Photo: Bruce Jenkins / TGR NZ
MTEC Motorsport has made its first signing for the 2023 Toyota Racing Series, with Tom McLennan joining the team.
The 17-year-old finished 17th in this year’s Australian Formula Ford championship, and also made a cameo in the Victorian state championship. Last year he also raced in FFord, and more recently has appeared in Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia.
Before stepping up to cars, McLennan raced in karts and junior motocross. He is the first Australian to commit to the 2023 TRS season.
“It’s awesome to get the chance to race in the Toyota Racing Series,” said McLennan. “It’s a great international series against drivers from all around the world racing at New Zealand’s finest tracks.
“I’ve been over for a test in one of the [Tatuus] FT-60s and the cars are amazing. I’m really looking forward to the season. I’m racing with MTEC Motorsport and it’s a great team. They have been there many years, they have heaps of experience and have seen many great drivers come through and go onto bigger things in their careers.
“The circuits that we race on in New Zealand are some of the best and I just love open-wheel racing – that’s what has really attracted me to it. I did FFord for a couple of years which I loved, but we have chosen to race the FT-60 because they are safe cars and you can have some awesome battles while racing.”
MTEC team principal Bruin Beasley commented: “MTEC is proud to have an Aussie as part of our campaign, Tom has shown that he has all the attributes needed to be competitive in TRS. He’s very level-headed and his natural pace will put him in the mix come next January.”
TRS is yet to publish an updated calendar saying which round on its five-event calendar will be the New Zealand Grand Prix.