The Toyota Gazoo Racing team has set itself an ambitious goal: to return to the five-round/NZ Grand Prix series format in 2023.
Responding to the progressive reduction in border controls by the Government, TGRNZ has announced that it will re-create the championship, which last ran as a full international series in 2020.
New Zealand’s borders will be open to international travellers by October this year.
The TGRNZ team is already deep into planning the 2023 season and must now re-establish its global profile in order to attract drivers from around the world.
TGRNZ Motorsport, TRS Category and Operations Manager Nico Caillol says the intention is to return to a full 20-car grid and five rounds of intense competition over five weekends.
“The championship has been badly hit by the international Covid-19 travel restrictions but we can see light at the end of the tunnel for 2023 now,” he said.
“We are already talking to a large number of drivers, driver managers and teams and they are delighted to hear that the Castrol Toyota Racing Series is back on the international racing calendar and beyond.”
In previous years series officials have undertaken a mid-year tour to Europe to talk to drivers, managers and talent spotters and market the series as the ideal off-season race series for rising race stars. Caillol is now following suit, but blends first-person recruitment with online activity.
The series will once more use the FT-60 single-seaters last wheeled out competitively for the 2021 New Zealand Grand Prix, won by Shane van Gisbergen; and then for a shortened championship won by Matthew Payne.
Border restrictions forced the cancellation of the 2022 Grand Prix and series.
Caillol says, “The TGRNZ team has worked hard not only to maintain the cars through this dormant period and continue to run testing and development programme, aiming to give young Kiwis testing mileage in the cars as they endeavour to further their single seater racing careers abroad in very challenging times.”
International recognition for TRS FT-60 car as Formula W stand-in
Meanwhile, the FT-60 Castrol TRS car has officially been homologated by the FIA as a Formula regional car and engine combination.
The homologation completes the process of approval for the cars to be used in two rounds of the W Series on the Grand Prix support card for Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain and Suzuka, Japan, later this year. A fleet of 18 FT-60 cars has been sent to the UK in preparation, along with key TGRNZ technical and management staff.
It is the first time any international junior formula has shared cars in this way, enabling the use of sea, as opposed to air freight, and keeping the all-women championship’s carbon footprint as low as possible. The W Series uses identical Tatuus chassis to the TRS Championship, but with different engines.
With homologation now complete, cars currently in the UK at the W Series base are being prepared and liveried for the two big race weekends. They will travel by truck from their temporary UK base to Barcelona this month and will be installed in the F1 paddock on May 16th. They will take to the track for the first practice and qualifying sessions on the Friday and will race on Saturday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
The cars will then be returned to the UK base for preparation ahead of shipping for the Suzuka event.
Once that is completed they will return to New Zealand for full preparation prior to the Castrol Toyota Racing Series championship beginning in January 2023.
It is a busy and unique period for TGRNZ staff and Castrol TRS Category Manager and Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol attended the Miami Grand Prix seeing how the
W Series works ahead of the introduction of the New Zealand cars.
Caillol will also use his time abroad to reconnect with championships including British F4, Road to Indy, FRECA and Spanish F4 in May, the Road to Indy and F4/F3 Americas in July, FRECA, British, French, Spanish and Italian F4 and EuroFormula in September.
“It’s great to be back and taking the show on the road as we start the countdown to 2023,” he said.
The W Series presence is seen as a perfect way to re-introduce the category to an international audience after two years of Covid-enforced layover.
“We would hope to attract several drivers from that as they will have the distinct advantage of having done two race weekends in our NZ cars anyway.”
TGRNZ is planning a full return to ‘normal’ for the international championship that was last run with international drivers at the beginning of 2020, just prior to the Covid-19 related travel restrictions in New Zealand and elsewhere were introduced.
There will be five race consecutive weekends for the 20 drivers who will contest the 2023 TRS championship, with events in New Zealand’s North and South Islands. The five-weekend schedule will conclude with the 68th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, which remains one of only two events outside of the Formula One championship to be recognised as an official Grand Prix by the FIA (Along with the Macau GP).
The championship will once again see its four regular independent teams running identical factory prepared Tatuus based Toyota FT-60 cars.
“As well as generating interest abroad, it’s also great that we have been able to retain the four teams we have in New Zealand who run these cars and provide engineering jobs at that time of year,” added Caillol.
“All of our teams have engineers they retain or bring in for the championship who have worked at the highest levels of motorsport, so these young drivers will be in good hands.
“The championship has always proved popular as a stepping stone to a successful season in the Northern Hemisphere and that will continue. For some drivers it is a means to secure toward a Super Licence to allow them to test or drive in their chosen categories.”