First details of a brand-new motorsport and driver training facility in the Bay of Plenty’s TECT Park have been revealed.
Thunder Ridge Motorsport Park is the brainchild of Hampton Downs co-creator Tony Roberts, long-time racer Roger Williams, and former Pukekohe Park and Hampton Downs circuit manager Gary Stirling.
Plans for the facility, off State Highway 36 between Tauranga and Rotorua in the TECT Park, are already well-advanced. The objective is to create a flexible Bay of Plenty facility for both the region, New Zealand events, automotive industries and for the wider New Zealand motorsport community.
The 3.2km circuit will have eight corners and a 26-metre elevation variation, with rising and falling features reflecting the landscape. It will also include high-speed banked corners designed by racing drivers.
A clubhouse, restrooms, café, and camping grounds will also be included. Motorhomes will be welcome in the forest setting, which is set to be one of Australasia’s most scenic automotive facilities.
The circuit will not require public funding and fully comply with the FIA, the world governing body of motorsport’s stringent high standards.
“Our vision is for Thunder Ridge to be a place where young people and the average man in the street can participate in motor racing or just indulge their passion for cars or bikes, just like the old Bay Park experience at Mount Maunganui, explained Roberts.
“The circuit, combined with the supporting facilities, will be a driver’s paradise. Planning permission has been granted, and the project needs a finalized lease from the Western Bay of Plenty Regional Council before work can commence.”
The 70-hectare facility will cater to a diverse range of interests. It will be available for grass-roots motorsport events, car club events, and track days. It will provide the Bay of Plenty, surrounding regions, and wider New Zealand with a world-class and affordable facility for multiple activities.
Thunder Ridge will also offer on-site garaging for private vehicle owners who would like to base their machines where they can be used safely and cost-effectively. However, Roberts, Williams, and Stirling believe the wide range of what will be on offer at the track will appeal.
“It’s going to be a place where everyone interested in cars, bikes, or even cycling and running competitions will be welcome to indulge in their passion, added Roberts.
“Everyone will be welcome and made to feel welcome because it will be a place conceived and designed with that philosophy at its core.
“This is where new drivers can learn under expert tuition at an affordable price and where our younger car-mad generation can come along and play with their cars rather than creating a hazard on public roads. That alone will significantly benefit the wider region Thunder Ridge will serve”
Club-level motorsport weekends, including Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays within the price, will be a mainstay. Practice days, fun-focused play days when owners can take their road or track cars onto the circuit with or without an expert instructor alongside them, private test days, car club meeting days, new car launches, motor industry customer events, motorcycle rider training days, cycle racing, road running events and charity events are all in the pipeline for the new circuit and at a reasonable charge.
“Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga Councils have had the foresight to purchase land and process consents for utilising this land for ‘fringe activities’ of all kinds, including motorsport, added Williams.
“We are three directors with a love of motorsport and considerable motorsport experience who want to build this facility and work with the other like-minded clubs at TECT Park.
“Lately, motor racing and circuit access in New Zealand – like almost everything – has become out of reach for many because of rising costs. Pukekohe Park’s sad demise only worsened that problem and heightened the need for something new.
“Some of our international superstars, such as Liam Lawson in F1, Scott Dixon in Indycar, and Mitch Evans in Formula E, all started at the grass-roots level and relied on everything being affordable.
“When the vision becomes reality, we should welcome our first customers in 2026.”
For further information on Thunder Ridge Motorsport Park, please visit www.thunderridge.co.nz or email: h[email protected]
Congratulations on your foresight in building a new circuit. I only have one reservation about the new proposal, and that is the layout will not have the mistakes made with both Hampton Downs and Taupo, namely, the unnecessarily tight, slow corners, and the silly chicanes at both circuits respectively. Pukekohe was a pleasure to compete at being a fast flowing track, till the V8 Supercars ruined it with the chicane on the back straight. This could have been avoided by shortening the back straight a little, and using the hairpin area as a run-off, but ! ! Having competed at Pukekohe the year it was opened, I make these comments with some experience behind me. Good luck with your endeavour.
Great to hear. We’re looking forward to it. Well done to you all.
The course layout looks familiar.