Seventeen-year-old Auckland racer Mitch Vye is aiming to build on a promising appearance in the Toyota 86 Trophy Series last year with a winning run in this year’s competition.
Vye debuted last season in the final 2025 round at Taupo for Right Karts By M2 Competition and performed well.
A strong performer in Senior Rotax karts in the Auckland region in 2024 and 2025, he has also competed in two rounds of GTRNZ in the GT4 class and in the past season’s five-round Auckland Car Club Production Series, where he won the Group A class on his way to second overall.
It’s all been the perfect build-up to a full campaign in the TR86 over the winter months.
“It’s been a good summer season, and now my objective is to do well, obviously to try and win, but more importantly to learn and gain a lot more experience,” he said.
“It would be great to do well and then be able to move into the Bridgestone GR86 Championship and do well enough there to try the championship in Australia.”
Vye has been racking up testing miles in the car at Hampton Downs, improving his technique while also preparing in the gym and on the simulator for the four-round series, which gets underway in just a couple of weeks at the North Waikato track. He’s looking forward to fierce competition in what will be a bigger Trophy Series this season.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the close racing and tight competition, and that will only improve my race craft. It’s going to be interesting understanding more how the race weekends work and what I can learn off the track as well as on it.”
Mitch will be carrying the colours of Repco, Keeling Automotive, Good Brothers Group, Mountshop, Wurth, Trade Panel and Paint, Commercial Sprayers, The Car Warehouse, and Bold Signs when he takes to the track at Hampton Downs.
The four-round Trophy Series begins at Hampton Downs over the weekend of May 16th and 17th before moving further south to Taupo Motorsport Park on June 20 and 21. Manfeild is the destination for the third round two weeks later, on July 4th and 5th, before the series concludes at the same circuit on August 1 and 2.
Header Image: Supplied
