The 2KCUP is a racing series started only last year, with the idea to offer a series without breaking the bank.

A standard car 2.0 litres or less, naturally aspirated for under $2000 are the requirements to enter the 2KCUP.

Everyone added their own little touch to the exterior of the cars, with this genius play on word catching my eye!

Without big sponsors, drivers still managed to create teams, these three levins being labelled ‘jamex’.

I travelled from Auckland to Taupo for this day thinking it was dedicated to only the 2KCUP cars, however I was delighted that this was not the case…

Plenty of red MR2s were competing, the only rwd with no engine under the bonnet.

This Mazda Cosmo was awesome, sitting on race tires, even holding government issue plates!

These weird cars were competing in their last race of the series, however only a few of the many showed up to race. I had never even heard of a ‘Juno’ before today, definitely looks fun to drive.

A field of go karts were also racing on the day, acquiring lap times which were equivalent to those of the 2KCUP cars!

I don’t know how they do it, being so open and so low to the ground, flipping the kart would not end well… Concentration is a must with this type of racing.

Mostly Japanese cars lining up for the first practice session of the day. You have primeras, ftos, currens, celicas, mr2s, and a little Peugeot.

Flying down the straight, it would have been wicked to see as many go karts as there was 2KCUP cars out on the track.

Although they are very small, they can hold their own on the track taking up as much space as they like.

By this time the 2KCUP cars were getting ready for their first practice of the day, more Japanese cars… Levins, integras and familias.

For some reason I thought that this race series would be full of young teenagers, but there seemed to be people of all age groups competing, skilled and novice.

There were two blue mx5s racing also, the only two of the day. This one is not so much stock, with a roll cage, race seats and harnesses.

In the 20 years of my existence I have never been to an actual race day, only track days and drift days. So to see 40+ cars out at once going hard at it was crazy.

One of the newer mr2s on the track, somehow I doubt that this car was under $2000, along with a few of the other newer levins and integras.

Cooling issues arose for this levin, just stopping for a moment seemed to fix it, however I was shocked when it shot off straight back out on the track again!

Junos from what I gathered are just bigger go karts with a lot more power, they had to wait a rather long time to get on the track but it was well worth it.

The integras seemed to be taking the lead during the practice session, number 33 even looked to have a few sponsor stickers…. Or just stickers

Inside one of the Juno cars.. way too many buttons for me to comprehend. It didn’t look like there was anything to weight down the car apart from the driver and the chassis.

A lot of the Honda Cup drivers were out also bringing the excitement level up of the day. These cars were modified like no one’s business.

Having faster lap times than the 2KCUP, is was interesting to see how much less body roll and tire squeal there is when going around this corner compared to the standard suspension and tires form the 2KCUP cars.

There were also a few time attack looking cars scattered around the place, my favourite probably biased opinion was this 180sx on works.

A little spin on the first turn nearly saw two juno cars hitting each other, that would have been a costly accident as it looked like none of them were sponsored.

If only we could pick up a full sized car and put it on a stand to work underneath. However it appeared that the go karts were constantly on their stands throughout the day.

While walking through the pits I came across this Honda, which had one tidy looking engine bay.

Graphics on a car can sometimes look cool if done right, and I think Albany signs pulled it off great on this car.

Rocketship… was all I was thinking when this yellow Juno came zooming towards me, you can’t even see the wheels it just looks like it was floating.

The pits were packed with shelter, tools, and people all with the same passion – cars. Everyone was having a great day! The sky was blue and the sun was out.

The reason I came down to Taupo was to see if entering the 2KCUP next season would be something I would like to do. Although the practice session was slow to watch, with no usual exhaust sound battering my ears, the first race was about to begin and hopefully fulfil my expectation.

As the light went green and the cars took off in a complete scramble the anticipation level picked up as well as my excitement with such equal cars, it is all in the driver’s skill.

It was a miracle that no one crashed on the first corner with that many cars, the race was still tight going into the first few turns.

Coming down the back straight the field was spreading out a bit with a few distinct leaders appearing out of the scramble.

The first car off the track was as this mazda, luckily it avoided the tire wall and kept on racing.

The racing was so tight around the corners, with cars coming within inches of each other.

With only a few non-japanese cars racing, this Peugeot was the fastest of the lot, no doubt about it, coming third in the first race behind two integras.

The corner after the back straight saw a few cars spin on the track, even with people following this close, nothing other than bald spots happened to anyone.

The one car that shocked me the most was this Nissan bluebird, it looked way too big and heavy to keep up, but it proved me wrong! With the end of the first race it was clear that this series could easily be something that I or anyone with little income could compete in.

My first visit to taupo motorsport park was over, it is clear why it is an international race track. The day consisted of Junos, 2KCUP cars, Honda Cup cars and rotarys all taking to the track to enjoy doing what they love!

If you would like to read more about the 2KCUP go to their website 2KCUP.com, high quality prints are also available of all pictures to purchase, more pictures are available on our facebook page.

© Ambition Works 2014