TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand confirms organisational changes

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand has this week confirmed changes to the organisational structure of its highly successful domestic motorsport programme.

Nicolas Caillol will remain in his role as Motorsport Manager for TGRNZ with overall responsibility for the motorsport programme in New Zealand. Josh Greenland becomes Operations Manager for the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship category while Amanda Tollemache becomes Category Manager for the Toyota 86 Championship.

Both are internal promotions. Tollemache is a familiar and popular personality in the circuit racing paddock and has been in and around the sport for 30 years as a competitor, as a volunteer official and working for MotorSport New Zealand. Greenland has been involved in TRS since 2011 before going overseas working in junior formulae such as German F3, GP3 and Formula E. He had been leading the technical team for TRS since 2017 and had successfully led in the development of the FT-60.

It’s the end of an era, but the right time to make the changes according to TGRNZ General Manager Andrew Davis.

“One of Toyota’s core philosophies in New Zealand is to develop talent from within and both Josh and Amanda have continued to grow and work with the team to make our operations hugely successful. After the disruptions of the past two years it is great to give both the opportunity to now lead within their championships and we look forward to the coming season” he explained.

After being a large part of the development and ongoing success of the 86 championship TGRNZ also acknowledge the contribution of both Geoff Short and his partner Kat for their hard work for several years.

“As always, our success relies on the people doing the work and we’d like to thank all of those involved in the delivery of the championships before and during what were very challenging times over the past two years. Geoff Short and Katrina Saric have been a large part of this so we thank them not only for their great work in building the championship into what it has become, but also their tireless efforts over race weekends to ensure drivers, sponsors and all other guests enjoyed a fantastic motorsport experience.

“At the same time, Nico Caillol will pass his operational responsibilities for TRS to Josh Greenland and although he remains at the helm it is also appropriate that we thank Nico for his work in delivering TRS here in NZ”.

The Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship is one of the most competitive junior formulae in the world and it’s timing at the start of the year means it attracts a diverse range of high-quality competitors with track records from numerous single seater championships.

It races over five weekends at five different venues and includes the New Zealand Grand Prix on its calendar, one of only two ‘Grand Prix’ events outside of Formula One recognised by the FIA. A full grid is expected for the 2023 championship.

The Toyota 86 Championship is entering its 10th season and remains the premier one make saloon car racing class in New Zealand. It has proved to be a stepping stone for numerous up and coming racers now making a name for themselves in various racing categories around the world including Marcus Armstrong, Callum Hedge, Ryan Wood and Zac Stichbury.