MenuNew Zealand Grand Prix
- 9 Feb
Lawson regains TRS championship lead
It was advantage Liam Lawson after the New Zealand Motor Cup race at Pukekohe Park this afternoon, as the Kiwi put his name alongside those of the most famous names in motor racing. Prince Bira, Chris Amon, Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss – as well as a list of motorsport royalty as long as Lawson’s arm – all have a place on the fabulous Motor Cup trophy and Red Bull Junior’s utter dominance rightly saw his name added to theirs. In the process of a weekend where he bagged two wins and a fourth, the reigning champion turned a points deficit to principal rival Igor Fraga into a handy championship lead of eight points
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Ice cool Igor the man to beat in Pukekohe heat
Brazilian sensation Igor Fraga took the Castrol Toyota Racing Series championship lead in dramatic style last weekend and heads to the NZ Motor Cup this weekend at Pukekohe Park as the man to beat in a summer of hot racing.
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Two wins last weekend mean ice-cool Fraga - a champion in eSports as well as a very fine young racing driver - heads to the penultimate round of the 2020 championship with a slender 17 point lead in the title chase over reigning champ and home favourite Liam Lawson.
Fraga's cause was helped considerably last weekend by drama in the 25 lap feature encounter, a race that dented Lawson's momentum and helped swing the - 2 Feb
Fraga survives the drama to take Castrol TRS series lead
Brazilian sensation Igor Fraga took the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy and the Castrol Toyota Racing Series championship lead in dramatic style this afternoon at Hampton Downs as champion Liam Lawson's day ended down and out in the gravel.
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Hulme, New Zealand's only F1 World Champion, won the 1974 Argentine Grand Prix in searing heat. He would no doubt have approved of Fraga's calm and composed performance in the very hot conditions of Hampton Downs as the 21 year old Brazilian racer secured the very same trophy that Denny lifted at the Buenos Aries track 46 years earlier.
Hulme was a survivor in Argentina on that Sunday afternoon, - 1 Feb
Fraga virtually unstoppable at Hampton Downs
Brazilian e-sports ace Igor Fraga recorded his first Castrol Toyota Series win after a dominant performance at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park today.
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He became the fifth winner in the closely fought New Zealand series and closed the points gap to series leader and reigning champion Liam Lawson.
A Gran Turismo ambassador and e-sports champion who is mentored by former F1 racer Roberto Moreno, Fraga made a textbook getaway. He burst out from the second row of the grid to leapfrog past pole position man Petr Ptacek and a slow starting Liam Lawson. That was it for the lead of the race and it was all plain sailing once he overcame an early - 1 Feb
Ptacek maintains his advantage with Race 1 pole position
Petr Ptacek grabbed his first ever Castrol Toyota Racing Series pole position after a blistering lap late in the session at a very hot Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.
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The Czech Republic racer left late in the session to confirm his form shown in the previous two days of testing at the North Island circuit. His 1 minute .896 lap aboard his mtec Motorsport run car was enough to pip champion and series leader Liam Lawson by three one hundredths of a second.
Ptacek was amongst the quicker runners throughout the session as it unfolded, but for a long time it looked like M2 Competition's Igor Fraga - currently second in the championship chase - 30 Jan
Pressure on Kiwi champ as TRS moves up north
The Castrol Toyota Racing Series continues this weekend with the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy meeting at Hampton Downs, the first round of three in New Zealand’s North Island, and the pressure will be on the reigning champion Liam Lawson to build on his narrow points lead.
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After a weekend which produced three different winners across the three races – Caio Collet for mtec Motorsport engineered by R-Ace GP, M2 Competition’s Emilien Denner and his team mate Lawson, it was the Kiwi who left Invercargill with an 18 point advantage in the championship over Igor Fraga, with Grégoire Saucy sitting third in the standings. - 19 Jan
Lawson wins feature race to take early Castrol TRS series lead
New Zealand's Liam Lawson got the defence of his Castrol Toyota Racing Series title off to the best possible start with a dominant victory in the feature race at Highlands Motorsport Park, his second win of the weekend enough to give him the championship lead.
