Ngara Kiwa Coastal Circuit

The Ngara Kiwa Coastal Circuit is a racing circuit located 45 miles north of New Dublin. It is considered one of the most fearsome circuits in the southern hemisphere, along with the likes of the Australian Mount Panorama Circuit. Most of the turns are somewhat obscured by the local trees, and the elevation changes make the circuit extremely difficult even for seasoned racers. The track currently hosts the AGPS Torainn Grand Prix, the Putanga Mai Coast 1000, an Endurance Race over 1000 miles in Prototypes and GT cars, and the Ariki Tapairu 200 in the Tasman Cup, often the season finale or penultimate round.

The Circuit
The circuit opened in 1961 for a Touring Car race, the circuit originally was built on local roads, however in 1976 it was re profiled, and the roads were rerouted to the front of the circuit.

Turns 1-4
The track opens with a short straightaway into what is called the Jones Chicane, named for famed Australian Formula One racer Alan Jones. This rejoined the pits onto the track, and leads into the wide radius turn 2. The Jones Chicane and Turn 2 have been known to cause accidents over the years, as cars lose the rear end trying to come through the chicane as quickly as possible, and fly off into the barrier, which has notoriously been close to the track. A straightaway leads into turn 3, another corner with very little runoff, but can be taken flat out, pending a mechanical failure, much as the famed Tamburello in Italy used to. The course then begins going uphill towards Hunt, and then crests right as the cars reach their braking point, making it very easy to overshoot into the gravel pit. This corner has seen many spectacular accidents from cars sliding into the Gravel trap and rolling, or cars missing their braking points and taking out competitors. The corner is named for famed British Formula One World Champion James Hunt.

Turns 5-10
Turn 5 is flat out to the left but due to being directly off of the Hunt Corner, is taken at very low speed in most cars. It is followed by turn 6, a long right hand turn, that leads onto the Quinn Hill Straight. There is a crest and a dip at the start of the straight, but the track remains rather flat until The Hatchet. The Hatchet is the slowest corner on track, and is a very sharp 135 degree left hander. It is widely regarded as the best passing opportunity on the circuit, and it also has large runoffs. A short straight follows before the Zolder Complex of turns, a left right and then a long left. It's design is taken from the Kleine Chicane at Circuit Zolder in Belguim.

Turns 11-17
The Zolder complex leads onto the back straight, a long straight leading into one of the most difficult parts of the track, Reinga, Maori for Hell, as turn 11 is taken flat out but upon track out the braking zone for turn 13 begins. Turn 12 is a wide radius left hander leading into the very sharp Turn 13, Clark, named for former British racing driver and F1 Champion, Jim Clark. Turn 11-13 are uphill, and lead into the Germany complex, turns 14-17. A short straight between turn 13 and 14 has a downhill section, causing turn 14 to be a hard braking right hander. Turn 14 traditionally has had little runoff, making it quite dangerous. Turn 15 is a second downhill turn, a left, but with much more runoff. Turn 16 is another right, this time with runoff, but the runoff goes downhill. Turn 17 is an uphill turn, with plenty of runoff, leading onto the Ocean Straightaway. The complex gets its name from its resemblance to much of the Nordschleife in Germany.

Turns 18-Finish
From Turn 17, drivers get onto the Ocean Straightaway, which begins going uphill, before leveling out, and then passing over the crossover bridge, that allows traffic into the circuit. The bumps of the bridge often send drivers astray into the Chute, a very fast, often flat out, left right combo, that leads onto a grand view of the the Pacific Ocean and Dublin Bay, with the New Dublin skyline visible in the distance. Drivers then have to brake hard for Unahi, as the entire braking zone is steeply down hill. If a driver can get through the Chute well, they can often setup a pass into Unahi, a long but rather quick hairpin turn. Turn 21 follows, a high speed right hander, which leads onto a short unnamed straight. Pit-in is located to the left before the very tight Moana Mua. It also works as a late passing opportunity, and has often been the location of some last minute passes. Turn 23 is taken flat out and in many races, the rear of the field starts in turn 23.

Deaths on the Coast

 * 1963 George Ridgeway JimOil 200
 * 1999 Vitor Castro Ariki Tapairu 200