Shane van Gisbergen will race with split backing in this weekend’s New Zealand Grand Prix at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.

Last year’s Bathurst 1000 winner will run a gloss white and matte blue livery, which features support from Red Bull.

The car will also carry Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy branding, an initiative van Gisbergen has supported as a coach.

This weekend marks the opening event in the three-round Castrol Toyota Racing Series.

It will also mark the first time the championship has raced on the International configuration of the Hampton Downs circuit.

Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Van Gisbergen headlines the entry list for the 66th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix and is the short-priced favourite to win the feature race according to local bookies.

Kelly Grove Racing driver Andre Heimgartner comes in as the second seed while three-time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title winner Chris van der Drift is the third favourite.

Former Supercars driver Dan Gaunt will feature as will four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy, both of whom will run with Game Over backing.

Local talent includes that of brothers Brendon and Damon Leitch, both of whom are experienced Toyota Racing Series campaigners.

SuperUtes Series winner Tom Alexander will race alongside mentor and grand prix veteran Ken Smith, who makes his 50th start in the New Zealand Grand Prix this weekend.

Chirs Vlok will return to the series over 10 years after he last competed in the single-seaters.

A host of up-and-comers have been confirmed too with Kaleb Ngatoa, Billy Frazer, Matthew Payne, Peter Vodanovich, Conrad Clark, and Joshua Bethune rounding out the field.

Practice for the 66th New Zealand Grand Prix gets underway on Friday with the feature event this Sunday, January 24 at 15:22 AEDT.