Sixteen-year-old Jett Murray will join the grid for the first ever Bridgestone GR86 Championship starting in New Zealand this weekend – bringing even more Australian flavour to the big grid.
It’s been a whirlwind few months for the younger brother of rising Supercars star Cooper, with 16-year-old Jett racing in the Toyota Scholarship and the GR Cup. The learning process will continue with a full campaign in New Zealand as part of Action Motorsport’s four-car effort this season.
That learning curve would be a challenge for anyone but Jett quickly established himself as a top fifteen runner in the GR86 Championship this season with a best finish of 11th at Sandown across the 12 races in which he competed.
He also has time in the popular Excel series under his belt from 2024 and made his debut in the Australian Toyota 86 Scholarship series back in June.
Learning in the New Zealand championship remains the major goal of the forthcoming campaign – which gets underway at the Taupo International Motorsport Park this weekend. Jett is looking forward to the challenge and relishing the opportunity to race in New Zealand’s top one-make one-model championship, commenting:
“I’m really excited to be heading to New Zealand to race in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, continuing on from my debut season in the GR86 Australian championship.”
A full grid of 25 cars is promised for the first weekend, with Jett facing off against multiple race and championship winner drivers from karting, Formula First, Formula Ford and other racing series. He won’t be the only Aussie on the grid, however, as he’ll have at least Cooper Barnes for company.
Jett will race round one before the long Christmas and holiday break. The championship then revs up for round two at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park before heading to New Zealand’s South island for back to back weekends at the daunting Teretonga raceway and the following weekend at the 69th New Zealand Grand Prix weekend at the Highlands Motorsport Park.
The championship concludes at Taupo when the GR86s will be the major support for the second Supercars visit to the track.
