Armstrong after more podiums at Zandvoort

Canterbury racing driver Marcus Armstrong (pictured) will be fighting to extend his new lead in the highly competitive FIA Formula 3 European Championship this weekend.

Zandvoort in the Netherlands hosts the fourth round of ten that has already seen seven different winners in the nine races completed so far.

Armstrong has shown that he has what it takes in this championship, having finished five times on the podium, including his maiden F3 win at the last round in Germany. Red Bull prote´ge´ Daniel Ticktum is just one point behind Armstrong with two race wins.

The British driver has been touted by Red Bull Racing as a possible replacement for Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 driver Brendon Hartley in 2019.

However even if Ticktum wins the Euro F3 title, he will not have gained enough Super Licence points (40) now required to race in Formula One. Ticktum is extremely fast and has rebuilt his reputation after being banned from racing for two years in 2015.

Ticktum had overtaken 10 competitors under safety car conditions only to catch and crash into MSA Formula championship rival Ricky Collard after both had also initially collided on the opening lap. If Armstrong can continue to finish his F3 races, he will be the driver to beat.

Cassidy continues on top in Japan Nick Cassidy’s win in the latest round of the Super Formula Series in Japan has slipped under the radar but is highly significant. Super Formula is the next quickest single seater category outside of Formula One and to do well requires an extraordinary talent. It is not uncommon for potential F1 drivers to hone their talent in this class before moving up to the main game. McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Brendon Hartley’s teammate Pierre Gasly both competed before moving up to the next level.

Cassidy is a double Toyota Racing Series champion and a triple NZ Grand Prix title holder. Finishing on the podium at the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix in 2014 opened doors for him in single seater racing in both Europe and Japan.

Last season he won the Super GT Series title in Japan and now sits just one point away from leading Super Formula with just three rounds remaining.

Whether he has the opportunity to break into F1 is uncertain. He has a strong affiliation with Toyota and may not have the right connections to unlock the F1 doors but his undoubted talent may prove to be a key. Elite Academy winner named

Callum Crawley, aged 17 of Feilding, topped the points-table at the Elite Motorsport Academy’s intensive training camp at Dunedin. Second in a close-fought assessment was Peter Vodanovich, also 17, of Auckland, with 15-year-old Billy Frazer of Pukekohe, third.

Crawley, Vodanovich and Frazer are part of a group of eight young race drivers participating in this year’s New Zealand Elite Motorsport Academy, run by the MotorSport New Zealand Scholarship Trust in conjunction with the Otago Academy of Sport and the Human Performance Centre from the University of Otago’s School of Physical Education. Benjamin Carrell is the online editor of talkmotorsport.co.nz