Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Source: Toyota
Rookie Auckland racer William Morton is jumping into the big time in the Toyota 86 Championship this season and is excited to be part of the most significant season in the championship’s history.
Confirmation of William’s entry in the ex-Ryan Wood and Callum Hedge championship winning car brings the total entry for the forthcoming season to a record 22 cars.
This season there is a massive prize pool for the drivers, with a highly-prized test in a Triple Eight Race Engineering V8 Supercar up for grabs for the winner.
For 19 year old Morton, however, it’s going to be all about learning the tracks and the car and making all the right moves under the guidance of his IMac Race Engineering team.
“I’ve only got a season in cadet karts under my belt and that was a while ago so I’m under no illusions that I am going to be on a steep learning curve in this championship,” he said.
“I’ve managed to test the car a couple of times and I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s an awesome little car and handles really well.
“I’m going to be focussing on learning all the tracks and generally just trying to improve with every session out on track. Obviously as a rookie I’ll be aiming to keep everything in one piece and demonstrate that I have the pace as well. It’s really exciting. When you look closely at the entries in the championship it’s first class and it’s going to be great to be a part of it.”
William will fly the colours of the Mad Butcher on his 86 and will join the vast majority of the championship entries getting some much needed testing mileage under their belts this weekend at Hampton Downs.
With the Covid outbreak having required rescheduling of the championship rounds, Morton’s first race will be at Cromwell’s Highlands Motorsport Park in January over the weekend of the 14th-16th.
After Highlands the championship moves to Christchurch for the Ruapuna weekend, January 21-23. Three weekends later it’s back to Hampton Downs on February 11-13 for the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting. Pukekohe now shifts from its early December date to March 4-6 to become Round 4 before the category heads to the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo on March 25-27. The season concludes at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend of April 22-24.
Toyota 86 Championship 2021 – 2022
Round 1 – Highlands Motorsport Park – January 14-16
Round 2 – Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna – January 21- 23
Round 3 – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park – February 11-13
Round 4 – Pukekohe Park Raceway – March 4-6
Round 5 – Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo – March 25-27
Round 6 – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park – April 22-24
