One year after the 86 got its Toyota badges in the United States, the rear-wheel-drive coupe is set to make its North American racing debut.
The Toyota 86 Cup Car will compete in the Pirelli World Challenge’s August double-header at Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah, Toyota Motorsport’s Germany announced Wednesday. Dan Garner Spec will field the 86 Cup in the TCA class, and the car will be driven by sports car veteran Craig Stanton.
Toyota first debuted the 86 Cup in the U.S. at SEMA Show 2016, though at the time, it only was being run overseas in a one-make series.
“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,” Keith Dahl, motorsports general manager for Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement. “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.”
Sports car racing fans have had a lot of news to keep up with lately, as Toyota is the third manufacturer in the last two weeks to announce a new production-based racer.
Mercedes-AMG unveiled its new GT4 entrant last Tuesday that’s aimed at the PWC as well as the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. And Honda, two days later, revealed it will begin offering its NSX GT3, which currently races in IMSA and the PWC as an Acura, to race teams globally.
All photos via Toyota
