NZSBK 2027: One less round, same 12 races, bigger vision
Three rounds. Twelve races. One ambitious promoter with unfinished business
This is not a retreat. It’s consolidating gains made the past two years, the foundation of something even grander. A fiscally responsible, less-is-the-same and, critically, temporary pivot for New Zealand’s premier road racing championship and its riders.
That was the message from promoter Mike Marsden on Tuesday following the unveiling of a condensed 2027 NZSBK schedule.
The key takeaways? Four rounds in 2026 become three in 2027 but don’t mistake consolidation for contraction, Marsden says.
There will still be 12 races across the seven classes, just across three rounds instead of four. The upside? Reduced cost for all in this cost-of-living crunch and more spectator pulling power with two races each on Saturday and Sunday after practice (FP1 and FP2) and qualifying on Friday (except for Timaru, but more on that soon).
That’s a track time bonus for riders and a boost for the spectator’s buck given Saturdays previously featured qualifying and only one race.
The 2027 NZSBK calendar:
Round 1 — Levels Raceway, Timaru | January 21–23 (Thursday–Saturday)
Round 2 — Ruapuna, Christchurch | January 29–31
Round 3 — Star Insure MotoFest, Hampton Downs | March 5–7
Ruapuna will again host the New Zealand Grand Prix while MotoFest at Hampton Downs will see the return of last summer’s popular Bike Show, Street Riders Track Cruise, plus the NZ TT and Aaron Slight Trophy showcases.
Out go Teretonga which held last summer’s second round tagged to the Burt Munro Challenge, plus Taupo International Motorsport Park. In comes Levels Raceway in Timaru for a Thursday-Saturday schedule to open the championship.
There’s also plans afoot to return to four rounds in 2028 but increase to 16 races. Manfield in Feilding is on Marsden’s radar for that expansion.
Goodbye Taupo
In short, geography has played against the Central plateau, in addition to cost. With Taupo and Hampton Downs in the same North Island catchment, it meant the series was fighting for essentially the same audience within a week of each other.
The Final Sector also understands snipping Taupo will save somewhere in the region of $70,000–$80,000, a smart play to ensure the long-term sustainability of the series given the current economic climate.
“By doing the same amount of racing that we’d normally do at four rounds at three, everybody wins,” Marsden says. “We can really deliver three great events — Timaru, Ruapuna, Hampton Downs — next year, consolidate the growth we’ve had over the last two years. Make a real statement again next year.”
Hello Timaru
The Timaru round starts on a Thursday. Unusual but not unprecedented in recent NZSBK history.
Levels Raceway’s limited Sunday allocation is locked out by noise restrictions, so Thursday–Saturday is what’s available. NZSBK has worked this calendar before and Marsden knows what it takes to make it fly.
“We’d prefer it to be after Ruapuna because it gives that day for people to get back [home], but it’s still a workable scenario. We’ve done it before. We had a successful event there two years ago.”
That 2025 Timaru round had Aaron Slight and Robbie Phillis on-site, a Legends Garage, a bike park, a lunchtime cruise, and free Friday entry. All of that is likely to return.
“From my side of it, it’s really about consolidating on the progress we’ve made so far. And the last two years, the growth is obvious. You know, the Ruapuna round and Motofest [Hampton Downs] last year were outstanding. We can capitalise and grow again with both those events. And we can build something at Timaru.”
So long, Invercargill
NZSBK is moving on after three years at the Burt Munro Challenge. Marsden is clear it’s amicable — he canvassed competitors before making the call, rang Southland Motorcycle Club President Bill Moffat directly and gave plenty of notice.
Teretonga ran under a pre-existing deal Motorcycling New Zealand had with the Burt Munro. NZSBK turned up, tagged onto the coattails of the local’s promotion but didn’t run the show. The format was the biggest challenge: Superbikes getting two seven-minute races per day, one of them outside the championship. Grids blended with other classes.
There was also the calendar friction. Lining the Burt Munro dates up with the South Island rounds, so competitors could cluster their travel and manage budgets, was a persistent headache that never fully resolved.
