Jordan Michels and Jaden Ransley confirmed for TCR New Zealand

Jordan Michels and Jaden Ransley have been confirmed for the TCR New Zealand round at Highlands Motorsport Park on April 23-24.

Michels is going to drive a Honda Civic Type-R TCR, a car that he drove for Team Williams in the endurance race of the South Island Championship last year.

“It is going to be pretty cool,” said Michels to velocitynews.co.nz.

“Those Hyundais are very fast, and I know because I have driven one. But the Honda has proven to be quite competitive. It is the perfect one-hour car and went well in the enduros.

“So, it will be interesting to see how the Balance of Performance will work. It should mean that it comes down to driver talent. But we will have to wait and see.”

Michels will face competition from Hyundai i30 N TCR driver Ransley, who also took part in the South Island Championship endurance races last year.

“It’s an awesome car,” said Ransley, who raced in the New Zealand and Australian Toyota 86 championships last year.

“As a front-wheel-drive, it’s completely different to the rear-wheel-drive TR86. It’s fast in qualifying, where I expect others to be quick and has really good race pace.

“The one round title decider is a great concept. The pressure will be on everyone to perform at the round as one bad race may well put you out of contention.”

The entries of Michels and Ransley makes it three so far confirmed cars for the race weekend.

The inaugural TCR New Zealand championship season will be held over just one race weekend due to delays in light of the coronavirus pandemic.