Armstrong stars on his home track

Canterbury-raised Marcus Armstrong has made the perfect start to the opening round of the Toyota Racing Series.

Victory in the Lady Wigram Trophy race propelled the 17-yearold into the lead of the TRS after three races at his home Ruapuna track in Christchurch over the weekend.

Armstrong, who won the Italian Formula 4 title last year, took the lead from the start and wasn’t headed in the race for the historic trophy which dates back to 1951.

‘‘It was a hot race, I’m overwhelmed. It’s great to do it in front of family and friends,’ Armstrong said after track temperatures reached 33 degrees for the 20-lap race.

Armstrong got the better of pole position man Robert Shwartzman of Russia and was never overtaken.

Shwartzman’s initial launch was good, but his car then seemed to bog down and Armstrong got half a car length in front as they accelerated to the first corner side by side, where Armstrong emerged in front.

‘‘I’m really happy for Matt Hamilton, who was my driving coach, as he won the trophy too,’’ Armstrong said.

Armstrong heads to Invercargill’s Teretonga circuit for the second round of the series with a 16-point lead over Shwartzman.

Dutchman Richard Verschoor, who won Saturday’s preliminary race, is a distant third after failing to finish the Lady Wigram Trophy event.

Initially third, Verschoor battled past Shwartzman at the halfway point, but neither were able to get close to Armstrong at any stage. A puncture scuppered Verschoor’s chances on lap 13.

The final place on the podium was taken by Englishman James Pull, who held off a strong attack from Southlander Brendon Leitch.

For a time, Pull looked as if he might challenge Shwartzman, but dropped back after making a couple of mistakes. ‘‘Those cost me a lot of time and then I had to fight off Brendon.’’