Originally written January 17th.

The opportunity to go from virtual to reality is back in 2026 with the second season of the NZ Toyota 86 E-Cup (NZTEC). The best sim drivers in NZ will get behind the wheel of their virtual 86s and fight for the chance to step into the real Toyota 86 race cars as part of the CareVets 86 scholarship day. Win the scholarship as well and NZs top sim racer would earn a full seasons drive in the Toyota 86 Trophy Series thanks to CareVets.

The series is a partnership between the NZ Sim Racing Collective (NZSRC), CareVets, Toyota Racing NZ, NZ Esports, Creme Insurance and a range of other partners.

Not only will the winner get the potentially life changing 86 drive there are also great prizes across a range of categories:

The competition is open to all NZ drivers and is sure to attract big numbers.

The New Zealand Toyota 86 E-Cup is broken down into three key stages. Stage 1 is an open pre-qualifier event, where the top 48 drivers advance to Stage 2. Stage 2 is the main qualifier night, drivers are split into two groups with a night of racing to find our top 26 drivers to race in the Finals Series across 4 rounds.

Each round of racing features a 15 minute open qualifying
session followed by 3 sprint races.

• Race 1 will be a 20 minute Sprint Race with the grid set from qualifying,

• Race 2 a 25 minute Sprint Race with an Invert 10 Grid from race 1 results,

• and race 3 a shorter 15 minute Sprint Race with the grid set from the race 2 results.

NZSRC will be bringing the full NZTEC Final Series live to NZ Sim Racing TV with delayed coverage going out on Sky TV channel 83.

Fan favourite commentary duo Rhys Gardiner and Scott Rankin will be taking us through the action with Brad Matheson producing the show. Live stewards will be keeping an eagle eye on any misbehavior.

With qualifying stage 1 complete and stage 2 taking place this past Wednesday we got our first look at what to expect from this season, including who to expect at the front.

The fastest qualifier in stage 1 is a name familiar to those that tuned in to the 2025 season, Ewan Baker. Once again setting the pace out front he is this season missing his long time rival. After winning in 2025 Antal Sabo went on to race a round in the real world Toyota 86 Race Series. He did an amazing job but having now driven in the real world series he is not eligible for the 2026 prize and thus is not taking part in this years championship.

Without Antal the nearest competitor to Ewan was newcomer to the series Cooper Prout (showing as Chris in iRacing). With qualifying laps of 1:34.301 and 1:34.378 respectively these front two were almost 3 tenths clear ahead of what was otherwise a very tight field, the next 3 tenths covering 10 drivers.

For qualifying stage 2 the top 48 drivers from stage 1 where split into two groups where they faced 3 sprint races to decide who would make it through to the finals series.

The groups for stage 2 were split based on the results of stage 1 using a ‘snaked allocation’ - for example, 1st from stage 1 will be group 1, 2nd will be group 2, 3rd will be group 2, 4th will be group 1, and so on. That put Ewan in group 1 against the likes of James, Nico, and Josh while Cooper went into group 2 facing Nathan, Alex, Billy etc.

It didn’t take long for the fight at the front to get chaotic. With earning a qualifying spot the only prize on the line drivers only required a top 13 finish to be successful. But group 1 were not conservative, they all wanted the win.

Qualifying on the Okayama circuit saw Josh Silcock on pole ahead of James Corban and Lewy Bell. Incredibly the three drivers were separated by only 0.03 seconds.

Despite only qualifying in 6th Ewan Baker worked to put his case forward for being the favourite heading into the championship. He crossed the line first in all 3 races, a big statement, but with one big blemish. The race 2 win was taken away after he picked up a 10 second penalty for spinning Bryce Harding on the first lap. With such a close finish the penalty dropped Ewan all the way back to 9th for that race.

James McIver was a standout at being able to stay out of trouble and pick his way forward throughout the races. Moving up from P14 on the grid in the first race he was able to capitalize on the reverse top 10 race 2 and keep that momentum to finish P2 for the round.

The live race stewards were kept busy throughout, including post race reviews, on a night that saw 16 investigations and 9 penalties handed out in group 1 alone.

With a shaken up order by the end of the night top qualifiers Josh Silcock and James Corban would only squeak through in 9th and 10th. James Corban was the driver to cause the most trouble, getting handed a driver through and 30 seconds worth of penalties across the three races. Stefan McCartain blew his opportunity, a driver who showed through the races that he was clearly quick enough to fight in the top 5 he was involved in too many incidents that left him down in 14th, missing out on qualifying for the championship.

So in the end Ewan Baker emerged ahead of the pack in group 1 with two race wins but he really had to work for it.

In group 2 it was Cooper Prout (showing as Chris in iRacing) putting on a clinic. With pole and all three race wins Cooper has firmly put his name down as a favourite heading into the championship season. The drive from 10th on the race 2 reverse grid to the win a particular highlight that puts the rest of the competition on notice.

Ayven Dunn and Scott McQueen where next best in qualifying and took the fight to Cooper in race one. The front pack of five kept the fight close throughout race 1 in what proved a much calmer affair than the chaos of group 1. Ayven managed a nice pass for the lead on lap 9 but it didn’t take long for Cooper to hit back and move himself into P1 once again. The reverse top 10 second race would prove more difficult however. With the likes of Alex Sprague and Dylan Jordan showing their up for the fight Ayven and Scott would battle to finish 5th and 6th by the end of race 3.

It was Billy Rowley who was the big benefactor of the reverse grid. Starting on pole after finishing the first race in 10th Billy went on to finish 2nd behind Cooper in race 2. And he would back up that feat again in race 3 cementing himself as one to watch going into the 4 round season that will feature the same 3 race, reverse grid format.

The stage is set for a big round one head to head between our two leading contenders Ewan Baker and Cooper Prout. 26 drivers progress into the championship season and may be joined each round by a couple of Toyota and Creme nominated wildcard drivers. With the championship kicking off February 4th there’s no doubt all 26 of those names will be giving it everything in the fight to be New Zealands sim racing Champion.