The Pivot

Jackson Walls (AUS) leads the field in race two at Pukekohe pre-Covid   Dates and venues have now been confirmed for New Zealand's summer motor racing series, but there will be no premier open-wheeler racing in the South Island and most championships will operate within the six-round four-venue format.  There is still no confirmation of a likely format for the premier championship or the New Zealand Grand Prix except that sources at Manfeild have confirmed the latter will not be held there - ending a 12 year association.  This year's format also precludes a five week 'international' season for New Zealand's premier championship class, the Castrol Toyota Racing Series. MotorSport New Zealand and its race championship promoter, Speedworks Events have now confirmed both dates and venues for the 2020-2021 summer motor racing series but have stopped short of confirming what form the CTRS will take or when and where the 2021 New Zealand Grand Prix will be held.

    Kiwi racer Marcus Armstrong has once more shown his true speed in the opening race of the FIA Formula 2 round at Sochi in Russia. Racing at the former winter Olympic venue, Armstrong fought through from a mid-field grid position to finish in the top ten on Saturday, taking his second points finish in two rounds. He fought his way up from a start of 14 th to be tenth after the opening lap and would battle on as his tyres degraded to finish ninth, with British driver and longtime rival Dan Ticktum tenth. Armstrong’s team-mate Christian Lundgaard was among four drivers taken out by crashes, mechanical issues or penalties. The second (final) race at Sochi on Sunday was red flagged after an enormous accident involving Luca Ghiotto and Jack Aitken at Turn 3 on the eighth lap. Ghiotto’s car was almost completely destroyed in the impact and caught fire after the Italian had climbed out. Pole starter Guanyu Zhou was declared

  The annual post-season speedfest around the streets of Macau has a huge question-mark hanging over it. Not only is Covid casting a long shadow over the storied race, but the organisers have decided to step down from Formula 3 and more recently the bigger FIA F3 cars to run the smaller, slower and much simpler Formula 4. That’s F4, which was never in prospect in New Zealand and fell over in Australia. It breaks the unbroken heritage of F3 at Macau that goes all the way back to 1983 and the days when Eddie Jordan came hunting fresh talent there. Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Juan-Pablo Montoya, all these and many who later starred in Formula One have raced or won here in Formula 3. I was there in 1996 to see Irish driver Ralph Firman win the feature race ahead of Massimiliano Angelelli and Jarno Trulli. Nick Heidfeld won the ‘qualifying’ race on the Saturday. It was an epic weekend, though we were actually there for the touring car race, filming Gianfranc

  In a bid to boost New Zealand participation in its premier single-seater category,Toyota NZ has unveiled a Covid-19 support package of up to $500,000 to help single-seater Kiwi drivers and continue its support of motorsport in New Zealand.  The funding will be managed by the Kiwi Driver Fund and recognises the effect of the global pandemic on local drivers' ability to secure funding to race at the premier level. With ongoing uncertainty over the ability of international drivers to travel to New Zealand for the coming Castrol Toyota Racing S eries, the new funding may indicate the company has refocused on Kiwi talent in a bid to ensure a full grid for January. Andrew Davis, Toyota NZ’s general manager of motorsport, says Toyota has been looking at the best ways to reduce costs going into the 2021 season. “Competing in motorsport can cost upwards of $160,000, so many need the extra financial boost that the Kiwi Driver Fund offers to be able

  Kiwi racer Marcus Armstrong has reversed his recent form as the FIA Formula 2 field grapples with an unfamiliar circuit where tyre management is more than ever the key to a strong result. On the high grip Mugello circuit, amid what he describes as a ‘classic F2 [tyre] degradation-fest’, Armstrong first posted his career best F2 qualifying position, then brought his car home ninth in a feature race that saw several of the title contenders crash into each other. “The circuit itself is very abrasive,” he explained. This means today’s ‘sprint’ race will be “interesting to watch from the outside. I think tyre management is very important, but at the same time we need to be on the right strategy and optimise it.” Bringing his car home ninth adds two points to his tally and underscores the importance of qualifying well and thus staying out of the ‘traffic’ and any mid-field mayhem. Dan Ticktum, Guanyu Zhou, Yuki Tsunoda and Rober

  Kiwi racer Marcus Armstrong and the FIA Formula 2 field face a fresh challenge this weekend: a circuit the championship has not visited before. The Italian FIA Formula 4 championship – won by Armstrong in 2017 - has raced there. But compared to F4 cars the 2020 F2 car is massively faster and more complicated. Added to the challenge this weekend are the need to manage the championship’s new-for-2020 18-inch wheel/tyre package; a narrow ‘window’ of peak performance available from the Pirelli tyres used by the championship; the carbon-carbon brake setup used in F2 and rookie drivers also dealing with the bigger heavier cars with more aerodynamic grip than they have raced with in F3. Reaching a competitive setup thus places emphasis on the engineer’s ability to deliver the driver a car fit for the task. The weekend is also historic at the premier level - the F1 race at Mugello (Ferrari’s ‘home’ circuit) is Scuderia Ferrari’s