Toyota 86 Pro-Am series hits the track

In a global sense Toyota was always going to go racing with the 86. The relative success of the car Down Under meant the chances were good. And now, corporate will has found a way.

As is now public, Toyota Racing Australia will launch the first local Toyota 86 Pro-Am series in 2016.

To be run exclusively at selected rounds of the V8 Supercar calendar with the full blessing of motorsports' local governing body, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), the series will take the flat-four 86 GT coupe from the realms of 'show' to 'go' – in the process, hopefully, providing close, exciting, true production car racing to a mixture of live, free-to-air and pay television audiences.

It's not the first 86 series – there are already championships in Germany, Japan and New Zealand, but it's a significant return to motorsport for the local arm of the global brand.

Internationally, Toyota is a headline act in the World Endurance Championship and in races like the Nurburgring 24 Hour. In the USA it races a Camry in NASCAR. In 2017, it will return to the World Rally Championship after an 18-year hiatus.

Locally, however, it's a big change in attitude for the car-maker. The cynical among us might suggest it's something shiny and bright to draw attention away from plant closures and the like. More accurately, it's part of a global strategy to attract younger and different buyers into the Toyota fold.

Many of the aspects of the 86 Pro-Am series are still to be confirmed. What is definite is that Toyota Australia has committed for three years (at least) and has promised the regulations and rules will be carefully controlled to promote "affordable, grass roots motorsport".

Also fixed is the Pro-Am format. As well as the amateur racers Toyota hopes will swell the grids next year, five professional drivers will front the starter. Their role is to mentor the newbies and help develop both the series and the talent that emerges via it.

Make no mistake, the Pros will be racing (for sheep-stations, if truth be known) but the 'mentoring' on the track will also be extended off the track – in many aspects of the 'game'.

One of those potential Pros already has an intimate relationship with Toyota, the series and the cars that will be raced. Indeed, the one-make car and the unique local rules under which it will be built and raced have largely been developed by him.

Needing little if any introduction, multi-times Australian Rally Championship (ARC) winner, Neal Bates is a Toyota 'fixture' and not just behind the wheel. His Hume (ACT) based Neal Bates Motorsport (NBM) operation specialises in rally and circuit car preparation and ran Toyota Australia's official factory rally team for 19 years. During that time, NBM's cars claimed six ARC drivers' titles and three manufacturers championships – all of them for Toyota.

If Toyota Australia even considered anybody else for the task of developing the racing 86 other than Neal and NBM I'd be surprised.

Unlike some of NBM's rally cars, which were effectively ground-up custom builds, the prototype 86 racer that Neal and his team has built remains very much a production car. We know, we've driven it...

The invitation to sample the prototype came with the threat of excommunication if we blabbed but ironically was in a very public and properly competitive domain – a round of the North Shore Sporting Car Club's Eastern Creek Rallysprint series. Held on Thursday nights, the events comprise multiple timed runs of a tarmac 'stage' which winds around the access roads and track of the Western Sydney Dragway.

Fast, easily consumable and easily accessed motorsport, the series has attracted strong support from club members and on the night yours truly competed, saw over 80 cars compete (including a handful of standard and modified 86s). Although not exactly the discipline for which the NBM 86 GT was built, the event delivered at least a taste of what series entrants can expect.

I predict smiles...

In keeping with the mantra of accessible, affordable grass roots motorsport, Toyota's brief was to retain standard components when and where possible. And that's exactly the approach Neal took in developing the Pro-Am 86 GT.

"The 86 is such a competent car that it has just been a matter of building race-durable components into it without interfering with its character," Bates told motoring.com.au between Rallysprint stages.

"The aim was to modify the street car so that was pretty much bullet-proof in racing conditions. But it still had to be satisfying and fun for the driver," Bates said.

Development is yet to be frozen but some basics are already in place.

Engine room modifications have been kept to an absolute minimum and no internals are touched. A tuned set of extractors and big bore exhaust free up an extra 18kW or so in concert with a MOTEC ECU.

The extra power and noise are handy but the important part of the swap is the ECU, which will help ensure there's a level playing field in terms of performance. Come race time, the ECUs will be locked, capable of being moved from car to car in case of parity concerns.

Suspension and brakes are arguably the most important modification however. Suspension expert Murray Coote has built bespoke MCA coil-over dampers for the series, thus offering the ability to tune the car to individual drivers and circuits. Oversized AP Racing discs and calipers (four-piston units up front) will ensure the braking will be up to the job.

An engine oil cooler is fitted for durability, but at this stage the clutch is standard.

Although all of the above components will be 'controlled' and no substitution will be available, CAMS requirements of roll cage, seats and belts will all be free choice for competitors.

The series is yet to confirm a control wheel and tyre package.

Bates anticipates competitors will take varied paths to the grid.

"We will be able to supply completed cars ready to race; all or just some of the components to build a car; or alternatively entrants will be able to source the approved parts directly and build their own car," Neal explained.

He estimates a racer could be completed for less than $40,000 assuming some mechanical expertise and a used 86 GT as the donor car. Given the exposure the series is expected to get, that's a cheap ticket to ride.

And despite the relatively humble mechanical beginnings and modest mods, the cars should be quick.

Bates has already extensively tested the prototype and posted surprisingly rapid lap times. Toyota says in Neal's hands the Pro-Am 86 GT lapped Mt Panorama in 2min 42.6sec, Wakefield Park in 1min 8.7sec and Winton Motor Raceway in 1min 37.8sec.

Yours truly's 'debut' in the car wouldn't worry Neal's times but with the assistance of co-driver NBM's own Anthony Caldwell we managed a midfield finish, fourth fastest in our class and fastest 86.

With a decent set of lights I reckon there was a couple of seconds still to come on the short, tight stage... Ever the racer...

Importantly, it demonstrated the potential of the 86 as a grass roots performer. NBM's set up of the car delivers prodigious grip (perhaps too much given the modest torque output of the 86's 2.0-litre flat four) and precise, predictable steering and handling mean you can place the car accurately just so...

On a fast flowing circuit like Phillip Island, assuming you can maintain the corner speed the racing would be at worst entertaining and at best spectacular.

Mega-dollar Porsche Carrera Cup aside, one-make series have a chequered history Down Under. You probably have to go back to the original Suzuki Swift GTI series of the mid-1990s to see one that was truly a success. More recent attempts have either been under-subscribed, under-funded or both.

With the might of Toyota Australia and the expertise of NBM behind this one, the result may very be very different.

A grid of 40-plus 86s as a support race to the 2016 Bathurst 1000? I bet you'd pay to see that...