Second NZ event for 2026
A potential second round of the Supercars championship is being proposed for Kiwi fans at Highlands Park on the South Island
New Zealand’s Central Otago District Council met this week to discuss the region hosting a Supercars event in 2026 at Highlands Motorsport Park, located in Cromwell, just over 50km east of Queenstown.
After a year away in 2023, Supercars returned to NZ earlier this year with its inaugural event at Taupō International Motorsport Park, which was a sell-out and saw Aucklander Andre Heimgartner win the first ever Supercars race in Taupō.
Should the Highlands event come to fruition, it would mark the first time Supercars would hold two championship events in NZ in the same year, and would be the first Supercars championship event held on the South Island. Supercars’ event in Taupō is contracted through at least 2026.
A statement from Supercars read: “Supercars is constantly pursuing and evaluating opportunities to expand the sport’s reach, both in Australia and abroad.
“New Zealand is home to an avid motorsport fan base, as evidenced by the sell-out success of the inaugural ITM Taupō Super400 this past April, and no less than five Kiwi drivers on the current Supercars grid.
“There has been great interest among our stakeholders and supporters in a second Supercars event in the land of the long white cloud, which we will continue to explore alongside our ongoing efforts to sustain and grow the success of our event in Taupō.”
Adding to local interest in NZ is the presence of five Kiwi drivers on the Supercars grid: Jaxon Evans, Heimgartner, Matt Payne, Richie Stanaway and Ryan Wood.
Supercars will return to Taupō from April 11-13, 2025 at the ITM Taupō Super400.
The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship season gets underway February 21-23 with the Sydney 500 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
