Invercargill racing driver Jamie Conroy is looking forward to getting into the new FT-50 chassis which will be in use for his debut in the 2015 Toyota Racing Series (TRS) when it begins at Mike Pero Motorsport Park at Ruapuna near Christchurch this weekend.
The new FT-50 chassis has been commssioned by the series to replace the FT-40 used since the advent of the Toyota Racing Series ten years ago. “I have only had a few shakedown laps but the car is awesome to drive,” say’s Conroy. “It is so cool to drive the brand new car, everything is so responsive. It is really impressive.”
Conroy will contest the series at the wheel of the Mobil 1 car #23 with M2 Competition, a team that has won the series in the past,. The week will be a steep learning curve for Conroy who was due to meet the M2 Competition team on Monday before spending Tuesday finalising preparation of the Mobil 1 car. A short rookie test session is scheduled for Wednesday for those who have not raced in the category before including Jamie. The rest of the week is about testing, with two thirty minute sessions scheduled for Thursday and three on Friday. There are two short fifteen minute qualifying sessions separated by just a five minute break on Saturday before the first race later that day followed by two races on Sunday including the prestigious Lady Wigram Trophy Race over 20 laps of the 3.44 kilometre circuit.
Conroy makes the step up after winning both the New Zealand and South Island Formula Ford Championships last year. However he is under no illusions as to the size of the task ahead as he prepares to take his place in the international field that will contest the Toyota Racing Series this year.
Other than his short stint in the FT-50 Conroy has done a little bit of testing at Teretonga in an Italian built Tatuus Formula Renault chassis and also had a test in a Formula 3 car in Australia midway through last year. The Renault is similar to a TRS car but has 50 horsepower less than the car Jamie will race in the series. The Formula Renault is now on display at E Hayes & Sons in Invercargill and as an added bonus for Southland motorsport fans Jamie will also be in store on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning (20/21 January) ahead of Round 2 of the series at Teretonga Park over the weekend of 24/25 January to chat about the series and his career while fans can also buy tickets for the event at the store.
