KEY POINTS:
The Toyota Racing Series has named a talented and competitive entry list - including Bathurst winner Jason Bargwanna - for its races at the inaugural V8 Supercar round at Hamilton this weekend.
The entry list includes most of the 2008 series regulars including champion Andy Knight and his
key rivals Earl Bamber and Ben Harford. The Hamilton race offers these three a chance to continue their season-long battles for TRS glory.
Australian V8 Supercar driver and Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bargwanna has been confirmed this week to drive for the Concut Racing Team from Christchurch alongside fellow Australian driver Nathan Antunes who is competing this season in Trevor Sheumack's European Technique Team.
Sheumack, himself a former race driver, has a long history of supporting the series with Australian drivers including Formula Three racer Leanne Tander.
The Hamilton Street race will be the first serious open-wheeler outing for Bargwanna since finishing second in the 1997 Formula Brabham Championship in Australia. He has extensive street race experience having driven in the Australian V8 Supercar Series for 10 years.
Though he is looking forward to the Hamilton experience, Bargwanna says he's not expecting an easy run.
"I've watched the series and I know the front runners are very quick. I want to be at the sharp end of the field and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Also making their TRS debut at Hamilton are 2008 Formula Ford champion John Whelan and Andrew Waite, who finished the Formula Ford series in third place. Both are preparing TRS campaigns for 2009.
Series manager Barrie Thomlinson says interest in Hamilton's inaugural V8 Supercar round has been "incredible". It will be the first time that TRS cars have raced on a street circuit.
"This year we had the closest ever finish to the Toyota Racing Series, and from the first race at Pukekohe in November to the finale at Invercargill in March the field throughout was the most competitive in the four year history of TRS. I believe the quality of the field for Hamilton will make for very close, exciting racing and the winner's spoils will be hard earned."
"Series regulars and rookies alike are keen to learn more about setting up and driving these fast, agile cars in the tighter than normal confines of a street circuit with the unpredictable grip levels provided by the changing surfaces and undulations.
"The big challenges faced by the TRS will be the low driving position which provides a very real tunnel feel while driving at speed between the concrete walls and these cars weigh only 550kgs so the bumps do throw the car about"
Thomlinson says for any racer who is serious about their craft, and for those aiming to build a career, early experience of street circuits is essential.
"The set-up is often quite different as public roads are often bumpy and can throw a car off line and into the wall in a flash. Speed and precision are paramount."
An understanding of the unique demands of street circuit racing, he added, would stand drivers in good stead as they progressed.
"You need only look to the Macau Grand Prix each November, which is held on one of the narrowest, most challenging street circuits in the world. That's where the Formula Three and Formula One teams come to look for new recruits, and to stand out in the talented fields of drivers that come to Macau must know what street racing's like before you arrive."
Toyota Racing Series graduate Brendon Hartley raced at the Macau Grand Prix last year on his way to a Formula Three career in the UK.
"Having the likes of Jason Bargwanna commit to racing TRS at Hamilton is an indication of the international profile the series has generated and demonstrates the Australian race scene's respect for the quality of its competition."