Race details Date 28–29 January 2017 Official name Hampton Downs TRS round Location Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, North Waikato Course Permanent road course Overall results Podium First Pedro Piquet M2 Competition Second Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing Third Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport

The 2017 Hampton Downs TRS round was the third round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series. The event was held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, in North Waikato, New Zealand from 28 to 29 January 2017.

Background

Heading into the weekend, Richard Verschoor leads the championship by an extensive margin. Strong, consistent performances from the young Dutchman meant he was the man to beat. Other strong performances in the field included the likes of Thomas Randle, who was a constant front runner in the first two rounds of the championship.

Report Practice Thomas Randle demonstrated his pace early on by taking out four out of the five practice sessions and broke the track record in the process. Pedro Piquet took out the second practice session, narrowly beating out Randle. Session Day Fastest lap No. Driver Team Time Practice 1 Thursday 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:00.975 Practice 2 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 1:00.561 Practice 3 Friday 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:00.361 Practice 4 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:00.393 Practice 5 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:00.109

Race 1 Qualifying Randle dominated qualifying by taking pole position by nearly two-tenths of a second over Jehan Daruvala. They were followed by Armstrong, Leitch and Piquet. Pos No Driver Team Lap Grid 1 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 0:59.636 1 2 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 0:59.801 2 3 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 0:59.846 3 4 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 0:59.944 4 5 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 0:59.983 5 6 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 1:00.055 6 7 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 1:00.147 7 8 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 1:00.164 8 9 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 1:00.284 9 10 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 1:00.302 10 11 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 1:00.337 11 12 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 1:00.408 12 13 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 1:00.502 13 14 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 1:00.532 14 15 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 1:00.532 15 16 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 1:00.626 16 17 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 1:00.634 17 18 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 1:00.684 18 19 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 1:00.726 19 20 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 1:00.900 20 Source(s):

Race After a chaotic start which saw Leitch and Daruvala tumbling down the order, Marcus Armstrong came through to win his second race of the year. An early red flag saw the race restarted with a shortened distance. After losing out the lead, Pos No Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 15 16min 34.701sec 3 2 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 15 + 0.334 s 5 3 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 15 + 0.677 s 1 4 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 15 + 4.457 s 7 5 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 15 + 4.972 s 9 6 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 15 + 5.756 s 14 7 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 15 + 8.838 s 8 8 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 15 + 9.100 s 12 9 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 15 + 9.500 s 6 10 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 15 + 15.261 s 13 11 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 15 + 15.537 s 18 12 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 15 + 17.748 s 4 13 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 15 + 19.435 s 11 14 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 15 + 19.604 s 2 15 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 15 + 24.979 s 10 16 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 15 + 24.993 s 19 17 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 15 + 29.430 s 20 18 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 14 + 1 lap 15 Ret 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 0 Retired 17 Ret 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 0 Retired 16 Fastest Lap: Thomas Randle (Victory Motor Racing) – 1:00.694 Source(s):

Race 2 Pos No Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 15 16min sec 2 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 15 + 2.436 s 3 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 15 + 3.661 s 4 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 15 + 6.128 s 5 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 15 + 11.686 s 6 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 15 + 12.064 s 7 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 15 + 12.900 s 8 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 15 + 14.900 s 9 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 15 + 16.407 s 10 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 15 + 16.493 s 11 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 15 + 17.178 s 12 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 15 + 23.410 s 13 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 15 + 23.710 s 14 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 15 + 23.809 s 15 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 15 + 26.252 s 16 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 15 + 26.641 s 17 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 15 + 30.953 s 18 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 15 + 36.576 s 19 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 14 + 1 lap Ret 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 2 Retired Fastest Lap: Enaam Ahmed (Giles Motorsport) – 0:59.636 Source(s):

Race 3 Qualifying Randle once again snatched pole position, though this time with a narrow margin over Daruvala. They were followed by Piquet, Verschoor and Armstrong. Pos No Driver Team Lap Grid 1 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 0:59.333 1 2 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 0:59.402 2 3 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 0:59.467 3 4 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 0:59.624 4 5 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 0:59.770 5 6 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 0:59.846 6 7 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 0:59.852 7 8 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 0:59.872 8 9 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 0:59.908 9 10 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 0:59.949 10 11 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 1:00.064 11 12 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 1:00.072 12 13 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 1:00.073 13 14 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 1:00.085 14 15 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 1:00.184 15 16 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 1:00.197 16 17 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 1:00.238 17 18 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 1:00.294 18 19 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 1:00.325 19 20 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 1:00.565 20 Source(s):

Race After a chaotic start which saw Leitch and Daruvala tumbling down the order, Marcus Armstrong came through to win his second race of the year. An early red flag saw the race restarted with a shortened distance. After losing out the lead, Pos No Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 20 24min 37.172sec 2 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 20 + 3.362 s 3 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 20 + 4.751 s 4 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 20 + 6.154 s 5 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 20 + 7.554 s 6 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 20 + 8.584 s 7 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 20 + 10.503 s 8 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 20 + 10.765 s 9 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 20 + 11.276 s 10 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 20 + 11.833 s 11 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 20 + 12.352 s 12 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 20 + 12.879 s 13 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 20 + 14.316 s 14 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 20 + 14.316 s 15 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 20 + 19.373 s 16 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 20 + 20.345 s 17 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 17 + 3 laps 18 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 15 + 5 laps Ret 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 7 Retired Ret 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 1 Retired Fastest Lap: Thomas Randle (Victory Motor Racing) – 01:00.526 Source(s):

References