Invercargill’s Nieko Scoles opened his Toyota 86 Trophy Series account in style this morning at Hampton Downs with a blistering lap in perfect conditions around the North Waikato track.
Scoles had been fast in Friday practice but left the best to last, posting a 1-minute, 15.474-second lap around the track, with the cold air and dry track offering perfect conditions for the ten cars taking part in the first round.
Hot on his heels was another youngster, Nathan Grammer, competing in his second Trophy Series, but this year for the Winter Series class open to more experienced drivers. Another to be fast on Friday, he was just six one-thousandths of a second behind Scoles, an indication that the competition between the two could be fierce over the next two months.
Ajay Giddy – who competed in the Trophy Series last winter and who is also the veteran of two Bridgestone GR86 Championship campaigns despite still being one of the youngest in the field was third, a solid performance having been a late addition to the field.
These three seemed in this qualifying session at least to have a worthwhile advantage over the rest of the field, which was led in qualifying by Toby Elmiger with a 1 minute 15.988 lap, just a whisker ahead of Riley Boswell in the familiar Dayle ITM-backed yellow TR86.
Veteran Mark Mallard impressed in sixth, just eight tenths away from pole position despite being in the Toyota 86 lease car after engine dramas with his own TR86 in Friday practice.
It was a good performance from the oldest driver in the field, who is currently recovering from a mild stroke.
Mitch Vye, Josh Hill and Marcel Bartley were all in close attendance in seventh, eighth and ninth in qualifying – all within a second of Scoles’ best time.
It wasn’t an ideal start for CareVets Scholarship winner Mitchell Taylor, who went off at Hampton Downs’ notorious first turn and did some damage to the front left corner of his car – bringing out the red flag and a premature end to his session.
Damage to the car was light, however, and he will be able to start the afternoon’s first race, albeit from the back of the grid.
2026 Toyota 86 Trophy Series – Round 1 Hampton Downs – Qualifying
| Position | Car # | Driver | Team | Class |
| 1 | 861 | Nieko SCOLES | Mackenzie Motorsport | Trophy |
| 2 | 15 | Nathan GRAMMER | Mackenzie Motorsport | Winter |
| 3 | 110 | Ajay GIDDY | Mackenzie Motorsport | Winter |
| 4 | 74 | Toby ELMIGER | Action Motorsport | Winter |
| 5 | 43 | Riley BOSWELL | REB Motorsport | Trophy |
| 6 | 77 | Mark MALLARD | Crème Racing | Winter |
| 7 | 17 | Mitch VYE | Right Karts by M2 Competition | Trophy |
| 8 | 10 | Josh HILL | Right Karts by M2 Competition | Trophy |
| 9 | 67 | Marcel BARTLEY | Action Motorsport | Trophy |
| 10 | 37 | Taylor MITCHELL | Skunkworks | Trophy |
Header Image: Bruce Jenkins
