2021 TCR NZ calendar confirmed

The shape of the inaugural Super Production Series, which will be home to the TCR New Zealand Championship, has been announced with the publication of a four-round calendar.

The all-new Super Production category will host several high-performance, factory-built production race cars including Ferrari Challenge and Porsche 911 Cup cars, along with a variety of GT4 machinery.

The TCR series is recognised as the New Zealand Touring Car Championship and will race within the Super Production grid with uncertainty still surrounding entry numbers as only 3 TCR complying car are owned by likely competitors, namely Hayden Paddon, Rhys Gould and Gene Rollinson/Racer Products. The 3 Tracktec Audi TCR cars are available to lease as is the loan Kia TCR car of Choice Performance.

VelocityNews has spoken to Jordan Michels and Rhys Gould, the former saying its unlikely that Williams Racing will enter their Honda TCR car for the 1st round at Manfeild, but are keen to do the 3 South Island round, while Gould has said that he is still undecided as to competing in the Championship himself but would look at leasing his car to a suitable Team and or driver.

At this point in time the only confirmed NZ TCR Championship competitor is Gene Rollinson, who has confirmed that he is intending to run all 4 rounds in Racer Products Hyundai i30N.

For South Island fans who have been left starved of motorsport action this summer, three of the four rounds will go ahead in the mainland.

The season-opener will be at Manfeild as part Manawatu Car Club’s Summer Series event on 23-24 January 2021.

Timaru will host its first championship-level premier touring car racing event in seven years with the first South Island round on March 5-6.

Teretonga Park stages the penultimate round on March 20-21 before the season draws to a close at Highlands Motorsport Park on April 23-24.

But category manager Lindsay Dodd believes that confirming the calendar is an important step towards attracting competitors to the series.

“We’ve already had a very high level of interest from competitors and confirming a calendar will firm up that interest and attract even more prospective competitors,” said Dodd.

“The racing calendar is incredibly tight for space at the moment, so we’re pleased to found four quality events to attend.

“I know many southerners will be looking forward to seeing top-level touring car racing at their circuits this summer, particularly at Levels.”

• Round 1 – Manfeild, 23-24 January 2021
• Round 2 – Timaru, 5-6 March 2021
• Round 3 – Teretonga Park, 20-21 March 2021
• Round 4 – Highlands, 23-24 April 2021