Photo: Toyota Racing Series
Giles Motorsport’s Santino Ferrucci emerged as a pacesetter over the three testing sessions for the Toyota Racing Series round at Teretonga.
Ferrucci featured among the frontrunners for much of the day before securing the top spot in final practice.
The American kicked off Friday as the quickest driver, leading the opening session at halfway point. However, James Munro, recovering from a Thursday marred by engine troubles, then took over at the top, before yielding to Brandon Maisano.
Sam MacLeod then entered the picture, vaulting to the top in the final ten-minute stretch. A subsequent red flag prematurely ended the fight for the honours, leaving the Scotsman as the leader.
Ferrucci took second, with third-placed Munro rounding out a Giles 1-2-3. Maisano was fourth, ahead of Thursday pacesetter Dzhon Simonyan and Arjun Maini.
Karting graduates Callum Ilott and Nikita Mazepin were seventh and eighth, leading championship leader Lance Stroll and his teammate Artem Markelov.
Kiwi Munro then ran the show early on in session two, but it was Charlie Eastwood, just 16th in the first run, who eventually topped the timesheets. Maini, an everpresent figure in the top ten, was second, ahead of Mazepin, Stroll and Markelov.
Maisano was sixth, while Munro’s early benchmark was good enough for seventh. Ferrucci took eighth, leading Jamie Conroy and Stefan Riener.
Final practice was all about Ferrucci, who immediately assumed the lead and held it until the red flag. When the session restarted, the American improved to beat MacLeod’s first-practice benchmark, before becoming the first driver to go below 53s with his very next lap.
He remained first until the checkered flag, while Maini was second yet again. Alfonso Celis broke through to claim third, ahead of Munro and Riener.
Brendon Leitch took sixth, with Thomas Randle leading Matteo Ferrer in seventh. Russians Markelov and Simonyan rounded out the top ten.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | S1 | S2 | S3 |
| 1 | Santino Ferrucci | Giles Motorsport | 53.042 | 53.428 | 52.754 |
| 2 | Arjun Maini | M2 Competition | 53.403 | 53.209 | 52.803 |
| 3 | Alfonso Celis | Giles Motorsport | 53.621 | 53.797 | 53.003 |
| 4 | James Munro | Giles Motorsport | 53.124 | 53.407 | 53.018 |
| 5 | Sam MacLeod | Giles Motorsport | 53.025 | 53.736 | 53.253 |
| 6 | Stefan Riener | Victory Motor Racing | 53.629 | 53.556 | 53.084 |
| 7 | Charlie Eastwood | M2 Competition | 53.798 | 53.092 | 53.562 |
| 8 | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 53.935 | 53.569 | 53.097 |
| 9 | Thomas Randle | ETEC Motorsport | 53.952 | 53.690 | 53.141 |
| 10 | Matteo Ferrer | ETEC Motorsport | 53.662 | 53.806 | 53.157 |
| 11 | Brandon Maisano | M2 Competition | 53.170 | 53.400 | 53.851 |
| 12 | Artem Markelov | M2 Competition | 53.600 | 53.358 | 53.199 |
| 13 | Dzhon Simonyan | Giles Motorsport | 53.312 | 53.562 | 53.201 |
| 14 | Callum Ilott | ETEC Motorsport | 53.429 | 53.712 | 53.242 |
| 15 | Nikita Mazepin | ETEC Motorsport | 53.464 | 53.242 | 53.939 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | M2 Competition | 53.527 | 53.321 | No Time |
| 17 | Mathias Kristensen | M2 Competition | 53.832 | 54.061 | 53.365 |
| 18 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Victory Motor Racing | 53.739 | 53.595 | 53.405 |
| 19 | Jamie Conroy | M2 Competition | 53.710 | 53.509 | 53.703 |
| 20 | Damon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 54.305 | 54.616 | No Time |
Personal best time in bold
Best time of session in italics