Motorsport: Series tempts top talent

Mitch Cunningham shows how it is done as he heads for victory in a TRS race. Photo / Lee Howell

Toyota Racing Series (TRS) organisers say their first confirmed international driver for the five-race series on January 12-15 is Ferrari's hot-shot Italian teenager Raffaele Marciello.

After the success of the 2010-2011 series, category manager Barrie Thomlinson and his crew decided not to rest on their laurels and have compressed the series to five straight race weekends. This change appeals to overseas teams as it cuts the time away from home and reduces costs. It also makes the TRS season one of the world's most concentrated.

"There has been an encouraging surge in interest for our 2012 international series on the back of our previous season's successes," Thomlinson said.

"That has been further boosted with a number of the 2011 season drivers performing impressively in Europe this year."

Teams and managers from all over the world recognise the benefits of encouraging their young drivers to compete in TRS. They also appreciate that it is in the European off-season and in weather conducive to racing.

Competing in New Zealand allows drivers to get the jump on their rivals in Europe.

"Our calendar format has evolved during the past few seasons to meet the needs of our international and local competitors, and those initiatives have secured our place in the career-development programmes of some of the most promising young driver talent, some of whom are already connected to Formula One teams," Thomlinson said.

TRS drivers have featured well on their return to Europe, including Englishman Alex Lynn, who won the Renault UK series, and Russian Red Bull junior driver Daniil Kvyat, who finished third in the Formula Renault Eurocup series.

Many New Zealand drivers who have raced in the TRS are now plying their trade in Europe to great success, including Mitch Evans, Richie Stanaway, Brendon Hartley and Nick Cassidy. Such success in the antipodean series has not gone unnoticed by talent-spotters in Europe, and Ferrari regards Marciello as a potential star. He is one of five drivers being groomed for a future in Formula One by the elite Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) which sees much value in sending him Downunder.

The other four drivers being groomed for stardom are Mexican Sergio Perez, who is already racing in F1 with the Sauber/Ferrari team, Frenchman Jules Bianchi, who competes in GP2 and is one of the Ferrari F1 reserve drivers, and two youngsters selected from karting - Brandon Maisano from France and Lance Stroll from Canada.

"We have been fortunate in the past two years to have received invitations from the FDA for our young Kiwi drivers, Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, to complete individual tests in Italy and, through this association, both drivers have been able to demonstrate their professionalism and the competitiveness that has been developed in TRS," Thomlinson said.

Evans tested the FDA Tatuus Formula Abarth car at Italy's Misano circuit last year and, two months ago, Cassidy tested and then raced at the Ferrari-owned Mugello circuit in Italy.

The FDA programme was launched in 2010 and is managed by Luca Baldisserri, who was Michael Schumacher's race engineer in Formula One and became chief engineer on the Ferrari F1 project.

It is thought one, or both, of the academy's engineers will be in New Zealand at some point during the series to have a look at Marciello's progress.

"I am extremely proud to say the International entry in 2012 is shaping up to be our best and the series is starting to resemble the glory days of the Tasman series in the 1960s when our own Chris Amon was part of Ferrari's Formula 1 driver line-up," Thomlinson said.

"The Toyota Racing Series has earned a reputation as a high-quality, internationally recognised series and Marciello is exactly the type of talented driver we hope to attract here to compete against our best up-and-coming local drivers."

In 2011, Marciello competed with the Prema Powerteam, driving a Dallara in the Italian Formula 3 championship, where he claimed two outright wins and finished third in the championship. He will be driving for the M2 Competition team run by ex-A1GP Team NZ engineers Mark Pilcher and Jonathan Moury.

2012 International Toyota Racing Series

Round 1: January 12-15
Teretonga Park, Invercargill, Spirit of a Nation Cup

Round 2: January 19-22
Timaru Raceway, Timaru, Timaru Herald Trophy

Round 3: January 26-29
Taupo Motorsport Park, Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy

Round 4: February 2-5
Hampton Downs, Auckland, New Zealand Motor Cup

Round 5: February 9-12
Manfeild, Feilding, New Zealand Grand Prix, Dan Higgins Trophy and Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup