The inaugural TCR New Zealand series has been postponed to the second half of 2020, with the calendar set to expand from five to seven events following feedback from competitors.
The season had originally been set to get underway at Highlands Motorsport Park on January 17 – 19 2020, with the intensive calendar being completed five weekends later after five back-to-back race weekends.
However, the decision has now been taken to postpone the series to later in the year, whilst also expanding to seven events, including a flyaway round to Australia at the Bathurst International event.
The calendar will also be more spaced out, going from a five-week duration to five months in total.
It is hoped that the change will prompt more entries, allowing for the arrival of more TCR machinery in the country in the meantime.
“The interest that we’ve had in TCR New Zealand has been extremely positive, however there have been some challenges securing the vehicles to launch at the level that we are comfortable with,” said Matt Braid, Director of promoter Australian Racing Group (ARG).
“Like TCR Australia, our intention has always been to ensure the championship launches with significant impact, and by making this alteration to the calendar, we know that TCR New Zealand will be a success in 2020 and beyond.”
Grant Smith, the Category Manager for TCR New Zealand, explained that the delay in arrival of cars into New Zealand was part of the decision to postpone the series.
“We have had a number of overseas competitors who would like to be part of TCR New Zealand but were having difficulty with the original calendar,” said Smith.
“The arrival delays of TCR cars into New Zealand has meant we would not be able to deliver the product we are aiming for.
“This revised calendar will offer competitors more time to prepare for the new season and enables us to get more TCR cars into New Zealand before season commencement in the second half of 2020.”
A revised calendar will be revealed in due course.