2021 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series calendar announced

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia (TGRA) 86 Series has confirmed a five-round calendar on the support card of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship.

Next year’s TGRA 86 championship will include racing at the season-opening Mount Panorama 500 in February along with visits to Winton, Townsville, Sydney Motorsport Park and the finale at the Repco Bathurst 1000 in October.In May, the series announced a new two-year extension of the current deal through until the end of 2022.

Toyota Australia Chief Marketing Officer John Pappas said ait was great to see 86 racing back on the track after what has been a year of limited motorsport action for fans, teams and drivers.

“The TGRA 86 Series is a core part of our GR brand that has motorsport at its heart and we’re really excited to kick off the 2021 season at Bathurst next year”.

“We know our 86 racing community is keen to be racing in a full championship season again and provide the same sort of close, thrilling action that the series has delivered over the past five years,” Pappas said.

In addition to the championship title, drivers compete for a prize pool of $150,000 with cash prizes of $50,000, $30,000 and $15,000 for the top three podium positions at the end of the season.

The coveted Kaizen Award will again be awarded for the 2021 season.

Inaugural Toyota series winner Will Brown will make his debut as a full-time driver in the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship showing the strength of the pathway from the series to Supercars.

Supercars Chief Strategy Officer John Casey said the series is expecting more than 30 entries again.

"As one of the leading support categories for Supercars, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series continues to present genuine, dynamic and entertaining racing to a broad audience both at the track and on Foxtel, Kayo and the Seven Network,” Casey said.

"Since 2016, this series has given talented youngsters, passionate enthusiasts and the tight-knit community that supports them, the opportunity to regularly come together to do something they love while also providing motorsport fans with plenty of thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing action.

"In 2021, we are excited to see the series return to the track and offer fans exhilarating grassroots motor racing action on some of the best circuits Australia has to offer.”

As a one-make series with all teams competing in near-identical Toyota 86 race cars, the TGRA 86 Series offers drivers the chance to learn and develop their skills, assisted by the series mentor and two invited professional drivers at each round.

All competitors drive a Toyota 86 that has been modified with a high-performance affordable race package developed by Neal Bates Motorsport, that, in 2021, can have them on the track for under $50,000 including the cost of the original road car.

The series is backed by TGR - a global force in motorsport - and strengthens Toyota's commitment in supporting motorsport at all levels from the grassroots community to its world championship-winning WRC and WEC teams.

Hino Motor Sales Australia and Dunlop Tyres, which have been on board since the beginning, have also committed to maintaining their support for one of TGRA 86 through to the 2022 season.

2021 Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series Calendar• Feb 26-28: Mount Panorama 500, Bathurst, NSW• May 29-30: Winton SuperSprint, Winton, VIC• July 9-11: NTI Townsville, Reid Park, QLD• Aug 20-22: Sydney SuperNight, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW• Oct 7-10: Repco Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, NSW