Motorsport: Ruapuna gets opening TRS round

The 2017 Toyota Racing Series blasts towards the first turn at Ruapuna. Photo / Supplied

Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna has been confirmed as host of the opening round of the Toyota Racing Series where the Lady Wigram Trophy will be up for grabs.

The circuit, which hosted the first round of this year's championship, has secured the fixture for both 2018 and 2019.

Ten categories have also expressed an interest in being at the first of the two South Island Premier Motorsport Championship events in 2018, led by the Toyota Racing Series. The supporting fields will likely include BNT Touring cars, NZ SuperTrucks, the Toyota 86 Championship, the traditional big field of OSCA racers and the Pirelli Porsche Championship, which enjoyed its biggest grid of the 2016-2017 at this year's Ruapuna event where it fielded almost 30 cars.

Other classes in the mix for the event could include Pro 7 Mazda, which is looking to increase its participation in the Speed Works Motorsport Championship next season after being part of two events last season.

Speed Works Events is also introducing a one hour feature race with a grid of 36 cars comprising the top 12 championship contenders from the fastest V8s, GTs and Porsches. This will be a feature race on Saturdays at each event where it is run. It will be included on the schedule at the Christchurch meeting.

"We are delighted to be able to confirm the opening round of the TRS championship at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park for the next two years," explained Speed Works promoter Geoff Short.

"We enjoyed working with the Canterbury Car Club team at this year's event which everybody considered a resounding success and we are looking forward to building on the success of that over the next two years at least. It guarantees fans and the circuit an international motorsport event for the next two years with a packed programme of support races and an exciting one hour winner takes all shoot out."

A draft calendar with options for the season has already been circulated to prospective categories and more date announcements are expected soon as the 2017-2018 championship racing season takes shape.