Well not quite the main game but the Japanese giant has announced a Pro-Am race series for its 86 sports car will be a support race for V8s from next year.
Coming on top of news that Toyota’s premium brand Lexus is supplying the RC F coupe for safety car duties and is studying a V8 Supercar race program…well there’s suddenly a lot of Toyota noise around V8s.
The Toyota 86 Pro-Am Series is intended to be an affordable, grassroots motorsport series – but with pre-event costs below $10,000 and a reasonable audience on both pay TV and free-to-air, www.carshowroom.com.au understands several of the existing V8 ute teams are looking to defect from that series to the Toyota program.
Toyota’s series is being co-ordinated by rally superstar Neal Bates and the plan is to have up to five selected professional drivers to mentor and compete against a field of amateur drivers.
Long-time motorsport fans recall similar series’ for Ford Lasers, Suzuki Swifts, Mitsubishi Mirages and even Alfasuds and Toyota LandCruiser utes.
Importantly all Toyota 86 racers will run control ECUs, suspensions, brakes, exhausts, oil coolers and wheels/tyres developed as a package by Neal Bates Motorsport.
To race in the series you’ll need a Toyota 86 GT manual – we’ve heard there are some hail-damaged versions for sale in Queensland which are a bit cheaper than a perfect showroom version!
“The dynamic abilities and fun-to-drive characteristics of the 86 provide a credible platform for motorsport – and many owners already compete regularly in tarmac rallies, lap dashes and other events,” revealed Toyota Australia boss Tony Cramb. “Fundamental to the concept is that is a grassroots motorsport series that is affordable for anyone who has both the passion and the talent to compete in a national series.”
There’s even talk the Australian champ will be invited to compete at an international Toyota 86 race.
Having seen many of these series both here in Australia and overseas, www.carshowroom.com.au reckons just as important will be keeping a tight hold on the engineering so savvy professional race teams don’t stretch the rules to make their cars superior to any other.
