Skycity Launches The $15 Million Supercar Show

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A1GP Taupo driver Chris van der Drift jumping off the Sky Tower to launch SKYCITY's Supercar Show.

MEDIA RELEASE

January 14, 2009

SKYCITY LAUNCHES THE $15 MILLION DOLLAR SUPERCAR SHOW!

Tonight sees the exciting launch of the SKYCITY Supercar Show in partnership with A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. While media get a sneak preview, doors officially open from January 15-20 at SKYCITY Auckland.

Event MC, Ali Williams will play host to a raft of celebrities, media and some of New Zealand’s most renowned motoring moguls, while the A1 Team New Zealand contingent are on board for the national launch of their official racing machine, Black Beauty, powered by Ferrari.

The SKYCITY Supercar Show in partnership with A1GP splits out into four sections:

1. LUXURY ON WHEELS - Some of the World’s most famous marques, including Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari.

2. RACE PLACE – Featuring the crown jewel of the entire show, Black Beauty, Race Place also features finely tuned speed machines that sprint around racing circuits on show while visitors learn how top drivers progress from kart racing to competing with the World’s best.

3. GREEN MACHINES - Detailed insight into how today’s most energy efficient vehicles work. Models from Volkswagen, Lexus and Hyundai will be on display – including a diesel powered rally car.

4. VIRTUAL RACING - Visitors can compete head to head with their mates in race simulators designed to replicate the Taupo race track and venue for next leg of A1GP on Sunday, 25 January.

Special show features include a daily seminar hosted by A1 Team New Zealand’s Data Engineer, Johnathon Moury aka “Flex”. During the ‘Tech specs with Flex’ seminar audiences learn fascinating aspects of race preparation, race simulation and data analysis followed by an audience-driven Q&A session with Flex and A1 Team New Zealand drivers.

Supercar highlights include:

• McLaren F1 LM Road Car - Achieves a top speed of 386 kph, capable of going from 0 to 100kph in just 3.1 seconds and powered by a 6.1-litre 60° BMW S70 V12 engine. First introduced in 1993 there were only 106 of these rare machines ever built, with only 64 road legal.

• McLaren M8A Can-Am Car - M8A-2, Denny Hulme’s car was constructed at the McLaren Colnbrook factory in England in early 1968 by the team, which included New Zealanders Colin Beanland, Cary Taylor, George Begg and Chris Charles. The two M8As were only just ready in time for the opening round of the 1968 Can-Am series in North America and at Elkhart Lake the McLaren Team worked several all nighters to make the cars race worthy.

• Enzo Ferrari - One of the most powerful naturally aspirated cars in the world, only 400 were ever made. This is the only one in NZ, and typically trades above US$1 million at auction. Capable of incredible speeds, it can reach 100kph from a standing start in just 3.14 seconds and tops out at around 368 kph. It will cover quarter of a mile in approximately 11 seconds!

• Ferrari 430 Scuderia - First unveiled by Michael Schumacher at the Frankfurt Motorshow in 2007, the 430 Scuderia very much picks up where the Enzo left off in terms of performance and incorporates many styling cues from classic Ferrari's produced over the years, achieving a top speed of 319 kph and 0-100 kph time of 3.1 seconds.

Luxury car highlights include:

• Aston Martin DBS - worth $495,000 – this is Aston’s newest model and featured in the new James Bond film.

• Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder worth $490,000 – reaches a top speed of 314kph with the roof on and 307kph with the roof off.

• Audi R8 worth $275,000 – capable of over 300kph and 0 to 100 in 4.6 seconds.

SKYCITY Supercar Show in Partnership with A1GP World Cup of Motorsport forms an exciting five-day lead-up to the New Zealand leg of the A1GP series taking place in Taupo on January 25, 2009.

Notes to the Editor:

Event Dates:

January 15-20, 2009

Show hours:

Midday – 7pm weekdays

11am – 6pm weekends

Adults $15 / Children $5

SKYCITY Auckland

Federal Street

Auckland City

ENDS

For further event information, visit

For further event information, visit www.skycityauckland.co.nz

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