Motorsport Australia has added the New Zealand Toyota 86 Series to the list of classes in which a driver can earn Supercars Superlicence points.
A driver needs 13 points to qualify for a Motorsport Australia Superlicence, with the winner of the Toyota 86 Championship this season and in future set to receive five points toward that total.
Second in the champions will receive four points, third gets three points, fourth two points, and fifth one point.
The announcement means both Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand championships offer licence points, with the Castrol Toyota Racing Series winner awarded ten points.
Ties between the NZ Toyota 86 Championship and Australian motorsport has been growing in recent years, with competitors in the NZ series making one-off appearances in the Australian TR86 series, which supports the Supercar championship at selected events during the season.
The Toyota 86 champion this season will receive a test with Triple Eight Race Engineering, and will now add five points to their Superlicence tally.
“We couldn’t be happier really,” Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol.
“The championship has been very competitive for several seasons now and this year it’s just as close with three drivers in the fight for the championship with two rounds to go. It is fantastic that these points will now be allocated to the winner.”
Reigning champion Rowan Shepherd, Simon Evans and Justin Allen head into this weekend’s penultimate championship round at Taupo International Motorsport Park with just 29 points separating the championship top three.
2022 TOYOTA 86 CHAMPIONSHIP – POINTS AFTER FOUR ROUNDS
1 Rowan Shepherd 767
2 Simon Evans 753
3 Justin Allen 738
4 Marco Giltrap 667
5 Matthew McCutcheon 616
6 Hugo Allan 600
7 Dion Pitt 558
8 John Penny 525
9 Brock Gilchrist 444
10 Zac Stichbury 435
11 Ronan Murphy 421
12 Clay Osborne 404
13 Christina Orr-West 358
14 Mark Mallard 318
15 Chelsea Herbert 298
16 Fynn Osborne 276
17 Todd Foster 276
18 Todd Prujean 230
19 Sam Cotterill 172
20 Will Morton 164
21 Rianna O’Meara-Hunt 158
Picture Bruce Jenkins