Round two of the Toyota 86 championship races into action this weekend in Ruapuna, with series leader Simon Evans holding a 19-point advantage over Rowan Shepherd, with Justin Allen a further 13 points back.
Aged 31, the Kiwi already has an impressive trophy cabinet, having won the V8 SuperTourer, NZTouring Cars Championship twice and the international Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy during his career.
The Toyota 86 championship brings a different type of challenge for Evans, as the cars don't have the horsepower of his most recent categories, but the racing is just as furious.
"It's quite a different race car as the weight, tyres, brakes, power and a number of other things are quite different to what I've raced in the past," Evans told the Weekend Herald.
"Most recently the I-Pace series was on street circuits, which are very different [to purpose built circuits] as well.
"The cars [Toyota 86] are a bit slower than the V8s I raced so I've had to make a few adjustments to my racing style.
"The baseline of racing skills are still the same, you just have to fine-tune how you work the tyres and I've had to adjust my braking style. I've always been a left-foot braker that I can't do here, so I've had to change a few things like that.
"The racing has a bit of door handle rubbing and I'm okay with that, as it's always going to happen in a one-make series as all the cars are the same."
Simon Evans leading the field. Photo / Bruce Jenkins
The racing is close and any of the 10 frontrunners can win.
Evans is aware he's one of the more pedigreed drivers in the field and relishes the challenge of keeping the young bucks at bay.
"There's probably 10 to 15 guys that can challenge for wins on any weekend. A lot of them are emerging young guys between 16 and 20 years old at the beginning of their careers.
"A lot of them have come from great karting success and are pushing hard. They're all young, they're all brave and are all challenging — I wouldn't have it any other way."
Evans won two of the three races at the opening round last weekend at Cromwell and is hoping to have a similar, if not better, result this weekend.
Car setup is the key in a one-make series and his team are hoping they have the car dialled in early to make the most of a track he likes.
"I really like Ruapuna and I won my first ever race here. Having said that, I take every round as it comes. I was really strong last weekend, but there are no guarantees in this sport that'll I'll be quick this weekend.
"We'll just put our heads down and work on car balance and hopefully we'll be in the top five during qualifying," he added.
