Each summer, a group of hopeful young men comes to New Zealand to make their way in International motor racing by competing in what is now known as the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series.
It is an FIA-recognised championship that provides a winter racing opportunity for drivers from the Northern Hemisphere and serves as a crucial stepping stone for young drivers looking to advance to higher levels of motorsport, such as Formula 1.
In contrast, this coming season will also feature another group of International competitors, but in a rather more mature age bracket.
They will race only in the South Island, at the three Classic and Historic race meetings held in Christchurch, Timaru and Invercargill in February 2026.
Billed as part of this three-meeting series, the racily named Four Stars of the Southern Cross, will feature Formula Junior cars from the bygone age of the 1950s/1960s, racing in the first leg of their 70th Platinum Jubilee Formula Junior World Tour.
One driver sure to attract plenty of attention is British driver Ray Mallock. At 75 years young, he brings an impressive CV encompassing many years of professional racing, resulting in many Championships.
His father, Major Arthur Mallock, had designed and built the Mallock U2, an incredibly fast but simple and inexpensive racing car.
Dovetailing his increasing racing commitments with an apprenticeship at Aston Martin, Ray won the UK Clubman’s Championships in 1970 and 1971 as well as the Grovewood Award, the forerunner of the prestigious McLaren Young Driver Award.
In 1973, he moved into Formula Atlantic racing, a variety of cars, where he was a regular winner, taking the British titles in both 1979 and 1981. Ray competed as a private entrant in the European Formula Two Championship during 1977, with his best result being 2nd place in the Daily Express International Trophy at Silverstone.
1979 saw him return to Formula Atlantic, driving a Ralt RT1, which resulted in another Championship win, followed by a second title in 1981, this time with a Ralt RT4.
Ray’s engineering expertise saw him score a variety of test and development contracts, while his first of eight drives at the Le Mans 24 Hour race saw him at the wheel of a De Cadenet Lola DFV.
His expertise included the complete redesign of the Aston Martin Nimrod Group C1 Le Mans prototype between 1982 and 1984. Between 1987 and 1989. Ray was in charge of the engineering management of the Aston Martin AMR1 Le Mans programme.
When Aston Martin returned to international motorsport in 1982 with the Nimrod C1, Ray was one of the team drivers.
In 1985/86/87 driving Scottish Ecurie Ecosse C2 sports cars in the World SportsCar Championship, Ray won 9 times, as well as designing, developing and preparing the cars, the highlight being winning the Teams World Championship in 1986.
Ray’s final drive as a professional was in 1989, driving the works Aston Martin AMR1 at Le Mans.
Retired now from running his successful company, RML Group Ltd, he concentrates on just enjoying historic and classic racing, going back to his roots using the famous Mallock U2, a car which will intrigue New Zealand enthusiasts just as much as they are looking forward to watching
a driver of Ray Mallock’s calibre competing in New Zealand once again.
Header Image: Supplied
