Ruapuna TRS: Ferrari junior Armstrong wins season opener
Recently recruited Ferrari junior Marcus Armstrong kicked off his maiden full-time single-seater campaign by winning the first Toyota Racing Series race at Ruapuna.
Armstrong started the race from second and, while the first part of the race was led by pole-sitter Jehan Daruvala, the Indian lost out at the restart of a safety car phase.
The cause of the safety car was Kory Enders, who spun out as he approached the final corner and his car got stuck in the gravel.
Once in the lead, Armstrong extended his advantage to over a second as Daruvala could not challenge the Kiwi for the win.
Red Bull's Richard Verschoor completed the podium, followed by Aussie Thomas Randle and local driver Taylor Cockerton.
Returning drivers Pedro Piquet and Ferdinand Habsburg finished sixth and seventh respectively, the latter losing out at the start, having lost four spots from third.
Enaam Ahmed was eighth ahead of TRS veteran Brendon Leitch and Canadian Kami Laliberte.
Race 1 results:
| Pos. | Driver | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Marcus Armstrong |
|
| 2 |  Jehan Daruvala |
0.851 |
| 3 |  Richard Verschoor |
1.912 |
| 4 |  Thomas Randle |
2.512 |
| 5 | Taylor Cockerton |
5.398 |
| 6 |  Pedro Piquet |
6.059 |
| 7 |  Ferdinand Habsburg |
6.416 |
| 8 |  Enaam Ahmed |
7.898 |
| 9 | Brendon Leitch |
9.056 |
| 10 |  Kami Laliberte |
10.055 |
| 11 |  Shelby Blackstock |
11.637 |
| 12 |  Keyvan Andres |
13.232 |
| 13 | Ameya Vaidyanathan |
17.042 |
| 14 | Harry Hayek |
17.388 |
| 15 | Luis Leeds |
18.025 |
| 16 |  Thomas Neubauer |
18.414 |
| 17 | Christian Hahn |
19.324 |
| 18 | Jean Baptiste Simmenauer |
35.660 |
| 19 | Kory Enders |
+1 lap |
| R |  Nikita Lastochkin |
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