Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship calendar revealed

The 2021-2022 Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship – which will be the biggest in its nine year history – will be fought out over six rounds starting in November.

There will be four North Island rounds and two in the South Island with the championship heading to the spectacular setting of Highlands Motorsport Park before making a long-awaited return to the Mike Pero Motorsport Park (Ruapuna) in Christchurch.

The championship – which will have a minimum 22 car entry this coming season – will blast off at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend of November 12-14 before heading up the motorway for the second round at Pukekohe Park three weeks later on December 3-5.

After the Christmas break the teams and drivers will head south to Cromwell for the Highlands weekend on January 14-16 and then move to Christchurch for the Ruapuna weekend on January 21-23. Three weekends later it’s back to Hampton Downs on February 11-13 before the season finale at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo on March 25-27.

Category manager Geoff Short says it’s fitting for the biggest ever Toyota 86 Championship to be back on both islands as a full national championship.

“We are one of only a very small amount of genuine national championships and everyone is delighted to be returning south after the challenges of the pandemic limited what we could do last season,” he said. “We’ve never had more interest in the championship than we have right now and we may well end up with every available Toyota 86 on the grid from the first round at Hampton Downs.

“There are some amazing opportunities on offer this season to the most successful drivers, not least the  Triple Eight Race Engineering Supercar test given by the Tony Quinn Foundation. We will announce the full prize pool imminently and we will begin rolling out our driver announcements as well. There are going to be some familiar faces in there as well as some very talented new racers.”

Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship 2021 – 2022

Round 1 – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park – November 12-14

Round 2 – Pukekohe Park Raceway – December 3-5

Round 3 – Highlands Motorsport Park – January 14-16

Round 4 – Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna – January 21- 23

Round 5 – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park – February 11-13

Round 6 – Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo – March 25-27