The stars from the hit British TV show Top Gear are understood to be taking part in a car versus boat race from the Coromandel Peninsula to Northland.
ONE News has confirmed presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May
are racing with British yachting legend Sir Ben Ainslie.
Filming is expected to continue on Ninety Mile Beach on
Wednesday.
Clarkson and May arrived in the country on Tuesday to film the testing of a "supersonic" car at the Waipapakauri end of the beach.
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Local Maori had raised concerns about the beach being closed and met with production crews at the weekend to discuss what exactly would be happening at Te Oneoa A Tohe.
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The producers made no official comment but told iwi Top Gear would not be racing on the beach or breaking the 100kmh speed limit.
The Far North District Council sent out a notice last week stating a stretch of the beach could be shut down between midday and 5pm any day this week until Sunday, weather dependent, to film the segment.
Far North District Council Chief Executive David Edmunds said the filming approval was granted to the BBC on the understanding that any disruption to people using the beach will only be for a maximum of around 45 minutes and only on one day within the six-day timeslot.
Clarkson tweeted last night that he will not be spending long in New Zealand: "I have to be in Spitzbergen at the weekend. And that's 1000k north of Norway," he wrote.