Dixon leads but still seeking win
Scott Dixon heads to the Road America circuit at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this weekend as the leader of the 2017 IndyCar Series by 13 points with eight rounds remaining.
Dixon, who is yet to win a race this season, starts his 217th consecutive IndyCar race, the second-longest streak in IndyCar history. His teammate Tony Kanaan will start his 275th consecutive race.
After nine rounds completed this season, the series has so far produced seven different winners. There are 50 points available for the winner of the Kohler Grand Prix, plus bonus points for top qualifying and laps led.
Simon Pagenaud, who won at Phoenix Raceway, sits second on the points table and is just one point ahead of Indy 500 winner Takumo Sato. Having hosted racing since the 1950s, Road America is one of only a handful of road circuits in the world maintaining its original configuration of 6.515 km in length with 14 turns.
Last year Dixon retired early in the race with mechanical problems, and Australian Will Power went on to win. Racing starts on Monday 5.17am (NZT). Armstrong primed Christchurch’s Marcus Armstrong lies fourth in the Italian Formula 4 Championship heading to the third round at Vallelunga this weekend.
A fortnight ago, Armstrong had a turnaround in fortunes while competing in the ADAC Formula 4 Championships in Germany. In his first race outing on the Red Bull Ring at Austria’s Spielberg, the Kiwi teenager dominated qualifying in round three of the series and capped that with a race win and two third placings.
He currently sits third on the German F4 points table with four more rounds left in the season. The 16-year-old is currently based in Italy with the Ferrari Driver Academy and is competing in both the Italian and German F4 Championships with the Prema Powerteam. He is expected to return to New Zealand to compete in the 2018 TRS event for a second consecutive season. Paddon races in NZ Hyundai World Rally Championship driver Hayden Paddon will race in New Zealand in September to compete in the Polaris NZ 1000 offroad endurance race. The event, held over two days, is modelled on the iconic Baja 1000 and challenges teams to complete 500km per day racing in production pine forests near Atiamuri, southwest of Rotorua.
Paddon will team with 2015 Polaris NZ 1000 winner and defending champion Ben Thomasen in a two-vehicle Polaris RZR XP Turbo team. The race takes place over September 8-10 and fits between Paddon’s WRC commitments. TRS dates confirmed The Toyota Racing Series has confirmed its dates for the five stops of the championships in 2018. The series, which features up and coming international and Kiwi single-seater drivers, starts on January 12-14 at Ruapuna and wraps up February 11 at Manfeild.
There are the same five stops as there has been since 2015 Ruapuna in Christchurch, Teretonga in Invercargill, Hampton Downs in the north Waikato, Taupo and Manfeild in Feilding. Last month it was confirmed that Feilding would continue to host the New Zealand Grand Prix in the final round after Hampton Downs also contested the hosting rights.