Motorsport: Harker gets TRS shot

Reid Harker will compete in the 2018 Toyota Racing Series. Photo / Supplied

Promising youngster Reid Harker is the third Kiwi driver to sign on for the upcoming Toyota Racing Series championship.

The Toyota 86 graduate will make the step up to the premier New Zealand domestic class this summer after putting together the budget to do the five-round series in January and February.

"At the end of the 86 Championship we were looking at that next step and obviously TRS was on our radar as well as the Porsche series over in Australia," Harker told The Herald.

"With our financial position at the moment Porsche was out of the question and TRS was a viable option."

The 2016-17 Toyota 86 championship runner-up conducted a test of the TRS cars in June which really kick-started his aspirations of putting together a campaign and he's worked away ever since.

"The test went really well - we were on the pace pretty quickly and that gave us a boost to give it a crack," he said.

"We had a look at the times from the race season last year and the times were pretty similar. The test driver for Toyota the day before - we were setting similar times to him on the same tyre and similar conditions. We were in the ballpark.

"I had never driven the car before and it went favourably."

Harker joins two other Kiwis - series regular Brendan Leitch and Italian Formula 4 champion Marcus Armstrong - as confirmed entrants. More international drivers will join the list of drivers looking to get valuable seat-time in a respected championship over the northern hemisphere summer.

"It is a big step up from the 86 Championship," Harker said. "The 86 series was great and I learned a huge amount but TRS is on another level. It is an international level with the best drivers from around the world."

And the 22-year-old isn't there to make up numbers or gain experience. He expects to be competitive this season.

"I'm certainly looking to be a front-runner. It is hard to see at the moment not being on track with the other drivers to see where I stack up. If not in the early stages, definitely by the end of the series I hope to be fighting for podiums and even race wins."

Beyond this summer Harker does harbor ambitions to race overseas but nothing is yet confirmed.

"The goal for me would be to put together a budget after this to go to Asia or Australia."