Written by new-contact on Mar 11, 2013. Posted in On Location

BBC’s Top Gear filming supersonic car on New Zealand’s 90 Mile Beach

The BBC’s Top Gear team is filming a supersonic car sequence this week on location in New Zealand. Ninety Mile Beach lies north-west of Auckland on the country’s North Island and the production team will be in the area for six days.

“The BBC project has huge implications in terms of generating a positive image of New Zealand and the Far North,” commented David Edmunds, Chief Executive of Far North District Council: “The programme involved goes to 212 countries and the positive publicity for the district is literally worth millions of dollars.”

Although a six-day shoot has been planned, Edmunds revealed that this is partly a bad-weather contingency. High-speed sequences are planned for one day of filming.

Shooting plans initially caused controversy locally. Edmunds had to address shortcomings in the Council’s handling of the BBC’s plans when some of the regional Maori communities were left out of the filming consultations.

(Photo: Steffen Hillebrand)