15-year-old Tayler Bryant has peeled the covers off the look of his 2021 Best Bars Toyota 86 sprint championship challenger.
The coming season will mark Bryant’s sophomore campaign in the one-make championship after debuting last year in the CareVets Scholarship entry where he finished 14th in the standings.
2021 has Bryant move into an ex-Leo Bult car where he will sport the yellow and black MTF Finance colour scheme.
With one season of experience under his belt, Bryant is expecting this year will have him challenging for race wins at the pointy end of the field.
“I’m learning all the time and even in the first test of the new car at Hampton Downs, I feel I will be able to make a big step forwards in performance this coming season,” Bryant said.
“It’s great to have MTF Finance backing me and to know that we are going racing and also that the championship for 2021 has such a major prize package ($100,000 prize pool)
I’ll be doing everything I can in between now and the start of the championship to get ready on and off the track. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Interest for the forthcoming Toyota 86 series has been strong, with the announcement of the expanded prize package and a new mini-endurance series enticing the interest of several budding racers.
Nineteen drivers tested the 86 car in the official test at Hampton Downs earlier in the year, the vast majority rookies to the field or making the transition from karts to cars for the first time.
“It’s great to have Tayler confirmed for 2021 and we’re sure he’ll go well,” said category manager Geoff Short.
“We’re all aware that motorsport has got a tough road ahead of it after the COVID-19 pandemic this year and that we have a challenging road ahead, but we are delighted by all of the interest in the 2021 Best Bars championship.
“There are major incentives for the most talented up and coming racers such as a $50,000 contribution towards a season in TRS, but there are also prizes for rookies and masters.
“The racing has always been close and the champions and front runners have always used the category as a springboard for their careers. That will continue.”
The five-round series is set to kick off with the first round at Hampton Downs over January 23-24.