Sports Car Club of New Zealand

Event FAQs

The Club is often asked what motor sport events we organise.  Currently we run or participate in the following types of motor sport event:

MOTORKHANAS: An excellent way to start motor sport, a Motorkhana involves driving around various short courses marked by plastic cones. The time is recorded and penalties are added for knocking over the cones or not completing the course correctly. Usually smaller cars do well, but it is more a driver's car handling skills that provides the winner. We run several of these each year, drivers do not need helmets, overalls, or  MotorSport NZ Competition Licences and Motorkhanas are open to all types of cars.

AUTOCROSSES: These are two or three laps timed events around a short irregular racetrack, sometimes marked out with road cones. They can be held on either seal, grass or gravel, but we attempt to run all our Autocross events on seal.  The longest straight is less than 200 metres, and the cars run one at a time. The driver needs to be a member of a MotorSport NZ-affiliated car club and as a minimum, must wear cotton overalls with tight closures at the wrists, ankles and neck, and must wear an approved helmet.  Their vehicle must also meet the minimum standards detailed in the MotorSport Manual, Appendix 2, Schedule A. Drivers are not required to hold a MotorSport NZ Competition Licence to run in an Autocross.  We try to run one or two of these events each year where venues are available, and they are very popular, especially for competitors on a limited budget!

HILLCLIMBS, SPRINTS, TRACK DAYS, ETC: A Hillclimb is a Sprint up a hill, usually on gravel or tarmac. These are a popular event, especially with the more novice drivers. The Club usually includes at least one of these tarmac events run by another club, in our Drivers Championship each year. 

  Sprints can be straight, bent (where the course has bends), street, or circuit sprints (on a permanent motor sport circuit), but SCCNZ has usually only runs circuit sprints. A straight sprint is in effect, a drag race, but a bent sprint can be either once over a course, or several laps of a track.  All these types of event can be run on closed roads or proper race circuits. Cars run either one at a time, or two at a time, if the course is suitable (in which case the event is referred to as a dual sprint). Sprints have generally more stringent safety and licence requirements than an Autocross and these requirements can be found in the MotorSport Manual, Appendix 1, Schedule L and in Appendix 2, Schedule A.  SCCNZ has run one Circuit Sprint at Pukekohe Park Raceway previously, usually in the Circuit Sprint (Dual Car) format, but latterly, the cost has become prohibitive. We have therefore moved to the Single Car Sprint format on the Club Circuit at Hampton Downs Raceway. 

  Track Days are similar to Sprints, but are more relaxed and are designed to give drivers exposure to tracks which they may not be familiar with, or an idea of what it is like to be running in close proximity to other vehicles on a dedicated race venue.  No official timing of cars is done at these events. 

CIRCUIT RACING: This is the one type of event that our Club does not organise or get directly involved in - we leave that to the bigger clubs, or to organisations which have an interest in a circuit.  Our members do however, participate in these types of event, either on an individual basis or as a driver in Race Series.  We concentrate on the grassroots or ClubSport level events, which suit the majority of our members best.  But regardless of what form or type of motor sport you are interested in, there is bound to be someone in the Club who can answer your questions.

For more information on MotorSport New Zealand's requirements for entry to our events, go to the MotorSport NZ website at https://motorsport.org.nz and to the Motorsport Manual tab.  Go to Appendix 2, Schedule A for Driver and Vehicle Safety equipment requirements and Appendix 5, Schedule C for ClubSport event requirements.

What other events does the Club organise.

On one evening a month (excepting December, January and May), the Club attempts to organise a Tech Night.  These take the form of an invitation to visit a venue, facility or business which has an application to some technical aspect of vehicle construction, modification, improvement, tuning or eventing.  This may include firms specialising in race tuning, roll protection construction, brakes and braking systems, suspension alignment, exhaust system improvement etc.