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He leaves Cromwell heading M2 Competition team mates Igor Fraga and Yuki Tsunoda by 15 and 16 points respectively.
His second Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy race in a row became a lot easier when fellow front row sitter Caio Collet, who had all but matched him all weekend for pace, pulled into the pit lane at the end of the warm up lap. Undiscovered damage from the Brazilian - 19 Jan
Tsunoda cruises to win at Highlands
Red Bull Junior Yuki Tsunoda put his marker down as a contender for the 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series at Highlands Motorsport Park, winning the second race of the weekend with ease.
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With the grid based on the results of Saturday's first race and the top six starting in reverse finishing order, Tsunoda found himself starting second on the grid behind Denmark's Oliver Rasmussen. The Japanese driver, heading for Formula 2 in 2020, made the better getaway and took the first corner a couple of car lengths to the good ahead.
Behind them, Saturday winner Liam Lawson started sixth and made quick work of Igor Fraga who started one place - 18 Jan
Champion Lawson inherits win as Collet falls foul of practice start
Brazil's Caio Collet and his mtec Motorsport team were denied a first win in the 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series after a penalty for a practice start on the warm up lap handed race victory to reigning champion Liam Lawson.
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Collet had kept a cool head and survived intense last lap pressure from reigning champion Lawson to win on the road. Lawson’s M2 Competition team, however, spotted a potential practice start on the warm up lap by Collet and protested the result. The stewards agreed, and rules mean Collet was handed a five second penalty which dropped him down the order to seventh.
With Amaury Cordeel side-lined with a - 17 Jan
Manfeild delighted Smith back for 2020
CONTESTING next month’s New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild leaves national motorsport treasure Ken Smith tantalisingly close to achieving an ambition he’s been progressively realising at the Feilding venue.
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The 78-year-old icon’s long-standing desire is to achieve a personal goal of 50 starts in the nation’s biggest domestic circuit event.
His return to the Castrol Toyota Racing Series for the class’s big finale at Manfeild on February 15-16, will take that count to 49.
That this quest has been largely fulfilling on Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon during the TRS era is highly appropriate, venue chief - 15 Jan
Manfeild delighted by Lawson return
KNOWING the ace Kiwi winner of last year’s New Zealand Grand Prix will defend his title on Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon next month is a delight for the venue.
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Kathy Gibson, chief executive of the Feilding multi-events facility, says seeing Liam Lawson, also the reigning champion, fighting to keep the title ‘local’ adds even more spice to the February 15-16 race weekend.
“A constant about the Grand Prix at Manfeild is that it has always been a total thriller.
“I cannot imagine next month’s race being any less intense – the field is packed with top international - 14 Jan
Blanco to fill in at Kiwi Motorsport for Highlands and Teretonga
The last piece of the 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was put in place today. Puerto Rican junior formulae winner Jose Blanco will take part in the first two rounds of the championship in New Zealand's South Island.
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Nineteen year old Blanco, an experienced junior formula racer, will take the Kiwi Motorsport seat for the Highlands Motorsport Park and Teretonga weekends in the South Island until main driver Tijmen van der Helm turns 16 before the third round at Hampton Downs.
Sixteen is the minimum age to race in the New Zealand series under FIA rules.
Kiwi Motorsport has opted for a driver it knows well to fulfil the role and - 8 Jan
Sweet sixteen can't come soon enough for van der Helm
Fifteen year old Tijmen van der Helm will have to wait until the third round of the Castrol Toyota Racing Series before he's old enough to race in New Zealand, but he still reckons he can impress in the star-studded field.
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Van der Helm has already won in Formula 4 this year, taking one win in the UAE Formula 4 Championship as well as three podiums and will be one of a number of racers in the 20 car field that have junior formulae race and championship wins on their resume. A dual 2019 campaign in the Spanish Formula 4 championship also produced impressive results, with the young Dutch racer taking fourth overall.
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