The first details have been revealed for a brand new motorsport and driver training facility in the Bay of Plenty’s TECT Park.
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 in TECT Park, just off State Highway 36 between Tauranga and Rotorua, are already well-advanced and the objective is to create a flexible Bay of Plenty facility for both the region, the New Zealand events and automotive industries, and for the wider New Zealand motorsport community.
The 3.2km circuit will have eight corners and a 26m elevation variation with rising and falling features reflecting the landscape. It will also include high-speed banked corners designed by racing drivers.
The circuit will have a clubhouse, restrooms, cafe and camping grounds. Motorhomes will be welcome.
The circuit will not require any public funding and will be fully compliant to the standards of the world governing body of motorsport, the FIA.
An artist's impression of the new park.
“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,” Roberts said in a statement.
“The circuit, combined with the supporting facilities, will be a driver’s paradise. Planning permission has been granted, and the project now just needs a finalised lease from the ... regional council before work can commence.”
Western Bay of Plenty District Council infrastructure services general manager Cedric Crow said the council adopted a strategic plan for TECT Park last year to provide direction for park development in the next 10 years.
“Our kōrero with tangata whenua, clubs and community groups based at the park, key stakeholders and the community identified that there are plenty more opportunities to explore for the park’s future.
“Thunder Ridge would be an exciting business to add to TECT Park and we are having ongoing conversations with them, with a view to drafting up a commercial lease agreement. As the park is jointly owned, this agreement would then need to be considered by both councils before being approved.”
The 70-hectare facility will cater for a diverse range of interests and will be available for grassroots motorsport events, car club events, and track days.
Thunder Ridge will also offer on-site garaging for private vehicle owners.
Roberts said it would be a place where anyone with an interest in cars, bikes, or even cycling and running competitions could indulge their passion.
“Everyone will be welcome and made to feel welcome because it’s going to be a place that was conceived and designed with that philosophy at its core.
“This is the place where new drivers can learn under expert tuition at an affordable price and a place 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 be of huge benefit to the wider region Thunder Ridge will serve.”
Thunder Ridge Motorsport Park directors Tony Roberts (left), Roger Williams and Gary Stirling.
Roberts said club-level motorsport weekends would include Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays within the price and would be a mainstay.
Practice days, fun-focused play days when owners could 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 would be held at the circuit at a reasonable charge.
“Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga Councils have had the foresight to purchase land and process consents for the utilisation of this land for fringe activities of all kinds, including motorsport,” Williams said.
“We are three directors with a love of motorsport - and considerable motorsport experience - who want to build this facility and to work with the other like-minded clubs at TECT Park.
The Bay Park racetrack was a popular venue in the Bay of Plenty between 1967 and 1995. Thirty years later plans for a new racetrack in the region have been revealed. Photo / Terry Marshall
“Lately, motor racing and circuit access in New Zealand – like just about everything – has become out of reach for many because of rising costs. The sad demise of Pukekohe Park only made that problem worse 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 grassroots level and relied on everything being affordable.
“When the vision becomes reality, we should be welcoming our first customers in 2026.”
