bp Ultimate Safety Car honours Pukekohe winners

The bp Ultimate Safety Car will this weekend be sporting a tribute livery to Pukekohe Park Raceway with a striking silver fern adorning the Ford Mustang along with the names of all the previous winners of the event.

While the safety car traditionally runs with bp Ultimate’s famous colour scheme, this weekend the Mustang will be black and white, with silver ferns and the southern cross across all panels.

The bonnet features the names of the 14 winners of the event, dating back to kiwi great Greg Murphy, who took home the most points from the first ever Supercars Championship event at Pukekohe in 2001.

A Farewell Pukekohe graphic will also be shown on the car, with bp acknowledging the history of the circuit with New Zealand motorsport.

“We wanted to recognise the legacy Pukekohe Park Raceway will leave for fans, drivers and teams who have been coming here to watch motorsport since 1963,” said Leigh Taylor, GM AsPac Brand and Communications, bp.

“The bp Ultimate Safety Car will be on track for thousands of fans to see this weekend and the creating bespoke livery for the bp Ultimate safety car featuring all the previous winners of the event is our way of paying tribute.”

In addition to official duties including opening and closing the circuit and transporting officials, the bp Ultimate Safety Car will also be utilised this weekend to take select lucky fans around the circuit during dedicated Course Car Experience sessions.

Supercars Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer Mark Pejic says it’s a great initiative by bp.

“We’re thrilled bp has come up with this idea that honours the great history of racing here at Pukekohe and also the Supercars drivers who have given so much to this event over the years.

“The Jason Richards Memorial Trophy is one of the most coveted to win amongst the drivers for many reasons, and to honour those who have won it and all of the previous Pukekohe event winners is a great way to help us farewell this fantastic circuit.”

bp is the official fuel supplier to the Repco Supercars Championship - fuelling the entire grid of Supercars at every event.

The ITM Auckland SuperSprint is running this Friday to Sunday 9-11 September at Pukekohe Park Raceway. Tickets are available through Ticketek and Supercars.com.

The event will be broadcast live in New Zealand on Sky Sport, live in Australia on Fox Sports 506 and streamed live via Kayo with highlights on the Seven Network.