Motorsport Diary: Kiwis racing overseas this weekend

Alright, team! It’s that time of the week again—let’s dive into which Kiwis are racing overseas this weekend!

Kicking things off is Shane van Gisbergen who is back for the fourth weekend running in the NASCAR Cup Series, this weekend racing at Phoenix Raceway.

That’s not all.. there are TWO major events taking place in Australia. The first is the 33rd running of the Race of Champions at Accor Stadium in Sydney, where Hayden Paddon and Louis Sharp will proudly represent New Zealand.

The second event is the always-thrilling Adelaide Motorsport Festival at Victoria Park, where several Kiwis will make the journey across the ditch to participate.

So buckle up—it’s shaping up to be a thrilling weekend. Check out all the details for this weekend’s events below!

Shane van Gisbergen: NASCAR Cup at Phoenix Raceway

• Where? Phoenix Raceway, Arizona
• NZ Times:
  • Practice: Sunday 8:00 am
  • Qualifying: Sunday 9:15 am
  • Race: Monday 8:30 am
• How to watch: ThreeNow (race only)

Shane van Gisbergen is back this weekend for Round 4 of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona. This will be van Gisbergen’s first Cup appearance at the 1-mile (1.609 km) dogleg oval, although he made two previous starts at the circuit in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last season.

His first appearance came in March last year, where van Gisbergen qualified 23rd and finished an impressive sixth place in the race. His second start occurred at the Championship decider in November, where the Kiwi started 17th and finished 12th.

Heading into this weekend, van Gisbergen sits 18th in the standings, following his sixth-place finish at COTA last weekend. He is currently 14 points behind the playoff cutoff. His weekend will start on Sunday morning with practice, followed by qualifying, and the 312-lap race will kick off at 8:30 AM NZT on Monday.

Hayden Paddon and Louis Sharp: Race of Champions

• Where? Accor Stadium, Sydney
• NZ Times:
  • ROC Nations Cup: Friday 9:30 pm
  • Race of Champions: Saturday 9:30 pm
• How to watch: SkySport 7 on Friday, SkySport 5 on Saturday (coverage starts at 8:30 pm NZT both days)

Hayden Paddon and Louis Sharp will make their Race of Champions debut this weekend at Accor Stadium. The pair will first line up for the ROC Nations Cup on Friday night, where they will face off against both Australian teams in the first round, vying for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Then, on Saturday, the two will compete for the Race of Champions (Champion of Champions). Paddon will take on former WEC Champion Petter Solberg and Dakar Champion Toby Price in the first round, while Sharp will face four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel and 2023 Supercars Champion Brodie Kostecki in the opening round.

Coverage kicks off at 8:30 PM NZT both days, with on-track action beginning at 9:30 PM NZT each night.

Greg Murphy, Steve Richards, Andy Higgins and more: Adelaide Motorsport Festival

• Where? Victoria Park, Adelaide
• NZ Times:
  • Day One: Saturday 11:00 am – 8:30 pm NZT
  • Day Two: Sunday 11:15 am – 8:15 pm NZT
• How to watch: Adelaide Motorsport Festival Facebook Page (coverage starts at 3:50 pm NZT both days)

This weekend, several Kiwis will make the trip across the ditch to participate in the 2025 Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

The event features a variety of categories on track in spirited demonstrations, including Formula 1 cars, hypercars, sportscars, touring cars, drift cars, motorbikes, and more, with up to 18 cars and motorbikes on track at any given time.

Included in the lineup is Greg Murphy, who will get behind the wheel of the Holden VT Commodore that he and Steven Richards drove to podium finishes at the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000 in 2000.

Five-time Bathurst winner Richards will also be competing this weekend, driving the Repco Tiga in the Tipo F1 category. The car he will drive is a winner of various Australian Hill Climb events.

We will also see Andy Higgins make an appearance in the Jaguar R2, which competed in Formula One during the 2001 season. He will join the likes of Tony Quinn in the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 in the Formula One class.

Coverage kicks off at 11:00 AM NZT on Saturday and 11:15 AM NZT on Sunday.

Header Image: Race of Champions