“The race formats just don’t work for NZSBK,” Marsden said.
“It’s a long way to go to race such short distances which aren’t championship race distances. So, it doesn’t fit with the championship mould. And we’ve also got our championship grids mixed up with every other class, or quite a few other classes on the same grid. So for all those reasons, it doesn’t work.
“We’ve done our three years there. I spoke to Bill. We’re on good terms. I let him know a few months back. I did canvas a lot of the competitors and, you know, it was consensus that our time was done there and we need to own our own destiny.
“These need to be full championship rounds promoted by us, promoted like we do and managed by us and full championship race lengths to go with it.”
What the new format means for riders…and fans
The shift to a four-race weekend fixes something that’s quietly annoyed many (and unwittingly shortchanged spectators) for years: Saturday always felt like the undercard.
Under the new format, Saturday carries the same weight as Sunday. Two races per class. That ups the ante to sort your set-up on Friday, qualify strongly, and perform across the weekend.
“No longer is Saturday a lesser day than Sunday,” Marsden said. “You’ve got the same amount of racing, all classes running two races on the Saturday. It just makes sense on all fronts to move to the four-race, three-day format.”
From 2027, in addition to the supersized Saturday schedule, Marsden is also making a smart play for the next gen. Under-18s will get in free at all NZSBK events.
“It’s really important for us to attract that young audience and have parents being able to bring their kids all the way up to 18 at no cost and indoctrinate them with the entertainment value that is motorbike racing,” Marsden said.
2028 — A bigger pond, a permanent calendar
The three-round calendar is a staging post, not a destination. Marsden wants four rounds back in 2028, and the missing piece is Manfield.
The play is geographic. For the promoter, Taupo and Hampton Downs felt like “fishing in the same pond” — Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty – two weeks running. Manfield opens up completely different water: spectators from the lower North Island, Palmerston North, the Kapiti Coast and particularly Wellington. Wairarapa also has strong NZSBK links and is within comfortable reach of Feilding.
Like Timaru, Manfield also walks a noise restrictions tightrope so locking in a date for 2028 is a key remit for Marsden.
“We’ve held initial talks with Manfield already – they’re warming to the idea,” Marsden said. “It’s a good chance in 2028 when the climate hopefully has changed and everybody involved can afford to go back to a four-round series.
The destination Marsden is building toward is a locked, repeating calendar, the same venues, same dates, year after year. Certainty for competitors, sponsors, and fans.
If Manfield can be secured “that will mean 16 races. So we’re really getting into some serious racing,” Marsden said.
“We’re well placed geographically. We’ll go south two rounds back-to-back. So those dates that we’ve announced today will be the same for years to come, and then we’ll have two events in the North Island from 2028 on, which are back-to-back also — probably ideally Manfield before Hampton Downs. We finish there at the big event.
“From my standpoint, I know I can pull a big event together at Manfield with the way we market, with the way we go to market and what we deliver.
“We will then have four really strong events and a commercially viable series which hopefully will see growing grids, growing crowds, bigger audience, more value for customers. More value for riders, more value for sponsors, more value for everybody.
“It’s just a natural progression from where I’m standing as we continue to grow and deliver sustainability back to the series.” - by Kent Gray.
THEY SAID IT…
Motorcycling New Zealand Road Race Commissioner Andy Skelton:
On the move to three rounds: “Condensing four rounds into three in 2027 is the right move given the current economic environment, and the suitability of available circuits. The new format will offer more value per round for riders and spectators.”
On the 2028 plan: “The intention for 2028 is to add a round at Manfield, aligned with MotoFest, and we have already started that process.”
On where the series is heading: “It’s great to be involved with something that is growing year on year and the foundational effort, commitment and energy extended by all stakeholders is starting to deliver on what will become a super series.”
On the same class structure in 2027 with possibly some development around evolution for the long term: “The homologation process review is well underway, as well as Technical Rule changes for classes, which will be announced shortly when feedback from Class Co-ordinators has been captured.”