Off-road racing icon Tony McCall will line up at TECT Park for the 2025 CT Civil New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship this weekend.
It’s petrolhead heaven in the Bay of Plenty with two big motorsport events roaring into action this long weekend.
A new season of dirt oval racing at Baypark Speedway begins Saturday night, while the pine forests of TECT Park between Tauranga and Rotorua host the 2025 CT Civil New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship.
Saturday night’s Back to the Bay opening meeting is the first of 13 race nights scheduled on Baypark’s 2025-26 racing calendar - including the New Zealand Midget Car Championship on January 16-17.
It will be the first time the current Baypark track has hosted this national title, and it’s been 32 years since the original Baypark track staged the 1994 championship.
The leading midget car teams get an early chance to prepare for the national title.
The field includes former NZ champion Brad Mosen, from Auckland, and Baypark front runner Brock Maskovich up against young guns Ben Morrison from Auckland, Mitch Fabish from Te Awamutu, Tauranga’s Luke McClymont, and Aucklanders Trent Way and Travis Buckley.
Australian teenager Zoe Pearce also begins her second Kiwi campaign.
A 22-car field of super stocks has also been assembled.
Baypark’s reigning New Zealand champion, Todd Hemingway, has a new Rees chassis racer fielded by the MD Motorsport team for the coming season.
The three-car Ashton family team – Brendon, Flynn and Kyle – make their debut as Baypark registered drivers.
A strong turnout of Baypark Sprint Car teams at practice day last weekend is supplemented by entries from former NZ champions Jonathan Allard, Daniel Thomas and Michael Pickens, joining the Baypark regulars for a 16-car opening night grid.
New to the Super Saloon ranks this season is Tauranga’s Trent Amrein with a new CB2 chassis for his move up from a successful Saloon Car campaign, while teenager George Crawford steps up from his role as a pace-setter in the Youth Ministocks to join the Super Saloons.
The field includes former NZ champ Chris Cowling from Tauranga, Auckland racers Craig Cardwell and Bodie Abrahamson, Kihikihi’s Shaun Wade, plus Baypark front runners Damian Orr and Scott Hayward.
The pine forests and purpose-built short course of TECT Park on SH36 between Tauranga and Rotorua will host the 2025 CT Civil New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship finale this weekend.
The two-day Waikato Offroad Racing Club event on Saturday and Sunday will see New Zealand’s top offroad racers compete.
This year’s championship has spanned six rounds across the country — three in the North Island and three in the South — with competitors earning points across at least three rounds.
Event organiser Paul Smith said it was “more than just another race”.
“This is where titles are decided, legends are made, and careers are defined.”
Saturday starts with short-course heat racing, where racers compete in class-based races to earn points.
The action continues Sunday with the 150km Enduro, a multi-lap endurance race where drivers tackle slick clay, loose gravel, and tight forest trails.
The field will feature purpose-built vehicles ranging from Pro1 unlimited-class race cars to ThunderTrucks.
Among the headliners is off-road racing icon Tony McCall (157, a six-time Woodhill 100 winner and 12-time Pro1 champion.
McCall trails behind rising star Daynom Templeman (193), who is currently leading the Pro1 class and stands as a strong contender for the overall championship.
Current national champion Carl Ruiterman (S22) returns to defend his crown, entering the weekend with a solid lead at 216 points.
The high-speed, close-contact racing of the short course is notorious for mechanical attrition, meaning teams face long nights in the pits to keep their machines in the fight.
Junior racers will race on the short-course track on Saturday and in their own shortened enduro event on Sunday morning.
Spectators can expect two days of racing action, with excellent viewing spots and access to the pit area.
Back to the Bay opening meeting:
2025 CT Civil New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship: