Mitchell leads the way in Taupo qualifying

Taylor Mitchell put in a great lap in qualifying to taker pole position by just two hundredths of a second at the second round of the Toyota 86 Trophy Series at Taupo Motorsport Park.

Mitchell – the CareVets Scholarship winner – had compromised his qualifying at round one with a trip into the tyres but was on point around the short circuit at Taupo to edge round one race winner Toby Elmiger by 0.023 seconds.

Riley Boswell, who showed so much promise at the first round in his family run TR86 was a solid third in qualifying, just eight hundredths off pole position. Just behind him completing the second row of the grid was round one winner Nieko Scoles.

Mark Mallard heads the third row heading into the afternoon’s first race, ahead of another round one race winner Nathan Grammer. Behind him its rookies Marcel Bartley and Mitch Vye with Josh Hill rounding out the small, but quality field.

With just eight tenths of a second covering the drivers, it should be a closely fought battle on the short track.

2026 Toyota 86 Trophy Series – Round 1 Hampton Downs – Race 1