A prominent figure in the New Zealand motorsport community has been captured on camera allegedly assaulting a photographer at the V8 Supercar championship in Pukekohe at the weekend.
Australian Dick Klynsmith was pushed to the ground after being kicked by Ted Jarvis, the president of the Auckland Car Club and founder of a charity to help disadvantaged youth.
The footage of the incident was subsequently posted on Facebook.
"Dirk is fine," said the man who filmed it in his post. "He has a few extra marks on his head. Someone is driving me back to the hotel and he has been to medical."
Jarvis, who acts as a mentor to troubled youth pursuing careers in motorsport, told the NZ Herald that he would be releasing a statement on the incident once he'd had a chance to consult with Motorsport New Zealand.
"There was a whole thing beforehand," he claimed.
The Auckland Car Club issued a statement of their own on their Facebook page, expressing regret at the altercation while also attempting to distance themselves from it.
"The Auckland Car Club executive committee have been made aware of the situation late last night and we are meeting in urgency to deal with the incident.
"Although we have no formal details at this stage and have not yet spoken with Mr Jarvis the Committee would like it to be known that we absolutely do not condone any kind of violence and we hope Mr Klynsmith is okay and apologise to him over this very regrettable incident.
"We would like it to be known that Mr Jarvis was not representing the car club in any formal capacity over the supercar weekend," wrote club representative Neville Cooper in a post.
Counties Manukau Police have confirmed they are investigating the incident, and intend to speak to Mr Jarvis.
Newshub.
