{"id":4439,"date":"2013-04-01T01:00:01","date_gmt":"2013-04-01T01:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=4439"},"modified":"2013-04-01T07:34:53","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T07:34:53","slug":"toyota-proace-features-in-new-british-touring-van-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/4439","title":{"rendered":"Toyota Proace To Feature In New British Touring Van Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4441\" alt=\"Toyota Proace Racing Van\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/toyota-proace-racing-1-sm.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/toyota-proace-racing-1-sm.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/toyota-proace-racing-1-sm-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/>If it\u2019s got an engine, you can race it. True to that principle, Toyota is lining up its new Proace van for a summer of high speed track action in the new Touring Van Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Racing commercial vehicles isn&#8217;t without precedent &#8212; Volkswagen Caddys compete very successfully in the <a href=\"http:\/\/vw-cup.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">VW Racing Cup<\/a> and truck racing is a terrific spectacle that is great fun to watch.<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s vans offer much better performance and handling than their predecessors and I expect to see van racing grow in popularity as the Touring Van Championship takes off.<\/p>\n<p>Toyota&#8217;s three UK independent touring car teams have jumped at the chance to be the first to the grid in the new series, parading their race-prepped Proace machines in full team livery.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe Touring Van Championship is just the kind of cost-conscious racing Britain needs,\u201d said championship spokesman Gideon \u201cGig\u201d Gleman. \u201cThe Proace carries up to 1.2 tonnes in its 7m<sup>3<\/sup>\u00a0loadspace, so everything you need to go racing can be carried in the back. No big trucks, no catering wagons, no fancy-dan hospitality units \u2013 if it won\u2019t fit in the Proace then it\u2019s not needed at the circuit.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Eagle-eyed motorists may have spotted the racing Proace undergoing its intensive test programme. Its handling has been fine tuned through 24-hour lane-switching manoeuvres on the M62, while the sequence of traffic lights along the A4 west of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/london\">London<\/a> have helped hone its off-the-line acceleration. This month Proace will also undergo full race assessment at the N\u00fcrburgring, competing in the annual Lastkraftwagenpokal meeting around the legendary circuit\u2019s Flair Loop.<\/p>\n<p>Teams are confident Proace will be the van to beat when the championship bursts into action in July. In fact, negotiations are under way for it to join the Avensis touring cars in the British Touring Car Championship proper before the end of the season \u2013 the racing aloons will be rebranded\u00a0<em>Avansis<\/em>\u00a0in honour of the occasion.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cVolvo raced an estate car back in the \u201890s, so we see it as a natural evolution of touring cars to embrace vans as a holistic, 360-degree engagement with stakeholder behaviours. If you want inclusivity in British motorsport, count us in!\u201d said Gleman.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>I bet you can&#8217;t wait to see the racing Proace in action &#8212; watch this space for more details&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toyota has confirmed that a motorsports version of its new Proace van will take part in this year&#8217;s British Touring Van Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[1692,1693,1150],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4439"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4446,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439\/revisions\/4446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}