Registrations open for Bridgestone GR86 Championship
High demand for seats has seen TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand open up registrations for the second Bridgestone GR86 Championship this week.
The six-round championship – which will once again run as a featured category in the NextGen national championship series, includes two dates at Hampton Downs, a weekend at Toyota NZ’s ‘home circuit’ of Manfeild, the South Island leg of Teretonga followed by the 70th New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at Highlands and will conclude once again with the Supercars round at Taupo Motorsport Park.
It proved exceptionally popular in its inaugural season with grids upwards of 24 cars at each round and a close fight for the championship that went down to the wire before Hugo Allan secured the title with just one race remaining.
Interest in the next edition of the championship is at an unprecedented level – with drivers from the inaugural Toyota 86 Trophy Series, rookies and regulars from last season and a healthy amount of new and upcoming driving talent all looking to secure a spot for 2025-2026.
“Each season we are always excited about what lies ahead in terms of the quality of the field, which is always more important than the quantity,” explained Category Manager Amanda Tollemache.
“With the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, we continue to see high both demand and high quality amongst those interested in running and with only limited cars and spaces it made sense to open registrations promptly and to officially start to build the field for the next season.
“We’ll have another awesome prize package, the racing is guaranteed to be close and we should once again see the best of our current and future driving talent take the next step of their careers in the championship.”
Whilst many drivers and teams have retained their line ups for season two, there are still lease and new cars available for when the season blasts off at the end of October with the first round at Hampton Downs on the international layout.
A break until the 9th–11th January is followed by a return to the North Waikato circuit, again on the long track. The championship heads south two weeks later for the double header at Teretonga 23-25 January) and the Grand Prix meeting at Highlands the following weekend. It’s back to the North Island for the final two rounds, with Manfeild February 27th- March 1st and the the big finale at the Supercars weekend on April 10-12.
2025-2026 Bridgestone GR86 Championship
Round 1 - 31 October - 2 November 2025, Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
Round 2 - 9 - 11 January 2026, Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
Round 3 - 23 - 25 January 2026, Teretonga Park, Invercargill
Round 4 - 30 January - 1 February 2026 70th New Zealand GP - Highlands Motorsport Park
Round 5 - 27 February - 1 March 2026, Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon
Round 6 – 10-12 April 2026 - Taupo International Motorsport Park - Supercars
