The entry list for New Zealand's inaugural TCR Championship is heating up, following this morning's confirmation of a homegrown two-car Hyundai i30 N squad.
The Racer Products team will be run by Mark Petch, with former domestic endurance champion and NZV8 racer Gene Rollinson and Christchurch-based driver Rhys Gould the confirmed drivers. Gould, who owns the team's second car, is currently on the hunt for a driver to wheel the car at the category's sprint rounds.
Last month it was announced that a three-strong team of Audi RS3s would be taking on the series, and it's expected that Paddon Rallysport will take on the series too — potentially with Hayden Paddon behind the wheel.
Driven understands that the field will also be bolstered by some of the leading drivers and cars from the Australian Championship.
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"I am really looking forward to driving with Rhys,” said Rollinson. “He has shown in testing that he is fast and fiercely competitive even though he has done no actual racing, he has done a lot of laps in his Mustangs at all of the South Island circuits racing against the stopwatch,”
“I am thrilled to be able to get so much more seat time in the run up to the TCR New Zealand Championship as I am going to have to be right on top of my game against the top Aussies. [...] Five race weekends back-to-back is going to be a tough ask for anybody, so I need as much seat time as possible leading up to the first race at Highlands in January.”
“I could not have picked a better driver than Gene to learn from,” added Gould. “He is not only a past outright New Zealand Endurance Champion, but in between his daily work at Racer Products he spends many days at Hampton Downs helping aspiring racing drivers get up to speed, so to have Gene in my corner will be a huge help over the next four races.”
The 2020 TCR New Zealand Championship will kick off on January 17–19 at Highlands Motorsport Park at Highlands Motorsport Park with the first round of its sprint series. It will run alongside the Castrol Toyota Racing Series at the Cromwell circuit, before following the open-wheel championship over the following four weekends to Invercargill, Hampton Downs, Pukekohe Park, and then the New Zealand Grand Prix event at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon on February 15–16.