Supercars sail the Tasman
The supercars arrive at the Taupō Motorsport Park.
The entire field of 24 supercars, spare parts and other equipment worth $40 million has sailed across the Tasman Sea and arrived in Taupō.
The ITM Taupō Super 440 will get underway with practice on Friday April 11.
Getting them into the country required “careful planning and faultless execution”.
To avoid the expense of airfreighting the vehicles, this year the vehicles were shipped over, requiring a quick turnaround by teams after Sunday’s Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Supercars logistics manager Jason Routley hailed the efforts of logistics partner Sealab, which has linked up with the championship for the next two years.
The 24 cars and associated equipment, including spare engines, transaxels and wheels, were shipped across in 21 containers, arriving in New Zealand on Wednesday night before being transported to Taupō by trucks.
Two-car teams were able to pack all essential equipment into a single 40-foot container.
"We must say well done to the teams for turning around their cars and equipment quickly after the Grand Prix to prepare for the journey.
"It's always exciting when the cars arrive in New Zealand, and we're proud to have worked with Sealab to make this happen.
"Many thanks to Adam Frank and Simonne Taylor, who have worked tirelessly with Supercars teams from an administrative and operational perspective to make this all happen and are onsite now bumping the cars and equipment in,” Jason said on Thursday afternoon.
The 21 containers carried 240 tonnes of equipment worth $40 million.
Teams faced a quick turnaround from Melbourne to New Zealand, with teams servicing cars immediately after they arrived back to the paddock after Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Pack-up didn’t commence until late Sunday night, and all cars and equipment were cleaned to meet strict New Zealand biosecurity regulations.
Tickets for the event are still available from supercars.com
Super cars arrive in port before being trucked to Taupō