New Zealand will get its first taste of standalone TA2 racing when a Trans Tasman battle takes place at Ruapuna and Highlands Motorsport Park in February.
A total of eight to ten TA2 machines will make the trip over from Australia, joining an eight-strong New Zealand grid for special rounds at the Super Sprint Motorsport New Zealand Championship events on February 9-11 in Christchurch and February 16-18 in Cromwell.
The round at Highlands sees the category running in support of the New Zealand Grand Prix.
“They’re super excited to come over, just like our guys are buzzing about going down and having a good old Aussie versus Kiwi challenge,” Series Coordinator Gary Lathrope told Velocity News.
“We’re really excited that we can finally put together a true, standalone TA2 grid in New Zealand.
“It’s given us an opportunity to showcase them as a standalone category for two rounds and let people see what this TA2 thing is all about. The Aussie guys that are booked in are absolutely fizzing. They can’t get here soon enough.
“Some will actually leave their cars here and do some more rounds, which is just the thing we’re looking for.”
TA2 racing in Australia has become one of the fastest-growing classes in the country, with over 120 cars now competing in national and regional series. While they’re yet to reach that level of growth on this side of the Tasman, numbers are slowly on the climb, with a standalone-grid New Zealand not a distant prospect.
The TA2 Championship currently competes on the same grid as the Super V8 Championship and the V8 Ute Championship.
“For them to be standalone, we put a basis on that we need to have at least 12 to 14, and we haven’t quite got to that yet, so they run with the SuperV8 field but as their own category,” said Lathrope.
“The guys that have brought into the TA2 aspect here in New Zealand are some really good guys. A number have come from V8 Utes and several from Central Muscle Cars.
“One of the things that has attracted them all is that it’s complete parity. They have the same engines, gearbox and suspension. Everything is identical other than the panels on the outside. When you look at the last event in Taupo, they were all within the same second of each other.”
When introduced to New Zealand some six years ago, the specs and regulations were identical to those in Australia, a decision that has made the Trans-Tasman battle possible.
“That was the big reason behind ensuring that we made the cars identical, for the New Zealand cars to be exactly the same as they are in Australia,” adds Lathrope.
“We thought, well, now we’ve got eight, we’ll sound the waters out, and started on this Trans Tasman Challenge idea eight or nine months ago, and we’ve definitely got eight cars coming over.
“Our eight cars from New Zealand make a 50/50 grid, which is really great. It’s starting a new history in New Zealand for Saloon car racing.”
Both Trans Tasman rounds will be televised live as a part of the Super Sprint Motorsport New Zealand Championship, which also features the Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Somebody should invite Graham Baker to come over from Houston for a guest drive in one of these TA2 cars.