In 1999, he moved to the United States Road Racing Championship before filling in for other drivers in the American Le Mans Series for a few years.

He was sponsored for his MBA from Michigan State University in 1973 by travel operator Atlantic & Pacific, where he went on to work for three years following his return.

However, the 2017/18 financial year was not a happy one owing to having to meet a pay equity shortfall, which reduced the annual profit by 15% to $16.8m on improved revenue of $522m.

[5] Bagnall is famous for his collection of exotic cars and used to own the rarest model of the McLaren F1, the F1 HDF.

[7] Among Bagnall's collection of hyper-cars is a 'magnesium silver' McLaren P1, and a red (Rosso Dubai) Pagani Huayra, the latter of which is the only car of its kind in New Zealand.