John Seccombe said he wanted to set up a speed trial event for motorbikes as well as cars. Photo / Morgan Easton
Driving cars or motorbikes faster than 110km/h in New Zealand – legally – is generally confined to race tracks, but this month, a quiet rural road in the central North Island could see speeds of over three times that.
There will be no speed limits, only a minimum speed of 100km/h, when the Landspeed New Zealand Association holds its annual landspeed trials at a closed-off section of Goudies Rd, near Reporoa.
The association’s president, John Seccombe, described the event as a “mini Bonneville”, with the rules being modelled after those of the iconic Bonneville Speedway in the US, where Burt Munro famously set a record with his world’s fastest Indian.
“Everybody knows Burt Munro. But I realised there are lots of Burt Munros out there,” Seccombe told NZME. It was his reason for starting the trials.
The association first held the event in 2018, with numerous records set since then.
The fastest speed recorded for a car was 356km/h with a Nissan GTR four years ago.
In 2024, Cole Scammell, a competitor from the South Island, set the record for the fastest motorcycle on a 1300cc turbo and nitrous oxide Suzuki Hayabusa.
Scammell reached a top speed of 377km/h.
Seccombe also takes part in the trials. In 2023, at the age of 74, he went 340km/h on a supercharged Kawasaki H2R.
Basically, the only speed limit is the one participants put on themselves, Seccombe said.
“Go as fast as you like.”
He said people could participate with any motorbike or car they liked, even an old Toyota Corolla or a family wagon.
“It’s about the fun.
“A gentleman came up with a Bentley from Masterton. That thing was 580 horsepower, capable of 300km/h.
“When he came into the pits [after his turn on the track], I went up to him and said, ‘what music were you listening to? ... You only did 200km/h’.
“He said, ‘oh I was happy just doing that’.”
Participants are timed with specialist equipment across a quarter-mile (402m), though there is a lead-up of over 2.5km until the first timing light.
Fixed signs on the road are counting down the distance.
Participants’ time is surveyed twice, north to south and south to north.
They have over 2.5km to slow down, so the entire length of the race strip, one way, is about 6km.
Classic Drag racing strips only have 650-800m to slow down.
There is a maximum of 45 participants, though there is a waitlist.
There is only one vehicle on the road at a time.
The event is supported by local residents, police and emergency services, with ambulances present and rescue helicopters on standby, Seccombe said.
He said in the past seven years, there had never been an incident.
The entry fee is $450 this year.
Spectators to the event are placed 40m away from the road, so they can better follow the vehicles.
Seccombe said he started the landspeed event on Goudies Rd because he “realised there was a need” after attending the Cliffhanger speed trials for motorbikes in Carterton in 2013.
He said he wanted to set up an event for motorbikes as well as cars, which is also closer to Auckland.
The association’s committee now comprises 25 volunteers.
Since its establishment, the event attracted people from all over New Zealand, from Kaitaia to Dunedin.
“It’s just amazing the amount of petrolheads, or Burt Munros, I call them ... are coming out of the woodwork.”
Seccombe said the participants were generally between 45-50 years old.
The oldest competitor was in his 80s, participating with an Aston Martin, and the youngest was 18.
Seccombe said high speeds affected cognitive processing in the brain and caused tunnel vision, especially in motorbike riders, and the strength of the winds made it hard to hold on to a bike.
However, happiness seems to be the key sentiment when it comes to describing the feeling of surpassing speeds of 300km/h.
Seccombe strongly remembers the second running of the event, where he also participated.
“About eight cars and motorbikes had gone before me and [when] I got down to the far end [I saw] ... some people lying on their backs, some people with their heads between their knees.
“I thought, ‘oh my gosh, what’s happened’?
“They all looked up and they all had this big grin from ear to ear. It was the adrenaline.
“Pushing your limits, your mind, your vision for 1.5 minutes ... [causes an] adrenaline rush ... it is a euphoria [that’s hard to describe].
“You don’t get it anywhere else.
“You don’t get it on a race circuit ... The closest would be those who do skydiving ... maybe a bungee jump.”
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.