Kiwi Marcus Armstrong has had the Toyota Racing Series cruelly ripped from his grasp in a heart-breaking finish to the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild on Sunday.
The Kiwi led for the majority of the race and was in second place, good enough to win the championship, with a handful of laps remaining when a safety car intervention bunched the field up.
Even at that point it seemed the championship was safely his – the 17-year-old was two places clear of nearest title rival Robert Shwartzman and would have been eyeing a crack at race leader Richard Verschoor in the sprint finish. But the championship that he's been in control of since the opening round, slipped from his fingers when his car momentarily lost power at the re-start.
Toyota Racing Series cars have built-in safety modes that protect them when they start over-heating. It is thought that kicked in as Armstrong found himself in the train of traffic behind the safety car.
As the lights went green he was swamped by the trailing cars and eventually finished seventh.
