Motorsport: Festival’s new Porsche record

The 2016 Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs claimed a new national record at the weekend, for the most Porsches gathered on a race track — with 402* examples of Germany’s finest lining the front straight of the circuit four abreast, before touring the circuit in a demonstration.

That eclipses the previous record of 141, set in 2012 at Taupo’s Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park.

The 2016 Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs hosted a record 285 Porsches. Picture/Alex Mitchell.

“It was an incredible sight to see so many fantastic cars lined up, especially with Hampton Downs’ recent upgrades. The whole thing is just epic,” said Richard Gee of HRC Events, the team of organisers behind the event.

“Even with our relatively small size, we weren’t too surprised to surpass the previous record. There’s plenty of love in New Zealand for the Porsche brand — especially with Kiwis like Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley both racing in Porsches overseas and doing a magnificent job. And it’s great to have them here to support this event with us.”

*Update: The number of vehicles is given as 285 in today's print edition of Driven, but since the time of printing, organisers have revised this number to 402 cars in total.