More than 25,000 tickets have been sold for an inaugural international race meet at the Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell this weekend.
The $25 million facility was built by businessman Tony Quinn, who hopes a 101 lap race scheduled for Sunday will be New Zealand's answer to the Bathurst 1000 in New South Wales
Qualifying events are being run in several classes including GT Super Cars, which are competing outside Australia for the first time.
The cars include Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Corvettes and Aston Martins.
Other races include the South Island Endurance Series and a new Toyota TR86 series which is making its debut at the track.
More then 15,000 people have bought tickets to the event. Sunday's culmination race, the Highlands 101, will draw the biggest crowds.
