The Toyota Racing Series was set up in 2005 to give young Kiwi racers a chance to experience world class single seater racing.
The championship attracted a few international drivers at the time, and the number swelled as the years continued. The benefit for Kiwi drivers was in the chance to test their craft against drivers they would go up against when they raced overseas.
New Zealanders who have graduated from the series include Brendon Hartley (Formula 3 F1, WEC), Shane van Gisbergen (V8 Supercar, Nascar), Nick Cassidy (Super Formula, Super GT, Formula 3, DTM, Formula E) and Mitch Evans (Formula 3, Formula 2, Formula E).
Some of the most promising international graduates of the championship are now at the sharp end of premier categories worldwide.
In F1, there were four TRS graduates on the grid in Australia: Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Guanyu Zhou.
It was 2016 TRS champion Lando Norris who pushed his McLaren to a podium position at the Australian Grand Prix. Norris was one of the pace setters throughout the weekend and was best of the rest in third place behind the Ferrari 1-2 of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Another to shine in F1 in Albert Park was 2020 NZ championship graduate Yuki Tsunoda, who put in his best weekend of the season so far in F1, out-qualifying and out-racing teammate Daniel Ricciardo to be a solid top ten contender throughout the weekend.
Melbourne was packed with great drives from TRS graduates. In FIA F2, Franco Colapinto and Richard Verschoor bagged top six results with fourth in the sprint race and sixth in the feature race respectively.
In F3 championship races, 2023 NZ Grand Prix winner Laurens van Hoepen took an impressive podium in the first race while 2023 champion Charlie Wurz finished fifth in the second race. Christian Mansell also took two tenth place finishes.
In the Porsches Ryder Quinn topped the graduates’ results with a third place, a fifth and a sixth across the weekend. Jackson Walls also took a podium and ran strongly in the top ten throughout the weekend as did Marco Giltrap and Tom McLennan. Current TR86 racer Lockie Bloxsom also made a solid debut in the Porsche category as well.
In a busy V8 Supercar weekend, 2021 Castrol Toyota Racing Series champ Matthew Payne continued his impressive run with third place finishes in the first and second races, while Richie Stanaway took a seventh and eighth in the third and fourth races. Aussie Thomas Randle was on form in the final race as well, taking a fighting fourth.
Wrapping up a great weekend of motorsport was a fine first round of the Formula Pro Western USA championship at the daunting Thunderhill Raceway in California for 2024 CTRFROC graduate Landon Lim. Racing for Kiwi Motorsport as he did in his recent NZ campaign, Landon clean-swept the weekend, winning all the races and taking the fastest laps.
