Race of Champions 2027: Motorsport's Elite Head to Wellington

Motorsport’s travelling circus is heading somewhere it has never been before. The Race of Champions, long a playground for the sport’s elite, will touch down in Wellington in 2027, bringing genuine racing royalty to the capital and turning the city’s famous “Cake Tin” into a gladiatorial arena.

Sebastian Vettel, a four-time Formula 1 world champion, is locked in. So is current F1 driver Valtteri Bottas, now racing for Cadillac. Local hero Hayden Paddon, the Kiwi rally ace, will carry the flag for New Zealand on home soil.

For two days, on January 9 and 10, Hnry Stadium will stop being a football venue and become a purpose-built tarmac battleground. A bespoke circuit will be carved inside the bowl, built immediately after Wellington Phoenix’s A-League clash with Newcastle Jets on January 2. Once the final whistle blows, the heavy machinery moves in. The stadium’s transformation starts overnight.

Vettel has already had a taste of what awaits him. Before competing at ROC Sydney, he squeezed in a first trip across the Tasman and came away stunned by what he saw in New Zealand. He later admitted he half-jokingly urged organisers to bring the next edition of the event there. Now he gets his wish, and more time to explore a country that clearly left its mark on him, while lining up against champions from all corners of the motorsport map.

For Paddon, this is more than just another date on the calendar. It is a statement moment.

To see one of the sport’s most spectacular showcase events land in New Zealand for the first time underlines the depth of talent currently emerging from the country. From rally stages to single-seaters to stock cars, New Zealand drivers are punching hard across multiple disciplines. Hosting the Race of Champions feels like a celebration of that so-called golden age – and Paddon will be right in the middle of it.

He will not be alone for long. His teammate for Team New Zealand is yet to be confirmed, but the wish list is unmistakably star-studded. Liam Lawson, the rising F1 prospect; NASCAR’s triple Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen; and IndyCar heavyweights Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin are all among the names organisers hope to see sharing the Kiwi colours.

If even a couple of those deals land, the home team instantly becomes one of the headline acts.

The event also carries serious weight off the track. Tourism and hospitality minister Louise Upston is backing the Race of Champions as a showcase for Wellington, confident it will drag motorsport fans from every corner of the country to the capital and strengthen its status as a city that knows how to stage big, memorable occasions.

Ticketing reflects an attempt to open the doors wide. Day passes start at $49, with weekend tickets from $74, pitching the event as a rare chance for fans to see multiple world-class drivers in one place without the usual grand prix price tag. Registration for pre-sale tickets is already live, with pre-sale access set for Monday, September 21 and general admission following on Tuesday, September 22.

By the time the lights go out in January 2027, Hnry Stadium will look nothing like its usual self. The Cake Tin will be a cauldron, the world’s best strapped into identical machinery, trading tenths and pride on Kiwi tarmac.

New Zealand has waited a long time for an event like this. Now the question is simple: who will rise highest when motorsport’s champions finally come to play in Wellington?