NZ cars to feature in F1 support

New Zealand cars will feature in Formula One support races in a deal instigated by a Kiwi who was formerly McLaren’s sporting director.

Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand have leased FT60 single-seaters to the W Series, an international openwheel racing category for women.

This year, the W Series will feature at eight F1 events, their most extensive calendar since the championship was launched in 2018. The New Zealand cars will be used at Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix and Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.

New Zealander Dave Ryan spent 35 years at the McLaren F1 team reaching sporting director before leaving to set up Von Ryan Racing in GT racing in 2009. He was appointed W Series racing director, which has led to the deal to lease 18 of the New Zealand FT60 cars.

“It was really a matter of logistics,” Ryan told the Weekend Herald from his United Kingdom base. “It became apparent that if we had a second set of cars, we could have a better choice of going to the [F1 races] we wanted.

“I knew through Bob [McMurray, who worked with Ryan at McLaren] and my New Zealand connections that the cars were available.

“Those cars were identical to ours other than the engines, and after talking to Andrew [Davies at Toyota], he was supportive of us using his assets.”

The W Series uses identical Tatuus chassis to the Toyota Racing Series cars but with different engines. The cars will retain their Toyota engines but with a few tweaks.

“They have to comply to an FIA power-to-weight ratio. They [Toyota] have adjusted the power curve to get it to align with what we require.

“It’s marginal and only a very minor change and the engine has to be homologated, which Toyota are going through the process now,” said Ryan.

The logic behind using the New Zealand cars lies in being able to get from one F1 event to the next as quickly and efficiently as possible. Moving the cars by sea is more cost efficient than flying them.

“Putting together an international racing series is a complex operation requiring lots of resources. This is a good solution for W Series, as it prevents the use of air freight.

“Having two sets of cars, we can leapfrog them around. The cars for Miami are already on the way, the New Zealand cars get to the UK in the next couple of weeks and we’ll prepare them for the Barcelona race.

“After the race, we’ll bring them back to the UK, prepare them and ship them off to Japan, while we’ll use the Miami cars for the European races,” said Ryan.

The cars will return to New Zealand in November to prepare for the 2023 Toyota Racing Series.