Big names and famous cars at 2016 Porsche Festival

Historic racers and Kiwi champions headline 2016 Hampton Downs Porsche Festival

Held at Waikato's Hampton Downs in January next year, the 2016 Festival of Motor Racing — celebrating Porsche — will feature two famous international Porsche race cars, as well as a couple of faces to match.

The two cars announced today are a 1977 Porsche 935, and a 1998 WSC LMP1 Prototype. Both cars will be flown down from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, and both will take to the track for several rare demonstrations.

An image of the 1998 WSC LMP1 that will be making its return to the track at Hampton Downs

Of course, the two special cars need two pretty talented people to peddle them. And so who better for the job than the Kiwi Porsche factory combo of Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber. Hartley is fresh from his World Endurance Championship win last weekend in Bahrain, while Bamber of course is the current 24 Hours of Le Mans champion. Not bad for a couple of kids from the land of the long white cloud.

Hartley, as well as teammates Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard, won the 2015 World Endurance Championship title over the weekend in Bahrain. Photo / Porsche

Further bolstering Porsche's official presence at the event will be a stunning 918 Spyder road car, and a full-sized model of the 919 Hybrid that Bamber and Hartley both utilized so effectively in 2015. Countless other locally-owned cars from the German marque will also be present, both on the track and in the paddock.

The dual-weekend event will be held on January 15–17 and January 22–24, with Formula 5000 and the always entertaining Historic Muscle Cars among the other classes present.