MRTI connections have forgettable weekend in Toyota Racing Series, while the championship tightens up

For the third straight weekend, the Toyota Racing Series (TRS) had three different race winners over the course of an event, including Lando Norris with his third, Pedro Piquet with his second and Guanyu Zhou with his inaugural TRS win.

The 19 drivers and four teams travelled to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in Waikito, New Zealand, which opened in 2009 and currently features six-turns and 2.6km of asphalt.

Race #1

Foreshadowing the remainder of the weekend, the first race on Saturday was certainly forgettable for the group of five drivers that TSO is following, as their Giles Motorsport (Will Owen, Nicolas Dapero, & Devlin Defrancessco) and ETEC Motorsports (Theo Bean, & Timothe Buret) machines struggle to keep up the M2 Competition drivers, who have won eight of the nine races so far.

TSO”s drivers of interest had the following final results:

• Will Owen – finished 16th after qualifying 15th
• Nicolas Dapero – finished 19th after qualifying 11th
• Timothe Buret – finished 13th after qualifying 19th
• Devlin DeFrancesco – finished 11th after qualifying 13th
• Theo Bean – finished finished 18th after qualifying 17th

Norris, the reigning MSA Formula champion, scored his fifth consecutive pole and was able to hold off a challenge from previous race winners Piqet and Jehan Daruvala to win his third race of the series. The 16 year-old from Bristol, UK has now won an event in each of the three race weekends.

Race #2

While not podiums, Owen and Bean were able to score 10th and 12th place finishes, respectively.  It was the 3rd top 10 in nine races for the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire sophomore Owen, and the 12th place finish matched vintage racing star Bean’s best effort to date.

TSO”s drivers of interest had the following final results:

• Will Owen – finished 10th after qualifying 16th
• Nicolas Dapero -DNF after qualifying 19th
• Timothe Buret – finished 15th after qualifying 13th
• Devlin DeFrancesco – finished 13th after qualifying 11th
• Theo Bean – finished finished 12th after qualifying 18

The first race on Sunday morning featured a reverse grid where Chinese driver and Ferrari protege Guanyu Zhou started on pole and and held off Toyota Racing Series veteran and New Zealand native Brandon Leitch, to score his first victory of the series. Piquet was able to advance three spots after starting sixth to score his second straight podium of the weekend.

Race #3

Unfortunately, three (Bean, Owen & Dapero) of the five drivers that TSO is following were involved in an incident with only three laps to go in the main event, causing DNF’s for all three.  A 12th place by Ganassi Generation G pilot DeFrancesco was the best any of the “TSO Five” could muster in the New Zealand Motor Cup feature race.

TSO”s drivers of interest had the following final results:

• Will Owen – DNF after qualifying 13th
• Nicolas Dapero – DNF after qualifying 15th
• Timothe Buret – finished 13th after qualifying 16th
• Devlin DeFrancesco – finished 12th after qualifying 12th
• Theo Bean – DNF after qualifying 18th

For the first time in six tries, Norris was beat on sheer pace in a qualifying session. Piquet, the son of three-time Formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet, was able to just pip his M2 Competition teammate by 0.086 during Saturday’s second qualifying session. Norris had his stating spot even further penalized when he was docked six grid spots for an incident during the first race on Sunday. He was able to recover to a sixth place finish.

The 17 year-old Piquet was able to hold on to the win over New Zealand’s James Munro and Daruvala, who’s third place was his second podium of the weekend and fourth overall in nine races.

Pedro Piquet, who had one win and two podiums, in the third weekend of Toyota Racing Series competition, share a moment on the grid with his three-time Formula 1 champion father, Nelson Piquet. (Photo courtesy of Toyota Racing Series)

Norris continues to hold the points lead with six races to go, however Piquet, Daruval and Zhuo were all able to make inroads during the third weekend of the series .  GP2 veteran Artem Markelov was the biggest loser after a disappointing weekend, dropping from 2nd to 6th in the points table. The 21 year-old Russian, who had four podiums in the first six races, had his first DNF and could only manage a best finish of 5th.

The Toyota Racing Series will be back in action at Bruce McLaren Motorsports Park in Taupo, New Zealand again next weekend, and TSO will be back next Monday with another update.

Points standings after nine of 15 races

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