The Toyota Motorsport 86 Cup Car is set to make its North American race debut later this month racing in the Pirelli World Challenge TC class at Utah Motorsports Campus.
Fielding the car will be Dan Gardner Spec Racing, which won the PWC TC class title back in 2010. Behind the wheel will be former Grand Am racer and CTSC GS champion Craig Stanton.
“Bringing the TMG 86 Cup Car to Pirelli World Challenge presents an opportunity to test and showcase the ability of our Toyota 86 in a competitive racing series,” said Keith Dahl, motorsports general manager for Toyota Motor North America.
“The seasoned DG-Spec team won the PWC title for Scion in 2010 and we’re hopeful they can perform well with the 86. We have a great combination of team and driver with Craig Stanton to showcase the ability of this TMG-built 86, so we’re cautiously optimistic for solid results in the Utah double-header.”
“It’s been a while since we won the championship in Pirelli World Challenge, but we’ve been at the track constantly over the last few years, testing, developing and racing in other venues,” added Dan Gardner, team owner and namesake of DG-Spec. “The team is really sharp and Craig is on his game. The Toyota 86 is ready to go and we hope to turn some heads in Utah.”
The decision to race in PWC at Utah was made after a stock 86 featuring TRD parts won the Spring Fling Autocross event in Southern California in March. The performance prompted Toyota look for other chances to show off the car, which races over in Europe, notably with its own cup class in the VLN championship.
TMG told DSC that the 86 Cup Car completed 300km of running at Willow Springs last month in preparation for the race (pictured). At the test, the team worked on the Pirelli tyres, as well as various setups and rolling and standing start procedures, as well as evaluating the correct gears/RPMs/techniques as needed for each start.
As it stands, the PWC round near Salt Lake City (August 11-13) is the only scheduled event for the car in North America.
Photo courtesy of TMG
