TOYOTA GT86 SERIES PLANNED

Photos: Jakob Ebrey, Chris Valentine, RWC Photography

A new one-make series for the Toyota GT86 is being launched this season.

The series will run alongside the 750 Motor Club’s Roadsports and Club Enduro categories in 2016, but a standalone grid is planned in the next couple of years.

Patrick Mortell, who also coordinates the club’s Toyota MR2 Championship said: “The idea is to have something similar to the MR2 Championship where it’s about the drivers rather than who can tune the cars best.

“This year we are calling it the GT86 Prologue Series running it alongside the 750MC Roadsports and Club Enduro. It won’t run as a class, we will give out an award for the highest-placed GT86.

“The plan, depending on how long it takes to get the numbers up, is to have its own standalone grid in two years. We may initially allow MR2 cars at the back. The price of the cars is becoming more affordable, which is great and I am confident this will be a success. It’s got support from the 750 Motor Club – it think it’s a great idea but cost is going to be key. We’ve had lots of interest so far.”

Mortell’s Rogue Motorsport outfit has bought two of the cars and has prepared parts for them. He estimates it will cost £2700 plus VAT to upgrade a road car to a basic race version.

The team will enter the cars in the Silverstone 24 Hours next month. Malcolm Edeson, Alric Kitson, JM Littman, Clive Bailye, Chris Valentine, Merrill Readett, Mortell and one more driver will race them.

“The 24 Hour race is to get the cars out and prove them,” added Mortell. “If they can do a 24-hour race flat-out they can definitely do a 20-minute sprint race flat-out. The cars are road legal so we plan to drive them to and from the event.”

Tanner: “The helmet is taken back to its base coat and then we add a black colour to underline everything. We apply tape to the helmet and then we can start work on the design – we will map it out layer by layer and this can be a very intricate part of the process. The length of this process depends on the intricacy of the design and this is where the time is usually taken up.”