Lawson wins incident-packed grand prix
Sixteen-year-old Liam Lawson survived an almighty scare to upset Marcus Armstrong and win the Castrol Toyota Racing Series .
In a dramatic conclusion to the five-round series, Lawson has won an incident-packed New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild yesterday.
Lawson, a TRS rookie this year after being unable to compete last season due to age restrictions, was leading the series going into the final event – a race peppered by safety cars, race stoppages and penalties – and the Pukekohe teenager eventually came out on top.
Lawson, who turns 17 today, and Armstrong have been locked in an enthralling championship battle during the series.
‘‘It’s very special. I have enjoyed racing with Marcus and although there’s a rivalry on track, we’ve become friends during the series and I can understand how disappointed he was after the race,’’ Lawson said.
Lawson was comfortably leading the Grand Prix after an early duel with Armstrong.
The fastest car on the track, Lawson built a comfortable lead but the field was closed up when Czech racer Petr Ptacek crashed out on race seven.
From the restart, Lawson again set off in front until a sixcar pile up caused another stoppage.
A desperate Armstrong challenged from the restart and pushed Lawson off the track in an illegal manoeuvre. He received a five-second time penalty.
Lawson fell back to fourth but he was lucky to rejoin the race following the scary incident that could have easily wrecked his championship hopes.
Lawson, who eventually made two passes to be behind Armstrong in second, was happy to trail his championship rival home after being given the message of Armstrong’s time penalty over the team radio.
‘‘I was racing with the championship in mind so to end up winning the Grand Prix is very special. I was a bit emotional on the warm-down lap. People were on the radio and I was getting some lovely messages,’’ Lawson said.
Only eight cars completed the Grand Prix. That included Kiwi legend Kenny Smith, 77, who was competing in his 48th New Zealand Grand Prix, finishing eighth.