Armstrong shakes off his frustration
Ferrari-bound teenage Christchurch motor racer Marcus Armstrong has conceded defeat in the Toyota Racing Series but is determined to finish his maiden singleseater campaign on a high before furthering his career in Italy.
The 16-year-old former Ukbased karting star made a dream start to the TRS when he won the championship’s opening race at Ruapuna last month, though Armstrong’s homecoming wasn’t all happy after he crashed out of the Lady Wigram Trophy.
Armstrong, who was chosen to join the Ferrari Driver Academy in Maranello just before Christmas, has recorded three podiums in nine races but he is out of calculations for the championship with two rounds remaining in Taupo and Feilding.
Protecting his status as the leading Kiwi driver is a priority ahead of this weekend’s three races at Bruce Mclaren Motorsport Park.
He is fifth overall in the 20-driver field after another contrasting round at Hampton Downs left him 19 points clear of sixthplaced Taylor Cockerton from Pukekohe.
Unfortunately for Armstrong, the Hampton Downs experience mirrored Ruapuna with a win in last Saturday’s opening race followed by a fourth in Sunday’s preliminary race and a retirement seven laps into the 20-lap feature.
A fourth placing in the premier race at Teretonga when Invercargill hosted round two is his best finish in a main event but, despite two DNFS in the round finales, Armstrong said that he was still relishing the experience of competing at home when graduating from karts.
‘‘It’s an incredibly valuable experience so far. The guys who come down are definitely the best in the sport. TRS has given us an excellent gauge of speed for the racing we will do this year,’’ he said.
Armstrong added racing with TRS champion team M2 had also been an invaluable learning experience.
‘‘Many of the engineers and mechanics come to TRS from key roles with leading teams in European Formula 3, GP2 and GP3 – recognised stepping stones to the highest categories in the sport.
‘‘It’s a very professional environment here, the team has massive knowledge and experience behind it. My engineer works for Russian Time in GP2 – he’s tough but very good, uses my feedback to get the car the way I want it.’’
Dutchman Richard Verschoor heads into the penultimate round with a 22-point lead in the championship standings over Australian Thomas Randle.
Pedro Piquet (488) and Jehan Daruvala (410) round out the top four with Armstrong a further eights points adrift.