Lawson loses lead in TRS series
Motorsport
New Zealander Liam Lawson surrendered his lead in the Toyota Racing Series in the third round at Hampton Downs last weekend as his day ended down and out in the gravel.
Brazilian sensation Igor Fraga took the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy and the Castrol Toyota Racing Series championship lead in dramatic style and he has a 17-point lead advantage on Lawson.
Hulme, New Zealand’s only F1 World Champion, won the 1974 Argentine Grand Prix in searing heat.
He would no doubt have approved of the South American’s calm and composed performance in the hot conditions of Hampton Downs in northern Waikato on Sunday as the 21-year old Brazilian racer secured the same trophy Hulme lifted at the Buenos Aires track 46 years earlier.
Hulme was a survivor in Argentina on that day avoiding the carnage and failures around him to win. He came through from the outer reaches of the top six to take an historic victory, his last in Formula 1.
Fraga, however, had it just a little easier, having led from the start. It seemed more than fitting that Anita Hulme, Denny’s sister, was on hand to present the trophy.
‘‘This one was especially tight,’’ said Fraga afterwards. ‘‘At the beginning I had a lot of pressure from Liam.
‘‘I think we gave each other just enough room to race and at the end winning like this is very, very special. From here, we need to keep the momentum.’’
Fraga’s cause was helped considerably by the endless drama that ensued behind him in the 25-lap race.
The first of two safety car periods came on lap four when Emilien Denner parked up his car on the turn two run off.
The second safety car came later after M2 Competition team mate Lawson’s car suffered a technical gremlin, slowed and was hit hard by an innocent Spike Kohlbecker.
The third came immediately after the restart for that stoppage as Ido Cohen, Axel Gnos and Rui Andrade were eliminated after contact on the rolling restart itself. That final incident brought out the red flag while the mess was cleared up.
A final restart leaving just three racing laps for the remaining 12 runners saw Fraga cruise home to take the win, with Gre´ goire Saucy second for Giles Motorsport and Yuki Tsunoda - another survivor of the drama - coming home for the final step of the podium in his M2 Competition run Toyota FT60.