Sabre Motorsport is a New Zealand company owned by Dennis Martin that designs and constructs Formula First cars, runs a Motorsport New Zealand Licensed Entrant and Racing School, hires racing cars, and manages a New Zealand Formula First Team.
Dennis Martin has been involved with single-seater racing since the 1980s and Sabre Motorsport since 1999. [1] Martin raced both Formula Vee's and Formula Ford's. His Formula Ford was a New Zealand made Valour Type 723. [2]
His Crew are responsible for putting a number of New Zealand drivers into international careers, including Richie Stanaway, Nick Cassidy, Brendon Hartley, Shane van Gisbergen, and Liam Lawson. [3] [4]
In December 2019 Martin was fined $1500 for assaulting a driver at Pukekohe. His driver Matthew McCutcheon had his licence endorsed for the incident by as Martin was considered part of his team. [5]
Sabre Motorsport manufacture a single seat Formula First race car. They sell the cars in kit set, rolling chassis, and ready to race forms.
In the year 2000 Sabre Motorsport joined forces with Speedsport Magazine to create the Speedsport Star of Tomorrow Scholarship. With the demise of SpeedSport Magazine in 2010 the Scholarship Trust have been seeking funds to keep the Scholarship alive via a crowd funding campaign. [6] The winners of the Speedsport Scholarship have been:
Gregory David Murphy is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from 12 to 15 February 2009, and again when the show returned in 2010.
Shane Robert van Gisbergen, also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing. He is known for his time racing in the Supercars Championship, last driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 car for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is a three-time Supercars Champion, winning driver's titles in 2016, 2021, and 2022. With a total of 80 wins and 46 pole positions, van Gisbergen is 4th on the all-time wins list in the Supercars Championship. He has won the Bathurst 1000 three times, in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
The Formula Regional Oceania Championship is New Zealand's premier formula racing category. The series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. The cars are also the category for the New Zealand Grand Prix – one of only two races in the world with FIA approval to use the Grand Prix nomenclature outside Formula One. The series was formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series until 2023.
John Donald McIntyre is a New Zealand racecar driver who competes in the V8SuperTourer championship and is a co-driver for Ford Performance Racing in the V8 Supercar Series at Sandown and Bathurst.
Richard Stanaway is a racing car driver from New Zealand. He currently competes full-time in the Supercars Championship, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for PremiAir Racing.
Brady Olliver Kennett is a racing car driver from New Zealand. He has raced Formula Ford, Formula Holden, V8 Touring Cars, V8 Utes, Super Trucks and Production Cars.
The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. First held in 1950, it is best known for hosting rounds of the Tasman Series in the 1960s and 1970s. It is currently run as the signature race of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
The NZ Drift Series was a five-round motorsport series organised by Parkside Media, publisher of NZ Performance Car magazine. Competing against D1NZ it achieved greater success because of NZ Performance Car and NZ Performance Car TV's marketing power.
Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. The team currently competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, and the Italian F4 Championship.
The 2011 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Manfeild Autocourse near Feilding on 13 February 2011. It was the fifty-sixth New Zealand Grand Prix and was open to Toyota Racing Series cars. The event was also the third race of the fourth round of the 2011 Toyota Racing Series.
The Highlands Motorsport Park is a motor racing circuit in Cromwell, Otago, New Zealand. Opened in 30 March 2013, the facility features a 4.100 km (2.548 mi) circuit.
Jonathan Robert Lester is a racing driver from New Zealand, competing in various GT3 and touring car championships throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
The 2014 Toyota Racing Series was the tenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheeler motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series, which consists of five meetings of three races, began on 11 January at Teretonga Park in Invercargill and ended on 9 February with the 59th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.
The 2015 Toyota Racing Series was the eleventh running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheeler motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series, which consisted of sixteen races at five meetings, began on 14 January at Ruapuna Park in Christchurch, and ended on 15 February with the 60th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.
Motor sport in New Zealand can be traced back to a least 1901 when the Pioneer Cycle Club held a three-mile handicap race which included both motor bikes and cars. Since then it has developed and now almost all types of motor sport events are represented.
Liam Lawson is a New Zealand racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One for RB.
The New Zealand Formula First Championship is an open-wheel racing championship that runs on Volkswagen engines and bodies. The introduction of the Formula Vee concept to New Zealand can be attributed to Barry Munro, an Officer in the New Zealand Army who constructed the country's inaugural Formula Vee. Commencing chassis design in 1966, Munro finalized the first mock-up by November of that year, with the vehicle being fully assembled by March 1967.
Kaleb Ngatoa, is a New Zealand Māori motor racing driver.
Callum Rennie Allan Hedge is a New Zealand racing driver who is set to compete in the 2025 Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports.