Quin’s Toyota 86 racing campaign gathers speed
Auckland driver Callum Quin says he is aiming to close the gap on leader Ash Blewett as the 2015-2016 Toyota Finance 86 Championship heads for its final round at Taupo next month.
Blewett dominated the first two rounds in late 2015, but Quin is currently second on points. He says the pursuing field has caught up and is on Blewett’s pace with the final round of three races remaining. In the southern rounds at Ruapuna and Teretonga he was one of three drivers able to take outright wins in what many are saying is the most competitive grid yet seen in the championship.
“The southern rounds showed we can put pressure on Ash, and it works. It would be a tall ask for us to take the outright title at this late stage – we’d need two wins and for Ash to not finish – but I think we have the Spark/Onform Signs TR 86 in a position where we can challenge for race wins at the final round,” he said.
As the championship developed, Quin (19) found himself locked in a see-saw battle with masters category leader John Penny. The pair fought race by race for the second position in the championship, Quin racking up nine podium finishes in fifteen races including a brace of second place finishes at the opening round.
“For me, racing the endurance events over winter was extremely valuable. I think Ash had the early edge because they did more testing specific to the championship, but it’s so close now, we’ve all lifted our games,” he said.
Wet weather racing at Ruapuna, he said, was ‘tricky’, but a week later at Teretonga “everything clicked” and he was very comfortable with the speed of the car, scoring a win in the first race of the weekend. Returning to the North Island the championship joined the single-seaters of Toyota Racing Series to race at Manfeild, where two second place finishes added handy points to Quin’s total.
“As always, and especially in single-make racing, consistency is key. You can’t afford to have an off day or even miss a race result. We’re aiming now to consolidate second place in the championship ahead of John Penny and have a great finish at Taupo,” he said.
After five rounds of the championship Quin is second overall behind Blewett. The points gap is 156 with 75 points available for each race win. John Penny trails Callum Quin by a further seven points. There are three races at the final round, which takes place at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo, March 26-27.
With a record championship entry of 18 drivers and a further seven who have raced one or more rounds, the third year of the Championship looks set to be the most successful yet. Drivers can buy cars outright, race in an ‘arrive and drive’ package with a recognised team, or lease cars for part or all of the championship at attractive rates.
Demand for the TR 86 race cars used in the series has skyrocketed, with all of the original build of 20 now spoken for and a further build planned for the winter months. The additional cars will be built to order.
The championship is televised on TV3 and SKY.
More information on Callum Quin can be found at.
https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/callum-quin/
https://www.facebook.com/callumquinracing
Toyota Finance 86 Championship
Points after five rounds
Ash Blewett 1058
Callum Quin 902
John Penny 895
Michael Scott 688
Ryan Yardley 630
Jacob Smith 617
Reid Harker 505
Matthew Hamilton 463
Mike Lightfoot 404
Thomas Stokes 363
Jaxon Evans 340
Tiffany Chittenden 339
Caleb Cross 243
Kenny Smith 219
Jayden Dodge 187
Bruce Thomlinson 173
Marcus Armstrong 150
Paul Kelly 141
Craig Innes 129
Jamie McNee 99
Rick Armstrong 61
Miles Cockram 46
Alex Sherie 22
