Race details Date 4-5 February 2017 Official name Taupo TRS round Location Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō Course Permanent road course Overall results Podium First Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition Second Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition Third Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing

The 2017 Taupo TRS round was the fourth round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series. The event was held at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, in Taupō, New Zealand from 4 to 5 February 2017.

Report Practice Thomas Randle continued his front-running form by achieving the fastest time in four out of the five practice sessions during the weekend. The only other driver to top the timesheets during practice was Marcus Armstrong, who went fastest in Practice Four. Session Day Fastest lap No. Driver Team Time Practice 1 Thursday 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:24.179 Practice 2 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:23.699 Practice 3 Friday 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:23.524 Practice 4 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 1:23.180 Practice 5 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:22.994

Race 1 Qualifying Armstrong grabbed his first Toyota Racing Series pole position with a time of 1:23.383, with Jehan Daruvala in second and Brendon Leitch in third. Pos No Driver Team Lap Grid 1 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 1:23.383 1 2 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 1:23.436 2 3 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 1:23.536 3 4 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 1:23.543 4 5 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 1:23.549 5 6 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 1:23.660 6 7 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 1:23.718 7 8 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 1:23.928 8 9 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 1:23.989 9 10 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 1:24.001 10 11 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 1:24.029 11 12 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 1:24.087 12 13 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 1:24.131 13 14 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 1:24.306 14 15 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 1:24.526 15 16 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 1:24.669 16 17 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 1:24.886 17 18 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 1:24.900 18 19 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 1:25.198 19 20 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 1:25.396 20 Source(s):

Race A strong start followed by fast, consistent race pace meant that Leitch would grab his first race win of the year. Armstrong finished second and Daruvala third. Pos No Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 15 21min 16.000sec 3 2 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 15 + 1.536 s 1 3 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 15 + 3.763 s 2 4 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 15 + 3.860 s 5 5 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 15 + 6.334 s 4 6 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 15 + 9.783 s 6 7 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 15 + 10.915 s 8 8 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 15 + 11.564 s 7 9 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 15 + 18.441 s 14 10 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 15 + 20.975 s 15 11 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 15 + 21.807 s 11 12 24 Ameya Vaidyantahan MTEC Motorsport 15 + 22.180 s 19 13 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 15 + 23.595 s 10 14 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 15 + 24.091 s 16 15 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 15 + 24.966 s 18 16 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 15 + 25.946 s 17 17 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 15 + 35.675 s 20 Ret 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 0 Accident 9 Ret 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 0 Accident 12 Ret 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 0 Accident 13 Fastest Lap: Brendon Leitch (Victory Motor Racing) – 1:24.315 Source(s):

Race 2 Pedro Piquet held off a rampant Thomas Randle to take his second win of the year, with Daruvala in third. Pos No Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 15 23min 01.308sec 3 2 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 15 + 0.563 s 1 3 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 15 + 1.269 s 1 4 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 15 + 2.565 s 1 5 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 15 + 2.884 s 1 6 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 15 + 4.712 s 1 7 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 15 + 5.007 s 1 8 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 15 + 8.029 s 1 9 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 15 + 9.306 s 1 10 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 15 + 9.454 s 1 11 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 15 + 11.169 s 1 12 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 15 + 11.585 s 1 13 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 15 + 12.360 s 1 14 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 15 + 12.837 s 1 15 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 15 + 13.208 s 1 16 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 15 + 58.379 s 1 17 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 12 + 3 laps 1 Ret 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 11 Retired 1 Ret 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 1 Retired 1 Ret 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 1 Retired 1 Fastest Lap: Taylor Cockerton (MTEC Motorsport) – 1:24.290 Source(s):

Race 3 Qualifying Race

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 8 Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition 20 29min 57.431sec 3 2 9 Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition 20 + 6.723 s 1 3 62 Ferdinand Habsburg M2 Competition 20 + 16.654 s 1 4 49 Thomas Randle Victory Motor Racing 20 + 16.797 s 1 5 5 Pedro Piquet M2 Competition 20 + 17.777 s 1 6 11 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport 20 + 19.464 s 1 7 22 Richard Verschoor Giles Motorsport 20 + 23.726 s 1 8 3 Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 20 + 23.922 s 1 9 83 Kami Laliberté M2 Competition 20 + 24.791 s 1 10 26 Harry Hayek Giles Motorsport 20 + 26.221 s 1 11 65 Enaam Ahmed Giles Motorsport 20 + 27.202 s 1 12 96 Luis Leeds Giles Motorsport 20 + 29.093 s 1 13 47 Keyvan Andres Soori Giles Motorsport 20 + 31.336 s 1 14 24 Ameya Vaidyanathan MTEC Motorsport 20 + 31.692 s 1 15 12 Christian Hahn Giles Motorsport 20 + 33.271 s 1 16 80 Nikita Lastochkin Victory Motor Racing 20 + 33.693 s 1 17 51 Shelby Blackstock Victory Motor Racing 20 + 34.063 s 1 18 10 Thomas Neubauer MTEC Motorsport 20 + 34.678 s 1 19 27 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer M2 Competition 20 + 48.265 s 1 Ret 33 Kory Enders MTEC Motorsport 0 Retired 1 Fastest Lap: Jehan Daruvala (M2 Competition) – 1:24.590 Source(s):

References