can’t wait to fang it around Taupō International Motorsport Park,” Heimgartner said.

“It’s going to be something cool for New Zealand motorsport.

“We’ve been based at Pukekohe, or just down the road at Hamilton for so long, that to actually go somewhere totally different, people get to experience what New Zealand is really about and everything that is around that region, so it’s really exciting for myself as a Kiwi.

“The last Pukekohe race… is one of the best events we’ve had with the atmosphere, and how passionate all the fans were.

“It was great to see. Hopefully we get a similar level to that at Taupō.”

The countdown is on for the the Taupo 400 Supercars race. Proud New Zealand Supercar drivers, Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner and Jaxon Evans, Penrite-Grove Racing’s Richie Stanaway and Matt Payne, and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Wood.                        Image: SUPPLIED

He praised the location as a destination for tourists.

“Taupō is located around a lake, so in that region, you’re not too far from Queenstown, which is world-renowned for its skiing,” Heimgartner said.

“You’ve got Rotorua just down the road, amazing luges, all sorts of trail walks, a lot of trail biking; it’s a real activities-based area.”

Evans said having the opportunity to contend a Supercars round so close to the home of his extended family was a treat.

“It’s going to be a great event and awesome that we have the opportunity to come back to New Zealand,” he said.

“Being based overseas for the last five years has been exciting; I’ve been to some of the coolest tracks in the world.

“But to be a little bit closer to home, friends and family is super exciting and I’m looking forward to trying to find my feet here, get comfortable, and really settle into the role I’ve taken as main game driver here in the Supercars Championship.”

With the Bathurst 1000 Peter Brock Trophy, Stanaway and Payne will be in Mount Maunganui tomorrow, Friday 1 March, for a community event to celebrate the former’s return to the country, and his big win on Mount Panorama.

There is also lots more loaded into a bumper edition of AUTO ACTION magazine, on sale at newsagents and available digitally here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.

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