page_title: Sport in New Zealand
section_title: Motorsport
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in New Zealand / Other sports / Motorsport
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bruce McLaren im McLaren M7A in der Auffahrt zum Karussell des Nürburgrings beim Großen Preis von Deutschland 1969.
context_page_description: Sport in New Zealand largely reflects the nation's British colonial heritage, with some of the most popular sports being rugby union, rugby league, cricket, football, basketball and netball, which are primarily played in Commonwealth countries. New Zealand is a small nation but has enjoyed success in many sports, notably rugby union, rugby league, cricket, America's Cup sailing, world championship and Olympics events, and motorsport.
  Other popular sports include squash, golf, hockey, tennis, cycling and tramping, and a variety of water sports, particularly sailing rowing and surf sports. Winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding are also popular, as are indoor and outdoor bowls.
context_section_description: Despite New Zealand being a small country, it is very successful at motorsport.  There are many levels of competitive motors sport series in New Zealand, which are most simply broken down into watersports (hydro-planing, jetski racing and thundercat racing), automobile racing (Club and national level circuit racing and rallying, with some international events, as well as speedway) and finally motorcycle racing (street, circuit and dirt/motocross).
  To date, New Zealand has seen one Formula One World Champion, Denny Hulme, in 1967. Five other New Zealanders have raced at Grand Prix level: Bruce McLaren (four wins), Chris Amon, Howden Ganley, Mike Thackwell and Brendon Hartley. Bruce McLaren founded the McLaren racing team, which was named after him.
  Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren also won the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans sports-car race. Earl Bamber won the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won again in 2017 with fellow kiwi Brendan Hartley. Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme won four Can-Am sports-car racing championships, 1967–1970. Scott Dixon is a 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015 and 2018 IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner.
  New Zealand has many drivers currently competing on a high level on the world stage: Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard are among several New Zealand drivers who contest the Australian-based Supercars Championship, which holds a round in New Zealand each year, currently at the Pukekohe circuit. Greg Murphy has won the pinnacle race of the Supercar season, the Bathurst 1000, four times. Brendon Hartley won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015.
  A1 Team New Zealand was a front-runner since the series inception. Jonny Reid won seven races for the team helping it twice claim second place in the Championship, 2006–07 & 2007–08. On 20 January 2008, Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the fifth race in the 2007-08 A1 Grand Prix season.
  Rallying is a popular sport at all levels in New Zealand, and has previously hosted rounds of the World Rally Championship (the last time being in 2012) and hosts the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship each year. A highly competitive national championship is run each year, and some drivers also take part in the Australian Rally Championship, most notably the late Possum Bourne, who was a seven-times Australian Rally Champion. Hayden Paddon is New Zealand's top rally driver competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai.
  Ivan Mauger, born in Christchurch on 4 October 1939, won a record 6 motorcycle speedway World Championships in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977 and 1979. He also finished on the podium of the World Final in 1967 (3rd), 1971 (2nd), 1973 (2nd) and 1974 (2nd). Mauger also won the Speedway World Team Cup riding for Great Britain in 1968, 1971 and 1972, while winning the title for a fourth time with the New Zealand team in 1979. Mauger was also the Speedway World Pairs Champion in 1969 and 1970 as well as the Long Track World Champion in 1971, 1972 and 1976, a total of 15 World Championships in speedway racing. With his Long Track title in 1971 he also became the first rider to have won all four World Championship competitions, while winning in 1972 saw him become the first rider to win both the Speedway and Long Track World Championships in the same year. In 1999, Ivan Mauger was voted the best speedway rider of the Millennium by the readers of Speedway Star and Vintage Speedway magazines.
  Barry Briggs, born in Christchurch on 30 December 1934, is a New Zealand motorcyclist who won four individual Speedway World Championships (1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966) and took part in a record 87 world championship races. Briggs also won the Speedway World Team cup with Great Britain in 1968 and 1971. Between 1954 and 1970, Briggs appeared in a record 17 consecutive World Individual Finals.
  Ronnie Moore became New Zealand's first motorsport World Champion when he won the 1954 Speedway World Championship, backing that up to win a second time in 1959. Moore also won the World Pairs Championship with Ivan Mauger in 1970. Although born in Hobart, Australia in 1
caption: Bruce McLaren driving his McLaren M7A Formula One car
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