It's all about the motorsport

WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Street

GREAT LIFESTYLE: Enjoying their new Kiwi lifestyle are the Smiths from Huddersfield. From left, Ayrton, Kevin, Emerson, Marcia and Mika.

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Watching a television programme on New Zealand was the catalyst for Kev Smith packing his family up and emigrating.

Smith debuted his first New Zealand-style superstock at the Palmerston North Speedway last Saturday, just 18 months after he'd arrived from England.

"We were sitting at home one night watching Billy Connolly's world tour of New Zealand," he said.

"I turned to Marcia and said, 'why don't we live somewhere lovely like there?' . . . it just snowballed from there."

Smith, who is from Huddersfield, settled in Palmerston North after attending an expo in Manchester where he spoke to people from the Palmerston North City Council.

"I said we were thinking of immigrating and that I was coming out to race at Rotorua, Wellington and to the Arena in Palmerston North; and they told me they owned the place. I think they knew I was committed."

It wasn't all plain sailing for Smith though. He had owned a successful engineering business in Huddersfield for 12 years, but that didn't help him with the New Zealand Immigration service.

"It was a bit strange because I didn't have a trade or any qualifications. When I was out here racing, the city council gave me an interview as a jobs co-ordinator. We'd fallen in love with the place and decided to up everything and move."

Smith said he and wife Marcia certainly hadn't shifted here for the money.

"It was the lifestyle we came for. When I started my job at Ashhurst Domain I was getting less than the young fella who worked for me back home. But there are only four million people here in a country the same size as Britain, which has 60 million. We decided that's not a place to bring up our kids."

Smith's total interest is motorsport, stockcars first, then Formula I.

He's so fanatical his sons Ayrton, 12, Mika, 10, and Emerson, 4, are all named after McLaren Formula 1 champions.

Smith, who has raced stockcars for 25 years, has made an impressive job of his new superstock. It didn't prove as successful on the track, although it did have plenty of pace.

"Back home I knew our rules inside out and could build a car to go quick first up. But we've got a lot of old shockers and things on the car. I'm not going to go out and buy new gear until I know what I want."

As for shifting back to England one day?

"Not a show; we're Kiwis now . . . Just Kiwis with Yorkshire accents."

Their friends in Britain can't believe how much room the Smiths have when they view the family's website, all done by Marcia.

"Our house here is 357 square metres - that's bigger than our entire property in the UK and we had a decent place there."

- © Fairfax NZ News