Touring car racing in New Zealand is set to enter a new era later this year with confirmation that the New Zealand Touring Car Championship will be awarded to TCR NZ from the 2020/21 season.

MotorSport New Zealand confirms that it will not be renewing the championship title status of the BNT V8 Championship. The category, currently managed by NZ Touring Cars Ltd, had been awarded the New Zealand Touring Car Championship since 1996 when it was introduced initially as TraNZam Lights before transitioning into the NZ V8’s in the mid-2000s.

MotorSport New Zealand announced in April 2019 that they had secured an agreement with WSC Ltd, the global rights holders of Touring Car Racing (TCR), to introduce a national TCR series in New Zealand in 2020.

They subsequently revealed in May 2019 that they awarded the contract for the commercial and promotional rights of the new series to the ANZ Motorsport Group, a new subsidiary company of the Australian Racing Group (ARG), which promotes the TCR Australia Series.

“The BNT V8 Championship has produced some great drivers over the years,” said Elton Goonan, Competitions Manager for MotorSport New Zealand.

“Touring car racing is changing across the world, particularly the cars being utilised for competition. We believe TCR better reflects what local vehicle distributors are selling which increases the potential for support from them.

“Confirming that TCR NZ will compete for the New Zealand Touring Car Championship title is a big piece of the puzzle complete for us. It adds another incentive for teams and drivers to join what is a huge success worldwide and gives drivers a recognised platform to compete on.

“The NZTCC has many historic names on it such as Robbie Francevic, Craig Braid and the late Jason Richards to name just a few attached to it.

“We’re incredibly excited to see TCR get underway in New Zealand and can’t wait to share further details in the near future.”

The TCR NZ Championship will launch as part of the 2020-2021 MotorSport New Zealand Championship calendar.