Highlands Motorsport Park owner Tony Quinn had his first date with a new girlfriend yesterday.
Fittingly, it was at his Cromwell circuit and had been a much anticipated affair. She was sleek with sculptured flanks and her name is Monster Tamer.
Mr Quinn's brand-new, purpose-built Race to the Sky car was the object of much nervous attention as she made her debut laps.
Ensuring all 850hp produced by the Nissan R35 twin turbo-engine did what it was meant to inside the carbon fibre-panelled Ford Focus body was the car's builder, Paul Ceprnich, of Australia's Pace Innovations, plus three of his mechanics and engineers.
Mr Ceprnich declared it was a ''nervous day'' seeing the car in action after he had spent the past 22 weeks building it to the tune of $A350,000 ($NZ356,000).
All eyes were glued to the gunmetal-grey racer as with a throaty growl it roared into life.
Quinn took off around the track, deep bass notes announcing his gear changes.
He had a few runs across the dirt, so the team could gather data before the Monster Tamer had a date with the workshop to transform her into the perfect partner for Quinn in this weekend's event.
Yesterday her impressive-looking aerodynamics were causing too much downforce, making the car touch the tarmac.
All the awkwardness of a first encounter was to be expected for the fresh-out-of-the-container car but the testing session was all about ironing out any kinks before race day, Mr Quinn said.
''It's like going out with a new girlfriend. We'll see what she does when the dancing starts,'' he said.
Highlands' business development officer, Josie Spillane, said enthusiasm was palpable ahead of the two-day event, which has been revived after an eight-year hiatus.
''We are thrilled with the support seen in the lead-up to the event. The level of interest is so incredibly high - everybody is just so excited to see the return of this event,'' she said.
The 105 competitors will do a reconnaissance run up the 14.5km course today in their road cars, before testing and qualifying tomorrow in their competition vehicles.
The finals will be held on Sunday, when the King of the Mountain will be crowned.
