Quinn reveals plans for NextGen NZ Championship

Founder of National Racing Group Promotions, Tony Quinn, has revealed his ambitions for the NextGen New Zealand Championship.

“We all know that New Zealand has a massive depth of talent when it comes to driving cars quickly…” he said in a recent podcast.

“I’m heavily invested in the sport over here. I own three of the best tracks here. However, the promoters have come and gone with what used to be called the summer series. So we’ve taken it on this year because, basically, it’s half broken, and we want to fix it.”

With National Racing Group Promotions taking over the role of promoters in July, the team had just four months to put together a series. It began with the season opener at Taupo International Motorsport Park, one of Quinn’s tracks, in late November.

Featured categories included GTRNZ, the Pirelli Porsche Race Series, Super V8s, and the Mazda Racing Series. There was also the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship and the first-ever round of the new generation Toyota GR86 Championship.

Round 2, the Sixt Rent a Car Historic GP next weekend, promises to be even bigger. It will feature star drivers, the ‘greatest-ever gathering of Formula Atlantics’, and a Ford showcase. There will also be classes of historic machinery, and Round 1 of the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (CTFROC).

Those competing include Supercars champion Will Brown in CTFROC and Supercars icons Greg Murphy and Steven Richards in Formula Atlantic.

Roberto Moreno, Brendon Hartley, Craig Baird, David Brabham, Russell Ingall, Paul Radisich, and Liam Lawson are other stars appearing at the event.

Five further rounds of the NextGen NZ Championship will follow. Quinn admits he is determined to build a series that works for the competitors and the fans.

“At the end of this year…we’ll have a big talk with the sport and the competitors in New Zealand. We will have an open-book policy so that they can see how the system works,” he explained.

“The last guy that tried to promote it went under for about half a million bucks. It’s important that we all make it happen this year, and at the end of it, we can all share our views. We will have a plan going forward for the 2026 season.”

While acknowledging the challenges, Quinn sees promise in several racing categories that could form the foundation of a rejuvenated championship.

“Toyota 86s have been here for a while, and they look like they’re going to have a strong year this year,” he said. “I’d like to see a closer alignment with the Australian 86 series. I think we can somehow align our talents there. The TA2s are bubbling away. Porsche is making a little bit of a comeback. It’s got a great future; we just have to dial it in.

“It’s like a radio station; you just have to dial it to the right frequency and make it happen.”

He also went on to highlight the critical role that Toyota has played in keeping the sport alive during turbulent times.

“As you said, it’s been half-broken for two decades, and if it wasn’t for Toyota, it would be basically club racing. Toyota are such a strong supporter of motorsport in New Zealand, and I promise that season 2026… we’re going to fix it.”