Organisers of this year’s Toyota Racing Series have confirmed that no international drivers will be able to participate in the upcoming championship.
The New Zealand-based category has typically been used by young drivers in order to take part in a championship during the European winter months.
Lance Stroll won the 2015 title, with Lando Norris following suit one year later, while in 2020 newly-signed AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda finished fourth in the standings.
Ferrari and Red Bull juniors Robert Shwartzman and Liam Lawson have also claimed the TRS title in recent years.
But owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and tight entry restrictions into New Zealand, no international drivers will partake in the series, which has been reduced from five to three rounds.
“After working with MBIE and Sport NZ we are disappointed that we are unable to get international drivers into NZ to compete due to the lack of space in MIQ [Managed Isolation and Quarantine] facilities,” said General Manager of Motorsport, Andrew Davis.
“We had several international drivers lined up and ready to come, so we are disappointed that this is the end result, especially as we had worked hard to gain approved status.
“We have seen many of the TRS drivers go on to compete in Formula 1 including international and New Zealand drivers and we had done everything in our power to ensure this continued this season.
“The implications for the series are that the talented young New Zealand drivers racing will not get to compete against international drivers of a similar calibre.
“The economic impact of the international drivers coming into New Zealand is huge to the local areas where we race.”
The shortened 2021 season is due to begin on 22 January.
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