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Mike Pero Motorsport Park[1] (often referred to as Ruapuna) is a permanent motor racing circuit owned and operated by the Canterbury Car Club Inc on land leased from the Christchurch City Council. It is located at 107 Hasketts Road in Templeton, 13 km (8.1 mi) west of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was opened as Ruapana Park in 1963, and between 2004 and 2013 was known as Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park.

Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna

Location	Christchurch, New Zealand
Time zone	UTC+12:00
Coordinates	43°31′50″S 172°28′47″E
FIA Grade	3[N 1]
Owner	Canterbury Car Club Inc
Opened	November 1963
Former names	Ruapana Park (1963–2003) Powerbuit Raceway at Ruapuna Park (2004–2013)
Major events	Lady Wigram Trophy (2015–2018) NZ Formula Ford New Zealand V8s Porsche GT3 Cup Southern Festival of Speed TRS NZ Drift Series New Zealand Grand Prix (1998–1999)
Grand Prix Circuit (1993–present)
Length	3.330 km (2.069 miles)
Turns	11
Race lap record	1.15.810 (Scott Dixon, Reynard 92D, 1998, F3000)
Original Circuit (1963–1992)
Length	1.609 km (1.000 miles)
Turns	4

The track also features a drag strip, pit garages, racing school, speedway circuit and even a radio controlled car circuit. There are a number of configurations of the circuit with licences from FIA Grade 3 to National grades 1, 2 and 3.

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 (2.069 mi), along with other renovations.[2]

The circuit

The track surface is hot mix bitumen and runs for 3.330 km (2.069 mi) in a counter-clockwise direction with many fast sweeping corners. It rewards smooth and tidy drivers.[3]

It supports six layouts, from the 1.200 km (0.746 mi) "A Track" to the 3.380 km (2.100 mi) "Grand Prix with dipper".[4]

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

Layout History & Track Configurations

• 
  Original Circuit (1963–1992)
• 
  'A' Trioval Circuit (1993–present)
• 
  'A' Trioval Circuit + Dipper (1993–present)
• 
  'B' Circuit (1993–present)
• 
  Club Circuit (1993–present)
• 
  Outer Circuit (1993–present)
• 
  GP Circuit (1993–present)
• 
  Long Circuit (1993–present)
• 
  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.

Naming rights

Since 2013, Mike Pero, founder of Mike Pero Mortgages and Real Estate, has had a naming rights sponsorship deal to Ruapuna, which is now known as Mike Pero Motorsport Park.[5]

Mike Pero was a six time National Motorcycle Road Racing Champion from 1976 to 1982,[6][7] and in 1979 set the New Zealand land speed record for a 350cc motorcycle; which still stands today.[8]

For 10 years before, the naming rights had been held by Powerbuilt Tools.[5]

Lap Records

The official lap record for the Mike Pero 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 on 21 January 2022.[9] The official race lap records at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park are listed as:

Class	Driver	Car	Time	Date
Lap Record	Scott Dixon	Reynard 92D	1:15.810	5 December 1998
Racing Cars
Formula 3000	Scott Dixon	Reynard 92D	1:15.810[9]	5 December 1998
Toyota Racing Series	Lando Norris	Toyota FT-50	1:17.062[9]	16 January 2016
Formula 5000	Michael Lyons	Eagle FA-74	1:17.588[9]	2 February 2014
Formula 3	Daniel Gaunt	Dallara F301	1:18.099[9]	25 January 2004
GT3	Matt Halliday	Audi R8 LMS GT3	1:19.654[9]	30 September 2017
Formula Atlantic	Ken Smith	Swift DB4	1:20.143[9]	3 November 2013

Notes

References

External links

• Canterbury Car Club Official website
• Ruapuna Park in Google Maps

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