Toyota 86 racing series is Bathurst-bound
Sep 30, 2016 By Toyota Australia.
The Toyota 86 Racing Series (T86RS) steps up as a key support category for next weekend?s Bathurst 1000 Supercars enduro (Oct 6?9), with a huge field of
close to 40 entrants ready to challenge the world-famous Mount Panorama circuit.
Competitors from all over the country are champing at the bit to attack the iconic 6.2km track, with the 86 race cars expected to hit speeds in excess of
200km/h down the legendary Conrod Straight.
One significant newcomer to the series will be Kiwi Ash Blewett; a spot on the Bathurst grid coming as part of his prize package for winning the 2016 New
Zealand Toyota 86 Championship.
Blewett has been contesting the New Zealand national championship since its inception in 2013, and is looking forward to the trans-Tasman contest.
?I?m definitely excited. I won the NZ 86 series in March and Bathurst seemed a long way away. But now it?s a reality, and I can?t wait,? Ash said.
New Zealand 86 Championship cars conform to a specification broadly similar to their Australian counterparts; the biggest difference being full slick race
rubber in New Zealand compared with ultra-high performance Dunlop Direzza semi-slick tyres in Australia.
In a recent test of the local 86 race car at Sydney Motorsport Park Blewett said the difference between his usual race ride and the Aussie-spec 86 was
apparent from the first lap.
?It?s a lot livelier. Out of slower corners the back-end breaks loose more easily. The NZ cars are pretty well planted most of the time. But with slicks,
the flip side is when the car does get out of shape things go wrong really, really quickly. The Aussie car is far more progressive,? Ash said.
Another international visitor keen to get involved with the T86RS action is Tetsuya Tada, Toyota 86 chief engineer, dedicated motorsport enthusiast and
patron of the Australian series.
Toyota runs one-make series for the 86 in Japan, Germany and New Zealand as well as Australia, and Tada-san is on the record saying: ?My dream is that one
day we can have a World 86 Challenge with the best drivers from Japan, Europe and other markets ? and the champion Toyota 86 driver from Australia.?
Returning to the T86RS field for Bathurst will be established racers Steve Johnson, Glenn Seton and Leanne Tander.
Toyota is inviting a range of recognised drivers to join the series at selected events throughout 2016, with the primary goal of sharing their experience
with regular series competitors.
All three invitees know Mount Panorama intimately thanks to countless racing laps around the undulating and notoriously tricky circuit, so access to their
knowledge and ?inside information? will be hugely valuable to the rest of the field.
Heading into the Bathurst weekend the T86RS points table sees young Queenslander Will Brown (778 points) leading New South Welshman David Sieders (746
points), with the Gold Coast?s Aaron Seton (712 points) in third.
The T86RS is on-track across all four days of the Bathurst 1000 schedule, with two practice sessions on Thursday October 6, qualifying on Friday morning,
two 20-minute races on Saturday and a third race early on Sunday October 9 as a curtain-raiser to the Supercars ?Great Race.?
The Toyota 86 Racing Series
The Toyota 86 Racing Series is designed to provide an entry point and training ground for up-and-coming drivers, offering a confirmed prize pool of
$125,000.
Open to all manual variants of Toyota's cult-classic sports car[sup]*[/sup], the series is part of the support program at selected rounds of the Virgin
Australia Supercars Championship.
In 2016 the Toyota 86 Racing Series is running over five events: May 20?22 (Winton SuperSprint), August 26?28 (Sydney Motorsport Park SuperSprint),
September 16?18 (Sandown 500), October 6?9 (Bathurst 1000) and December 2?4 (Sydney 500).
For regular updates and more information go to toyota.com.au/86/racing-series.
*Must be Australian Design Rule (ADR) compliant, fitted with
Neal Bates Motorsport mandatory race package,
and equipped with Confederation of Australian Motorsport mandated safety equipment.