Toyota 86 Series is go for 2017

Toyota has confirmed its popular one-make 86 Racing Series will move to new locations in 2017, releasing a preliminary five-round calendar today.

The 2017 series will continue to operate as a support category to the Virgin Australia Supercars series, stakeholders have confirmed.

The provisional 86 calendar for 2017 is as follows:

Phillip Island SuperSprint -- April 21–23
Townsville 400 -- July 7–9
Sydney SuperSprint -- August 18–20
Bathurst 1000 -- October 5–8
Newcastle 500 -- November (date TBC).

The inaugural 2016 series has been a massive success for Toyota, with an oversubscription of competitors along with national television exposure.

With entry fees set at a relatively inexpensive $1500 per round, the series quickly reached its 32-driver limit, bringing in both up-and-coming racers along with familiar names from the Australian motorsport fraternity.

Technical director for the series, motorsport stalwart Neal Bates, recently told motoring.com.au that any of the top five 86 competitors could be groomed as future Supercars products. Bates has played a significant role in the running of the series, including developing control modifications to the car – which, as we recently discovered, transform it into a fun yet manageable package.

The final round of the 2016 calendar will be held at Homebush this weekend, coinciding with the Sydney 500 Supercars event.

Five drivers remain in the hunt for the championship after four rounds of racing. Five-time race winner Will Brown leads the points charge on 1078, while David Sieders sits in second (1010 points), Cameron Hill in third (916 points) and Aaron Seton in fourth (900 points). Western Sydney’s Tim Brook is an outside chance of clinching the title on 884 points.

In addition, the Sydney 500 event will be bolstered with some big headline names in the 86 category.

Toyota has confirmed Will Davison’s older brother Alex will front the grid, along with Indy 500 competitor Matthew Brabham and Supercars endurance driver Jonathan Webb.

Entry details for the 2017 86 series can be found here.

Toyota has committed to at least three seasons of the 86 Series. The success of the championship has prompted similar interests from Mazda, which is evaluating an Australian running of the MX-5 Cup.