Mike Pero Motorsport Park,, 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, 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. 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.
The circuit
The track surface is hot mix bitumen and runs for in a counter-clockwise direction with many fast sweeping corners. It rewards smooth and tidy drivers. It supports six layouts, from the 1.31km "A Track" to the 3.44km "Grand Prix with dipper". The track features on the motorsport racing simulation game Project CARS 2 as Ruapana 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 3.3km, along with other renovations.
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 Holden.
Naming rights
Since 2013, Mike Pero, founder of Mike Pero Mortgages and Real Estate, has had a naming rightssponsorship deal to Ruapuna, which is now known as Mike Pero Motorsport Park. Mike Pero was a six time National Motorcycle Road Racing Champion from 1976–82, and in 1979 set the New Zealand land speed record for a 350cc motorcycle; which still stands today. For 10 years before, the naming rights had been held by Powerbuilt Tools.
