Taupo’s Tuwharetoa Street is about to be transformed into a V8 SuperTourer pit stop and racetrack.

It’s a Taupo first bringing all the shakedown excitement, rumble, competition and spectacle of V8 motor racing to town. People will get up close to the cars, their famous drivers and see teams in action.

A parade of more than 20 SuperTourer V8s starts of the Tongariro Domain to Tuwharetoa Street and launches the Taupo event in the Father’s Day 400 series, which takes place on 1-2 September at the Richoh Taupo Motor Sport Park.”There’s never been an event like this in town,” says Nick Reader, District Events Manager.

“One of my goals is to bring some of the excitement of events that take place outside the town centre right into the heart of town – we’ll be able to see pit stop races with New Zealand’s fastest V8s and best drivers – don’t blink or you might miss the trye changes; they’re that fast.”

Sprints between rivals Holden and Ford will be great to watch and Nick says that as well as being able to meet the drivers and their teams there’s a chance to win a hot lap in a V8 on race day.

“The race simulator will be at Finn MacCahulls all night and the highest scoring driver wins a ride in a real V8,” he says.

A big screen and sound system will replay all the action from the V8 SuperTourers sprint series earlier this year.

Tickets for the weekend event are on sale at Taupo’s I-site.