First woman in 86 Series

Tiffany Chittenden will be the first woman to contest the Toyota Finance 86 Championship. It will be the first full season of racing for Chittenden, who has previously represented both Great Britain and New Zealand at the World Karting Championships. She forfeited her European licence to race for New Zealand at the world championships in Spain last year when, in sixth place, she was the highest-ranked Kiwi. Of the season ahead, Chittenden says: “It’s a great opportunity with the Lighting Plus team. It’ll be a steep learning curve, but I’m looking forward to it.” While she had raced on several of New Zealand’s kart tracks, she has had only brief test sessions in the Toyota 86 coupe at the circuits in Ruapuna and Hampton Downs. While she says that “the 86 is a cool car with lots of grip”, she adds she has to get used to the car and tracks. “I know a lot of the competition has more experience of both than I do. Hopefully I can improve as the series goes on, get some podiums and get properly familiar with everything by the time we get to Ruapuna for round three.” The Toyota 86 Championship starts with a support race at Pukekohe from November 6-8. The second round at Hampton Downs is on November 28 and 29, with the third at Ruapuna from January 15-17. The final rounds are at the NZ Grand Pix at Manfeild from February 12-14 and in Tuapo on March 26 and 27.