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First UK win for Toyota 86

Toyota’s GT86 sport coupe has won its first race in the UK, Round 3 of the Toyota Sprint Series at Barkston Heath on August 12.

The car, just launched in South Africa, was driven and prepared by Adrian Smith of Fensport in conjunction with Autocar magazine and won both its class and the event overall.

Notably, it was also the first win for a rear-wheel drive car with a non-turbo engine since the series began in 2007.

BOXER ENGINE

Smith posted 54.55sec around the 1.2km course in Lincolnshire, eastern England - 0.06sec quicker than the second-placed modified Celica GT-Four ST205 of Iain Gard. Third was Autocar’s Steve Sutcliffe who co-drove the GT86 with Smith.

The GT86 has a standard two-litre Subaru boxer engine and unmodified six-speed gearbox. The only changes to the road-car specification were the suspension, wheels and track tyres thought the cabin was stripped to remove weight and fitted with a racing seat.

The GT86 was lined up against a range of standard and modified Toyotas so its winning time demonstrates the rewards drivers can enjoy from the car’s essential qualities of light weight, agility and strong grip – elements that Toyota made priorities in its development programme and which were referred to in Wheels24's launch report.

The GT86 went on sale in the UK in August 2012.

AGAINST THE CLOCK

Smith said: “Driving the GT86 for the first time on track was an absolute joy. The car responded so well to our modifications and proved to be a very capable and extremely well-handling package. I'm really looking forward to further development to repeat our initial success.”

The Toyota Sprint Series is open to all Toyota vehicles, from standard road-going models to highly modified cars, each competing in their own class against the clock on a series of timed runs. For more details visit http:www.toyotasprint.com

This win celebrates the start of GT86 participation in motorsport with Toyota (GB) entering a car in the 2012 Britcar 24-hour at Silverstone over September 21-23.
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