New Zealand performance vehicle insurer NAC Insurance is showing its support for local motorsport through sponsorship and by giving its customers free tickets to two upcoming events in 2011.

NAC is sponsoring the 2011 NZPC vs. NZV8 Drag Combat event at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere on 4 December. There will be a new format for the 2011 event; by classifying vehicles by tyre size the racing will be more interesting and competitive. Fans of burnout competitions will be able to see plenty of smoke at Drag Combat, too.

NAC is offering all its policy holders a free double pass to the Drag Combat. North Island NAC customers will be mailed their free passes, while South Island customers who would like to attend the event are asked to contact NAC who will send a free double pass on request.

The other free event for NAC policy holders is the Drift Nationals for 2011 which will take place on Sunday October 2 at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato.

This event features the best of New Zealand drifting, plus Super Lap time trials and, new for 2011, Gymkhana. Gymkhana sees drivers battle a tight course on the purpose-built skid pad.

NAC is offering all its policy holders a free double pass to the Drift Nationals. 8,000 people attended last year’s event, so with the addition of the popular gymkhana discipline, it’s anticipated the crowds will be even larger.

As with Drag Combat, North Island policy holders will be mailed passes, while South Island customers are asked to contact NAC who will send a free double pass on request.

The combined value of the tickets to both events is $80.

“It’s a significant investment to make, but supporting this kind of motorsport is what NAC was built on. We want to help build the sport’s profile within New Zealand while rewarding our loyal customers,” said NAC Manager, Kate Smith.

While in the business of insuring high-performance road and race cars, NAC maintains a strong stance on safety. ”The road is not a race track, and we want our customers to be able to experience and enjoy high speed motorsport action on the race track where it belongs,” Kate Smith said

Click here to visit the NAC Insurance website.

It’s set to be a big weekend for Kiwi rally fans because Rally New Zealand is preparing to tear up our gravel roads once again. It gets better too because there is an action-packed High Octane on Hampton ‘side show’ on this Sunday 8th May.

It’s a seriously big day of motorsport action at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park with top-class rally action alongside the first-ever running of a Ken Block-style Gymkhana X competition, a Gran Turismo 5 virtual racing challenge with awesome prizes and way more.

Gran Turismo 5 Virtual Challenge

“There’s a great pool of prizes up for grabs for the Gran Turismo 5 virtual challenge finalists,” says Rally New Zealand chairman Peter (‘PJ’) Johnston.

“Anyone can register to compete in the Gran Turismo 5 virtual challenge, which is made possible with the support of Sony PlayStation and VisionRacer. Simply come to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park for 9am on Sunday 8 May, pay the entry fee to the circuit and look for the Sony signage to find the GT5 competition arena inside the pavilion,” says Johnston.

For the first round of the GT5 competition, all entrants will ‘drive’ the HKS Racing Performer CT230R on Vision Racer simulation units and attempt to do the fastest lap on the Tsukuba Circuit. A scoreboard of times will be kept throughout the day, with the entrant with the fastest lap time receiving $500 cash and a special GT5 prize pack from Sony. (more…)

We’re assuming that most of you already know what gymkhana is, in fact most of you have likely given it a go in a supermarket carpark at 3am. But we’re also guessing none of you have ever pulled gymkhana moves in a semi truck. That’s crazy you say. Well, yes it is, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some nutter out there who is willing to give it a crack.

In this cheesy video, American stunt man and race driver Mike Ryan drifts his 4,535 kg purpose built semi truck on the same Gymkhana race track where Ken Block reinented the sport. The track is built around the El Toro Marine Base in California. The Freightliner truck produces 1,454kW of power and over 4,600Nm of torque, so it’s little wonder that frying the truck’s handmade Michelin tyres isn’t a problem. (more…)

Riding on the success of the first Gymkhana Practice video that grabbed the attention of over 20 million viewers worldwide, the Gymkhana TWO video takes infomercials to the next level