Zhou takes chaotic Toyota Racing Series race

Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou has won a drama packed preliminary race in the Toyota Racing Series at Hampton Downs this morning. Zhou started from the front row of the reverse grid and was never headed while all the action happened behind him. The race was stopped twice to retrieve damaged cars from dangerous positions.

Championship leader Lando Norris had to pit to repair damaged suspension and only finished 16th and now has a reduced lead in the series over Brendon Leitch, who made the most of his opportunities to finished second after starting fourth.

Pedro Piquet was third and will start this afternoon’s main race from pole position with Norris alongside him. Argentinian Nicholas Dapero and Artem Markelov both failed to finished after incidents, while Christchurch’s James Munro, Julian Hanses (Germany) had to make pit stops to fix damage as a result of the on track action.

 

Race 2

1^st – No. 33, Guan Yu Zhou*, CHN, M2 Competition, 15 laps, 17:26.210

2^nd – No. 86, Brendon Leitch, NZL, Victory Motor Racing, gap 0.797

3^rd – No. 5, Pedro Piquet, BRA, M2 Competition, gap 3.720

4^th – No. 6, Jehan Daruvala*, IND, M2 Competition, gap 5.260

5^th – No. 67, Antoni Ptak*, POL, Giles Motorsport, gap 6.565

6^th – No. 15, Kami Laliberté, CAN, M2 Competition, gap 7.649

7^th – No. 25, Bruno Baptista*, BRA, Victory Motor Racing, gap 8.851

8^th – No. 11, Taylor Cockerton*, NZL, ETEC Motorsport, gap 10.206

9^th – No. 62, Ferdinand Habsburg, AUT, Giles Motorsport, gap 10.712

10^th – No. 23, William Owen*, USA, Giles Motorsport, gap 12.091

11^th – No. 40, James Munro, NZL, Giles Motorsport, gap 12.415

12^th – No. 4, Theo Bean*, USA, ETEC Motorsport, gap 14.776

13^th – No. 17, Devlin DeFrancesco, CAN, Giles Motorsport, gap 15.603

14^th – No. 13, Rodrigo Baptista, BRA, ETEC Motorsport, gap 17.548

15^th – No. 26, Timothe Buret*, FRA, ETEC Motorsport, gap 18.802

16^th – No. 18, Julian Hanses*, GER, Victory Motor Racing, gap 2 laps

17^th – No. 31, Lando Norris*, GBR, M2 Competition, gap 2 laps

 

Not Classified

No. 10, Artem Markelov, RUS, M2 Competition, lap 5

No. 21, Nicolas Dapero, ARG, Giles Motorsport, lap 1

 

Fastest Lap

No. 33, Guan Yu Zhou*, CHN, M2 Competition, 1:00.715, 134.715 mph

 

• Rookie

Points

1st, Lando Norris, 475 points

2nd, Brendon Leitch, 416 points

3rd, Guan Yu Zhou, 406 points

4th, Jehan Daruvala, 403 points

5th, Ferdinand Habsburg, 397 points

6th, Pedro Piquet, 390 points