Marton's Kaleb Ngatoa wanting better at Toyota 86 Invercargill round

Kaleb Ngatoa is hoping his car will get the thumbs up for the fourth round of the Toyota 86 Championship in Invercargill this weekend. Photo by Bruce Jenkins.

Marton teenager Kaleb Ngatoa is hoping it will be all good under the hood as Toyota NZ continues to test his JJ Wallers/Capture Signs Toyota ahead of Saturday's fourth round of the Toyota 86 Championship in Invercargill.

The 17-year-old had continuous issues at the third round in Cromwell last weekend, replacing a blown diff and then losing the ABS braking after another car crashed into his side.

However, the biggest problem was the car's throttle cut-out system kept continually switching on, making the vehicle impossible to race.

This afternoon, Ngatoa said Toyota NZ was testing for the problem on an engine dynamometer at Teretonga Park in Invercargill, but at this stage they had yet to find the fault.

"Hopefully the car's going to be alright.

"They're working as hard as they can and doing their best with it.

"We're just getting frustrated with it."

This will be Ngatoa's first time racing in Invercargill, as it was in Cromwell.

A multiple time national karting champion and a Formula First season runnerup, Ngatoa currently sits in eighth place at the halfway point of his debut Toyota 86 season.

"Definitely the 86 is more professional, with all the media and the groups," he said.

"We're a family operation, dad and mum work on the car.

"It's just all money, and there's a lot of money in this category. So hopefully we can find some more.

"We're still up there, but you obviously want to be at the front."

Auckland's Callum Hedge leads the series, and is familiar with Teretonga Park, having raced there last season in the F1600 class.

Christchurch's Jasen Ransley sits second in the points standings and is among those who have won a race across the three rounds, while Auckland's Jordan Baldwin has yet to pick up a win but has been consistently strong to narrowly sit third overall in the standings.

Auckland's Connor Adam won the opening round in Pukekohe but has dropped back to fourth place since, while his townmates Peter Vodanovich, Arran Crighton and Brock Gilchrist occupy the other spots ahead of Ngatoa on the points table.