CareVets Scholarship’s eight hopefuls confirmed

The CareVets Scholarship – back again for the 2025 Toyota 86 Trophy Series – has confirmed its line-up of eight young drivers for next Monday’s finalist shootout day at Hampton Downs.

All of the drivers shortlisted for the final – more than 30 applied – are under 25 and have demonstrated the pedigree judges are looking for amongst the finalists.

Jacob Begg, Toby McCormack, Mac Berkett, Yoshi Comeskey, Riley Boswell, Corban Sprague, Will Kitching and Ryan Crombie, will all be put to the test on and off track with three key sessions – driving, fitness and interviewing.

The day will include laps with an experienced race driving instructor who will assess both their driving ability and their ability to work with engineers and improve the car.

The final driver selected at the end of the day will win use of a Toyota TR86 for the four rounds of the new series and along with that, the services of an experienced mechanic and engineer to make the race weekends as productive as possible for the winner. The driver will only be responsible for entry, running and any repair costs.

The drivers come from diverse motorsport environments. Begg has a classic karting and Formula Ford background and is a current competitor in Class 1 in the 2025 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. McCormack has also competed in Formula First and the wings and slicks Formula Open series as well as Formula Ford.

Mac Berkett is a tin top specialist, having competed in Mazdas, in BMWs and in the South Island Endurance Championship. Yoshi Comesky went from karting to Formula First, while Boswell has developed his skills in karting and BMWs.

Corban Sprague’s motorsport CV is even more diverse and includes grass karting, 2K Cup South Island, North Island Endurance and the Mazda Series.

Kitching is perhaps the most familiar name amongst the finalists and also has arguably the most experience, having competed in 2K Cup South Island, South Island Formula Ford, the Sports Saloon Cup, the Mazda Series, Pro8 NZ and both the South and North Island Endurance championships. The final qualifier Crombie is a tin top specialist, with lots of time in the BMW series during both the 2023 and 2025 seasons.

CareVets’ Keith Houston, a long-time supporter of drivers in Toyota’s 86 championships over the years, was delighted with the quality of the entry but said it was difficult to reduce the list to just eight.

“It’s certainly an indication of how much driving talent we have in New Zealand rising up through the ranks that we had more than thirty quality applications, all of which we had to consider carefully,” he said.

“Finding the best eight candidates for the CareVets Scholarship prize this year was therefore very tough, but we think we have identified eight excellent prospects and Monday’s challenges will hopefully give us a clearer picture of who is the best from the very high quality pool.”