About Us

For me, it started young. I grew up around cars and was involved in the scene from an early age before stepping away for a few years while work and family took priority.

The passion never disappeared though — it was just parked up for a while.

In 2017, with the establishment of the New Zealand Burnout Championship, it was time to get involved again.

That's really where the Fitzroy Motorsport story as you know it today began.

What started with getting back behind the wheel quickly turned into travelling New Zealand, competing at events and becoming heavily involved in the grassroots burnout scene.

And right in the middle of it all was NUTOUT.

Over the years NUTOUT has changed, evolved, broken things, been rebuilt and probably destroyed more tyres than I'd like to count — but the car has taken us on one hell of a journey.

One of the biggest milestones in the Fitzroy Motorsport journey has been earning the opportunity to take NUTOUT across the Tasman to compete at Summernats in Australia — not once, but twice.

The first opportunity came in 2020, when we earned our place at Summernats 33 in Canberra.

Taking a New Zealand-built burnout car to Australia and lining up at one of the biggest modified-car events in the world was something I'd wanted to achieve for a long time. There was a huge amount of work, fundraising and plenty of late nights involved in getting NUTOUT there, but seeing the car on the pad at Summernats made it all worthwhile.

A few years later, we did it again.

NUTOUT earned another opportunity to head back across the ditch as part of the Downtime Downunder Tour, this time to compete in the Summernats Pro Series.

That second trip was another massive milestone — getting the chance to represent New Zealand and compete alongside some of the best burnout cars and drivers in the sport.

For me, the important part of both trips is that we earned our way there through competition.

Summernats wasn't somewhere we simply decided to go.

Twice we went out, competed, and earned the opportunity to take NUTOUT to Australia.

Those experiences have played a huge part in shaping what Fitzroy Motorsport has become today — and they're a big reason I'm so passionate about creating pathways that give other New Zealand competitors the opportunity to progress through the sport.

Somewhere along the way, Fitzroy Motorsport became about a lot more than just my own car.

I've always enjoyed telling the stories behind motorsport — the cars, the characters, the battles to get to an event and all the stuff people don't necessarily see from the grandstand.

That eventually led to another opportunity I'm extremely proud of — becoming a regular columnist for NZV8 Magazine.

My column, The Burnout Files, is dedicated entirely to the New Zealand burnout scene.

It's a chance to give our sport, our competitors and our events a regular voice in one of New Zealand's best-known performance car magazines — covering everything from grassroots competitors and new builds through to major events and what's happening within the scene.

Alongside the magazine, Fitzroy Motorsport continues to produce video and social media content, event coverage, interviews and NUTCHAT, giving people another look at the personalities and stories behind New Zealand motorsport.

As Fitzroy Motorsport has grown, so has what I want to achieve with it.

These days, one of the biggest things for me is creating opportunities for other people to get involved.

I'm a big believer that if we want people to stop doing burnouts on public roads, we need to give them somewhere to actually do them.

We need legal events.

We need affordable entry points.

And we need a clear pathway for someone with a basic car and a passion for burnouts to eventually work their way through to bigger competitions.

Keep it off the street and put it on the pad.

And we do things a little differently.

Entertainment. Tip In. Skid.

It's not just about horsepower or making smoke — it's about getting the crowd involved, putting on a show and having a bloody good time doing it.

In 2026, that message became one of our biggest projects yet — the New Zealand Burnout Tour.

We hit the road travelling the country, attending events, putting on burnout demonstrations and holding community meet-ups while talking openly about how people can get involved in the sport legally.

It wasn't just about putting on burnouts.

It was about showing people what goes into building the cars, what it costs, the safety requirements, how to enter your first event and the pathway that exists from a grassroots skid all the way through to Pro competition.

After years of travelling to events ourselves, it was an opportunity to use Fitzroy Motorsport to hopefully help the next person get started.

Another slightly crazy idea that grew into something much bigger was the 6 Banger Series.

I've always had a soft spot for the six-cylinder burnout cars.

They're the party cars.

When conditions aren't perfect, there's oil on the pad or the weather turns to rubbish, they're normally the guys who'll still go out there and put on a show.

So we decided to build something specifically for them.

What began as a dedicated 6 Banger burnout event has grown into a nationwide series, with dedicated North and South Island events and supporting rounds around the country.

And we've deliberately done things a little differently.

The 6 Banger Series isn't just about horsepower or who can make the biggest cloud of smoke.

We judge Entertainment. Tip In. Skid.

We want drivers and passengers interacting with the crowd, putting on a show and making the whole thing entertaining from the moment they enter the pad until the celebration afterwards.

Because at the end of the day, motorsport is supposed to be fun.

With everything else going on, I'm definitely not ready to hang the helmet up yet.

NUTOUT is still very much alive and getting abused.

After six years of punishment, the 6.0-litre LS went back to Llama Engineering for a refresh in 2026 before coming back stronger.

We then came away with 2nd place at the Chrome Horsepower Festival Pro Burnout Competition, earning another Pro Series ticket along with entry into Summernats NZ.

So there are still a few boxes left to tick.

And plenty more tyres to destroy.

One of the coolest parts of where Fitzroy Motorsport is heading now is seeing the next generation getting involved.

We're currently building SKDMRK, an LS3-powered Mk1 Ford Escort for my daughter Charlotte to make her own mark on the motorsport scene.

For me, that's what grassroots motorsport should be about.

Giving younger people an opportunity to learn about cars, get involved with motorsport in a controlled environment and become part of the community surrounding it.

Because if we want the sport to grow, we have to give the next generation somewhere to start.

These days, that's actually a hard question to answer in one sentence.

We compete.

We create content.

We write about the sport.

We promote events.

We create events.

We travel the country.

We support competitors, promoters and businesses.

We try to give new people a pathway into motorsport.

And occasionally we come up with ridiculous ideas and then somehow turn them into actual events.

But underneath everything is still the same thing that started it all:

A genuine love of cars, motorsport and the people involved in it.

The goal moving forward is pretty simple.

Keep having fun.

Keep creating opportunities.

Keep supporting grassroots motorsport.

Keep it off the street and put it on the pad.

And hopefully leave the scene a little better than we found it.

See you at the pad.

— Hayden
Fitzroy Motorsport