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Timaru International Motor Raceway

Location	Timaru, New Zealand
Time zone	UTC+12:00
Coordinates	44°17′50″S 171°12′10″E / 44.29722°S 171.20278°E / -44.29722; 171.20278
FIA Grade	3
Owner	South Canterbury Car Club
Broke ground	1967
Opened	November 1967
Former names	Levels Raceway
Major events	Current: NZ Super Truck Championship South Island Endurance Series Former: Toyota Racing Series (2005–2014) New Zealand V8 (2002–2014)
Long Circuit (1988–present)
Length	2.400 km (1.491 miles)
Turns	10
Race lap record	0:56.260 ( Greg Murphy, Reynard 92D, 1995, Formula Holden)
Short Circuit (1988–present)
Length	1.600 km (0.994 miles)
Turns	5
Race lap record	0:43.721 ( James Munro, Mygale SJ08a, 2012, Formula Ford)
Original Circuit (1967–1987)
Length	1.600 km (0.994 miles)
Turns	7

Timaru International Motor Raceway is a motor racing circuit situated about 10 minutes or 8 km (5.0 mi) outside of Timaru, New Zealand. The circuit is accessible from either State Highway 1 or the Timaru-Pleasant Point Highway. It is often called Levels because of its previous name Levels Raceway. The Timaru International Motor Raceway holds some of the major sporting events on New Zealand's motorsport calendar.

History

Before Timaru International Motor Raceway was born there was The South Canterbury Car Club Inc, which was formed in 1947 and were only running hillclimbs and paddock events at the time. The club progressed from this to running the Waimate 50 Street Race on the streets of Waimate until 1966. In 1967 a street event was run in Timaru in the Craigie Avenue area. Land was then purchased at Falvey Road and a permanent 1.600 km (0.994 mi) circuit built, the first event held there was in November that year. The club continued to develop the venue running club and National Championship racing.

In 1988 the circuit length was increased to 2.400 km (1.491 mi) and develop to the international FIA category 3 standard that it is today, allows the South Canterbury Car Club to run international events as well as National Championships including the NZ V8 Touring Cars and Super Truck Racing. One of the events of Southern Festival of Speed, Bruce Pigeon Memorial, was held on 9 February to 10 February 2008.

The circuit

The 2.400 km (1.491 mi) car racing track's surface is hard on tyres and brakes because it is chip tarmac. It has a mixture of tight "first and second" gear and fast flowing corners. It is rated FIA grade 3.

Lap Records

The official lap record for the Timaru International Motor Raceway is 0:56.260, set by Greg Murphy in January 1995. As of October 2021, the fastest official race lap records at the Timaru International Motor Raceway are listed as:

Notes

1. Timaru International Motor Raceway's Grade 3 licence expired 1 August 2022.

References

1. ^ "Timaru - Racingcircuits". Retrieved 7 December 2022.
2. "On track for competitive driving". toyotaracing.co.nz. n.d. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
3. "Motorsport NZ - Timaru". motorsport.org.nz. n.d. Archived from the original on 13 July 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
4. ^ "South Canterbury Car Club - Circuit Activities". Retrieved 7 December 2022.
5. "2014 Toyota Racing Series - Timaru - Sunday Race 2" (PDF). 19 January 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2022.

External links

• Official Site

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