Fifteen cars will head out onto the track for the first round of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship when it gets underway at Hampton Downs this weekend, and it is a compact field containing more Toyota 86 race winners than any previous championship.
Remarkably, no fewer than nine of the drivers on the entry list for Round 1 of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship have tasted success in a Toyota 86 over the past 12 months.
Top of that list is reigning champion Hugo Allan, along with Justin Allen, Josh Bethune, Cameron Hill, Cooper Barnes and Chris White.
Toyota 86 Trophy Series champion Lee Zeltwanger, Ajay Giddy and Harry Townshend have also bagged their first wins in the older car recently, too.
Arthur Broughan and Zach Blincoe have come close, taking podiums in their first season in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, while Cormac Murphy and Simon Hunter have shown front-running pace.
Mac Templeton retains his rookie status, having only started three GR86 races, and can also be considered a prospect for success.
“For possibly the first time in the history of our Toyota 86 championships, we have an entry list where every driver could be considered to have a decent chance of wins and podiums, and that’s an exciting prospect as we head to Hampton Downs,” said Category Manager Amanda Tollemache.
“Given consistency is the key to success, a driver’s ability to deliver their best race after race and round after round is also going to be crucial.
“Staying out of trouble, improving themselves and their cars, working as closely as possible with their teams to find some marginal gain from somewhere and of course having race-winning speed means it’s almost certain to be our most competitive ever championship.
In the Bridgestone GR86 Championship’s inaugural season, a second was often enough to separate the front of the grid from the back, and that will be even closer this year across the 15 drivers.
“We think it is inevitable that on occasion this entire field will be separated by just tenths of a second,” added Tollemache.
“That’s going to mean that whoever emerges successful at the end of the season will be a very worthy champion. And we have no idea who that will be.”
Predictions? Impossible, but at least in the early stages, expect those who had form at the end of last season to shine this weekend when the action gets underway on Saturday after practice on Friday.
And that would mean keeping a close eye on Allan, Allen and Bethune.
Header Image: Bruce Jenkins
