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First Toyota GR86 customer car delivered at SMP

By Timothy Neal

Date posted: April 13, 2023

The first Toyota GR86 evolution customer racing car has been delivered at the 2023 Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series launch at SMP today.

Set to hit the track in the 2024 TGRA 86 series, a Toyota GR86 test car was on track today at SMP, and the first Neal Bates Motorsport built customer car was delivered to 2022 TGRA 86 Series Kaizen Award winner, Jarrod Hughes.

Exclusively built by Neal Bates Motorsports (NBM) in Canberra, the new GR86 will fill the 2024 grids, elevating the series that is currently populated by the 2016 Toyota 86 models that are purchased and then built to race-spec by the teams and racers.

The Neal Bates Motorsport built GR86 customer racing car is delivered race ready for an exceptional turnkey price

In the future, all cars currently competing will be eligible to compete in the brand new TGRA 86 Scholarship Series from next year onward.

Offered by NBM at the turnkey price of $89,990 to prospective entrants in the 2024 TGRA 86 Series, the new model, based on the road car, gives entrants a straight-up and race ready car, which is exceptional value.

The GR86 offers an advanced performance improvement, going from a 2.0L to a 2.4L engine, giving an extra 20kw of power.

The new GR86’s are built race ready for the turnkey prive of $89,990 dollars

As well as being faster, the new Toyota racing car has had some minor tweaks made to the shock absorber package and rear suspension, with the shock absorber travel and rear spring rates having changes.

There have also been some minor body work tweaks, but all up, the cost may have risen slightly from what could be built on the cheap, but with the new GR86, competitors are getting a race-ready, competitive car from NBM.

NBM has already started building the customer GR86 race cars, and today handed over the first of those to the 2022 TGRA 86 Series Kaizen Award winner Jarrod Hughes.

The cockpit of the new GR86, built race ready by Neal Bates Motorsport

The 17-year-old from Brisbane won the award for continuous improvement over the course of the 2022 season and received an all-expenses paid trip to the NASCAR Daytona 500 in the US, where he met some of the Toyota drivers and toured the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing production facility.

The new Toyota GR86 hit the track for a test drive at the TGRA 86 series launch today

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.

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