M2 Competition wrapped up an unprecedented seventh Toyota Racing Series Teams’ Championship on Sunday thanks to a dominant double win for Liam Lawson at Pukekohe.
Liam’s pair of victories – which included the New Zealand Motor Cup, the country’s oldest prize in motor racing – also moved the local ace back into the lead of the Drivers’ points table with just one round remaining.
The 17-year-old Red Bull Junior kept his powder dry during practice, but struck hard on Saturday morning to snatch pole position from Igor Fraga – who came into the weekend heading the Drivers’ points – by just 0.025 seconds.
Ido Cohen and Yuki Tsunoda completed a dominant lock-out of the front two rows by M2 drivers with career-best performances of their own.
Igor grabbed the lead at the start, but was passed under braking by Liam at Turn Five and also slipped to third behind Yuki. Igor was eventually classified second with Yuki fourth.
Race Two’s partially-reversed grid brought fourth for Liam with Igor fifth and Yuki seventh – and managing an engine issue –, and set up a spicy contest for the main race, which began with Liam on pole for the third time this season, and again with Igor leading briefly into the fast Turn One right-hander.
The battle didn’t last long, however; Igor turned around by a rival at Turn Four and dropping from second to last; sparking an almighty fightback that brought him to eighth by the chequered flag.
All of this happened in Liam’s rear-view mirrors and he dominated to win for the fifth time in 2020 and the 10th time in his TRS career – a result that ties Marcus Armstrong at the top of M2’s all-time winners’ list in the series.
The result means Liam heads to the final round with an eight-point lead over Igor in the Drivers’ standings with 90 still up for grabs.
Yuki (main picture) – having crossed the line fractionally too early at the end of Sunday qualifying to earn himself a final ‘push’ lap – started 16th, but put in the performance of the race to climb to fourth by the chequered flag with a number of spectacular ‘round-the-outside’ moves.
It was this result that secured a record sixth-consecutive Teams’ title – and the seventh in total – for M2 Competition, who are 175 points clear of their nearest rivals with only 170 available at Manfeild.
Seventh in Race One, Ido was unfortunate to run off the track early in Race Two while in a podium position and then fall victim to some aggressive driving that pushed him wide at several corners shortly afterwards. He finished eighth.
The Israeli added sixth in the NZ Motor Cup to cap off an event that brought him his highest weekend points total to date and moved him up to ninth in the Driver standings.
Rui Andrade avenged the disappointment of Hampton Downs, when he was eliminated late-on while on-course for his best career finish. The first Angolan to race in the TRS finished ninth in Race One and repeated that result on Sunday with a dogged defence of position.
His chance of a similar result in Race Three went away due to an engine issue, but he managed his situation cleverly and finished 15th.
Emilien Denner had showed excellent speed in testing and practice and equalled his best-ever qualifying performance with seventh on Saturday morning – which became sixth once penalties had been applied to other drivers.
After starting well, an early incident put the Frenchman him out of the race at Turn Four; the impact with the tyre wall – although minor – causing an injury to his wrist. After battling through the pain barrier in Sunday qualifying, he elected to miss both of the day’s races.
The season concludes this weekend at Manfeild with the annual New Zealand Grand Prix with five drivers – including Liam, Igor and Yuki – involved in the battle for the title.
Teams’ Championship after Rd 4/5
1/ M2 Competition – 620 points (Champions)
2/ mtec Motorsport engineered by R-Ace GP – 445
3/ Giles Motorsport – 377
4/ Kiwi Motorsport – 341
Castrol Toyota Racing Series Drivers’ Championship after Rd 4/5 (M2 drivers in bold)
1/ Liam Lawson – 286 points
2/ Igor Fraga – 278
3/ Franco Colapinto – 239
4/ Yuki Tsunoda – 214
5/ Gregoire Saucy – 197
6/ Petr Ptacek – 185
9/ Ido Cohen – 139
13/ Emilien Denner – 70
15/ Rui Andrade – 65
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