15 Nov 2017  - What brings an extremely wealthy Australian tech guru to the backblocks of the South Island? Granted, there is a small stream on the western boundary of his 550 hectare North Canterbury farm that might harbour brown trout but there’s certainly no lake, no private golf course, no hint of equestrian activity, no magnificent country estate, rather just a random collection of innocuous sheds of varying sizes and shapes.

On closer inspection there are, however, extensive tar-sealed roads, one in particular running for nearly a kilometre alongside a narrow public access road that forms the inland route between Waiau and Kaikoura. It’s along this road that gobsmacked tourists sometimes get to experience the cacophony of sound as a speeding ‘Formula 1-like’ race car blasts past their vehicles at what must seem like insane speeds on the other side of the farm fence.

It’s all that separates the 2.8 kilometre long race track from a normally quiet public road, just 50 metres away. David Dicker, head of Dicker Data Australia, which recently turned over A$1billion in sales revenue, is certainly not the only rich man to build himself a private race track here, and probably won’t be the last. Such a man could therefore be expected to have a collection of fast toys, and he has them in spades; Ferraris (his favourites), Lamborghinis, and Porsches but few such enthusiasts own a Lotus 125 “F1 customer experience” race car, complete with a screaming 650bhp Cosworth V8 engine.

Even fewer have their own 2.8km race track on which to unleash the beast whenever they . . . .

Continue here to read the full story written by Mark petch in AutoCarNew Zealand ||  November 15,  2017