Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ is hoping both its first post Covid pandemic international Castrol TRS championship and its Toyota 86 series will reach more global viewers than ever before.
The 2023 TRS championship, which is already attracting some of the top names in junior formulae motorsport worldwide, begins its five round championship in January. It will be the first full international series since 2020 and should be viewable for more fans than ever before.
From the start of the first season with new motorsport promoter NZ Motorsport Group, Saturday’s TRS and Toyota 86 race action will be broadcast live on Sky Sport and on leading streaming service Motorsport.tv. This continues for Sunday’s races, which also includes the TRS and TR86 feature races each weekend.
Sundays will also see the afternoon feature race available live on TV3’s CRC Motorsport show – still the most popular and longest running motorsport show in New Zealand.
“The combination of the live Sky coverage, free to air on TV3 and the streaming that will be provided by Motorsport.tv gives us potentially our widest audience ever and this is great as we return to the international motorsport scene after the pandemic,” explained TGRNZ Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol.
“The streaming platform, Motorsport.tv, is an ideal support to build a worldwide audience for the well-known Toyota Racing Series.
“In addition to what we have in place already for the 2023 championship series, we are looking at expanding TV coverage in both Australia and in North America, which are obviously two key markets for us. We’d love to be going live there as well and we are very optimistic we’ll have that in place very soon.
“The enhanced coverage is also great news for domestic drivers competing in the Toyota 86 Championship. We want the coverage they can achieve for their sponsors to be better than ever before across platforms like TV, streaming, social media and in printed and on-line media.”
The Castrol Toyota Racing Series is one of the most competitive junior formulae in the world and it’s timing at the start of the year means it attracts a diverse range of high quality competitors with track records from numerous single seater championships.
It races over five weekends at five different venues and includes the New Zealand Grand Prix on its calendar, one of only two ‘Grand Prix’ events outside of Formula One recognised by the FIA. A full grid is expected for the 2023 championship.
2023 Castrol Toyota Racing Series Schedule:
| Round | Venue | Date |
| 1 | Highlands Motorsport Park | January 13 – 15 |
| 2 | Teretonga Park Raceway | January 20 – 22 |
| 3 | Manfield Circuit Chris Amon | January 27 – 29 |
| 4 | Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park | February 3 – 5 |
| 5 | Taupo International Motorsport Park | February 10 – 12 |
2023 Toyota 86 Championship Schedule:
| Round | Circuit | Date |
| 1 | Highlands Motorsport Park | January 13 – 15 |
| 2 | Teretonga Park Raceway | January 20 – 22 |
| 3 | Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park | February 3 – 5 |
| 4 | Taupo International Motorsport Park | March 17 – 19 |
| 5 | Manfield Circuit Chris Amon | April 14 – 16 |
| 6 | To be confirmed |
Main image: Bruce Jenkins
