Hampton Downs Motorsport Park

Circuit · New Zealand, Waikato

Mad Mike home turf. NZ drift scene's HQ.

2.71 km circuit south of Auckland, opened 2010, the home venue of the New Zealand drift scene and the regular testing ground for Mad Mike Whiddett's rotary fleet, RADBUL on the MX-5 platform, MADBUL on the FD3S, BADBUL on the RX-8.

For Pacific drift culture specifically Hampton Downs is the entire centre of gravity. Drift NZ runs its premier rounds here, and Mike's BadBul / MADBUL / RADBUL footage you have seen on YouTube, burnouts at altitude, four-rotor at full noise, the particular shade of grey-green that is Waikato cloud cover, was shot at Hampton Downs.

It is also the venue that has produced the disproportionate Pacific representation in international drift. Mike at Goodwood, Mike at Ebisu, Mike at FD Japan, Mike everywhere, the work happened here first. New Zealand has a population smaller than several Tokyo wards; the visibility of its drift exports is a Hampton Downs phenomenon.

Source: Doctor jacob · CC BY-SA 4.0