New hypercar for Cromwell

The owner of Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell is shelling out an estimated $4.6 million on a limited production Aston Martin AM-RB001 Valkyrie V12 hypercar. 

Tony Quinn will become the only person in the southern hemisphere to own the hybrid electric sports car.

Highlands operations manager Kynan Yu said the car would be a great asset for Central Otago.

''It's just such a great thing for the region. Tony sees it as a bonus for the region, that people won't need to go to the other side of the world to see this cool toy," said Yu to the Otago Daily Times (ODT).

Quinn was invited by Aston Martin to buy the Valkyrie and had put down a deposit for the car, which would cost US$3.2 million, Yu said to the ODT.

The Valkyrie weighs 1000kg and has more than 1000kW of power, with a Cosworth 6.5-litre V12 engine, LMP-style aerodynamics and a top speed of just over 400kph.

Its design was thought up by Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer and arguably one of the world's most successful F1 designers.

The car is expected to arrive in the middle of next year.