On the eve of the 16th year of the Castrol Toyota Racing Series its time to take a closer look at who is going to rise to the top at the start of a new era for the series.
A new car, winter and summer opportunities to score Super Licence points and a full field of TRS competitors,the most diverse ever gathered. It’s the start of the new decade of international single seater motor sport and it’s about to get underway this weekend with New Zealand’s finest circuits waiting to greet the competition.
It’s a really interesting field of talent from all over the world including junior formula champions, gaming superstars, tin toppers and Formula One Juniors all vying to be the next big thing to come out of the intensive five week endeavour that has made the Castrol Toyota Racing Series one of the most prestigious international series in the world.
The obvious favourite is returning champion and Red Bull Junior Liam Lawson of Hastings New Zealand. Last year at Highlands ,where the series starts again this weekend, the sixteen-year-old was in stunning form winning by seven seconds in the dry and by an astonishing 10 seconds in the wet, to lay out his intentions in superb style. Not only did he beat his more favoured fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong but he left Highlands with a four-point lead which he never looked like relinquishing.
As it always seems to do with TRS, it went down to the wire over the season and NZ Grand Prix 35-lapper which was, frankly, brilliant in every aspect. It had everything, skill, drama, mistakes and brilliant driving throughout the field. And yes, some added controversy when Armstrong and Lawson almost touched at the start of the race sending Lawson off-track, only for Armstrong to fall foul of the stewards who penalized him for the incident. That allowed Liam Lawson to clinch the famous New Zealand Grand Prix and the championship as a 16-year-old rookie.
Then with his 17th birthday two days later, Lawson made it a fairy-tale ending for the series and his career as he was signed with the Red Bull F1 team to represent their colours as a junior for the 2019 season.
In many ways it was the perfect script with a 1-2 Kiwi finish for the series whose long time mantra has been “Finding New Zealand’s Next World Champion.”
So Lawson comes home, after an excellent 2019 season in Europe competing in two series and taking a top 10 finish at the Macau Grand Prix, to defend his title. While few would bet against him doing it again, Lawson will be well aware how quickly things can change in a five week 15 race TRS sprint to the flag at Manfeild.
There are plenty in the full 20-car field all looking to emulate the feats Lawson achieved last year and with a look down the list of entries it is clear he’s going to have to work his magic again to hold them off at home.
His Red Bull stablemate and M2 competition teammate Yuki Tsunoda of Japan, is an obvious candidate. He’s just announced his Formula 2 drive with Carlin next season and he’ll be out to show Helmut Marko that he should be the favoured one for the future.
Then there’s 2018 French Formula 4 champion and 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup rookie title winner Caio Collet of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 17-year-old like all Brazilian drivers is hungry to succeed and wants to pit himself against the very best, which is why he too has been chosen for greater things as a member of the Renault Sport Academy.
American Spike Kohlbecker could also have a break out kiwi summer with Kiwi Motorsport. He knows the rough and tumble of racing in New Zealand having competed in the NZ Formula Ford championship here last year. He then followed an excellent Kiwi season with the runner up spot in the prestigious BRSCC National FF1600 in the UK. No mean feat for a mere 16-year-old. He arrives here prepared confident of his surroundings and ready to take to the next level.
How about Lirim Zendeli of Germany. 2018 German ADAC Formula 4 champion and 2019 FIA F3 campaigner for the Sauber Junior Team.
But the man I have my eye on is 17-year-old Czech Republic driver Pter Ptacek of MTEC/R-Ace GP. After doing TRS last year as a rookie, he went back to Europe and Formula Renault Eurocup as well as one round of the Asian F3 in Japan at Suzuka.
“It was a lot of travel last year but I gained a lot of experience and I think I can use all that both here again in TRS and next season in Europe,” commented Ptacek
He drove with Giles Motorsport last year, where he picked up a podium at Hampton Downs and 11th overall in the Series.
This year he’s moving to the all new look MTEC Motorsport and R-Ace GP. This could be the key to Ptacek’s potential in his second run at TRS.
“This combination should be really good this year. MTEC were very good last year and with R-ACE GP on board I think this will be a massive help for them and together we can make good team.
“I tested for R-ACE at Yas Marina at the end of last year and it went really well. They were good the whole 2019 season and were on the pace straight away. They were much more organised than all the other teams and that’s what led them to win the title in Eurocup.
“I’m really happy to join them here in New Zealand and I’ll be working with the engineer I worked with from Yas Marina so that gives me a lot of confidence.”
Pter is a 17-year-old on a mission. He told me in an interview this time last year that he wants to become the first Czech to make it in Formula One.
The only Czech that has ever raced in Formula One was Thomas Enge some 20 years ago, but he only did a few races for Prost GP as a replacement for Luciano Burti.
“For me, FIA F3 and Formula 2 are what’s important in terms of winning. These are categories that count if you want to make it to Formula One. So I want to be as ready as possible for F3 and F2 and so I’m going to give it my all and that is why I’m doing TRS to be on top of the game and keep on learning on my way to F3 and F2.
“I expect this TRS season to be a tough series, but this year I’m coming from a different perspective with more experience and more maturity so I think it will be a better year for me. A better team, a bit calmer from me and as I said, I’m more mature as a racer than last year.
“The tyre management is a key and I learned that last year. It’s a different management of your weekend here in New Zealand compared to Europe. Not being quickest on the first day in the first two sessions is not as important as learning to be quick in day two. It can be the difference. So it is better to learn in the early sessions and then be quick and have the tyres for second day.
“The tracks I’m looking forward to are Highlands and Pukekohe. In fact I like all the tracks in New Zealand except for perhaps Teretonga.”
So watch out for the young Czech. He’s done a lot of racing since TRS last year. Formula Renault Eurocup, Italian F4 , F4 UAE , MRF challenge and Asian F3. That is a lot of seat time for any driver so Ptacek comes back to New Zealand as a completely different driver from his rookie season here last year. He has an engineer he has worked with before and a crucial test with R-Ace at Yas Marina, which was a huge confidence builder. He knows the circuits and he is hungry for success and to head back to Europe with some Super License points under his belt.
That said the competition will be fierce. As well as Lawson and Tsunoda, there’s the likes of Axel Gnos of Switzerland, Franco Colapinto, the Spanish F4 champion from Argentina. Keep an eye out for Igor Frago of Brazil, the world’s top gamer turned racer could be the dark horse.
All in all, with the factor of the new car for all 20 drivers, this year’s Castrol Toyota Racing Series could well be the closest and most unpredictable in its 16-year history.
It all starts this weekend at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell and will be live for the first time on Sky Sports 5 live. See you there.
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