It is the penultimate round of the 2017 Formula Masters Series this weekend with Kiwi racing driver Taylor Cockerton challenging for the overall driver’s title, just 18 points behind leader Daniel Lu. The fourth round takes place at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China and the Waikato University student is targeting more wins as he attempts to win the single seater series.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” commented Cockerton. “I head there with a lot of confidence and expect to be very competitive. We won the last round (round 3) at Zhuhai, it’s a track I really enjoy.”
A win, a second and fourth placings propelled Cockerton into title contention at the last round, also held at Zhuhai. The round win for Cockerton was at the expense of his rivals who suffered poor race results, dropping them down the overall points table.
“For this next round we need to target points and more specifically wins in the longer races. Both our race wins this season have been in the second race of the round which offers less points than the others”
The three-race format offers 20 points for both race one and three which are held over 25 minutes with just 12 points on offer for race two held over 10 minutes.
“It’s hard to think there are only two rounds left, it has gone so fast. We’ve had our share of poor luck but have otherwise been very consistent throughout the series.
“I’ve really enjoyed the track (Zhuhai). It’s a lot of fun but more technical than it looks on the map, as it comes down to the little things such as braking distances; getting the apex right and obtaining the perfect lap.”
Qualifying is another area that he is focusing on with his Cebu Pacific Air by Pinnacle Motorsport team.
“They’re are a great team and really dedicated to helping us win,” commented Cockerton. “Qualifying is an area we keep focusing on. In the last round, it went well for us but was in the wet. At the moment the weather for practice this Thursday and Friday is looking fine so we will be keen to maximise these sessions heading into the weekend.”
Drivers and teams face three races before heading to the final round at Shanghai International Circuit in China for the final four races 22-24 September 2017.
Drivers Points Table after 3/5 rounds (Top 5)
Driver, Team, points
1/ Daniel Lu Absolute Racing 141 points
2/ Taylor Cockerton Cebu Pacific air by Pinnacle Motorsport 123 points
3. James Yu Absolute Racing 99 points
4/ Daniel Frost Eurasia Motorsport 95 points
5/ Arvin Esmaeili Absolute Racing 76 points
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