Toyota Racing Series
Andrew Tang, Jann Mardenborough, Damon Leitch, Martin Rump and Egor Orudzhev
For the first time in the recent years, the Toyota Racing Series kicked off with no clear favorite. Sure, race winner Steijn Schothorst was returning, as was series veteran Damon Leitch and the rising Jann Mardenborough, but there were very strong newcomers in top Eurocup rookie Egor Orudzhev and Formula Renault 1.6 star Martin Rump. And, wouldn’t you know it, none of the aforementioned drivers would win the title.
It all strarted in due course as the rookies took centre stage. Orudzhev won two races at Teretonga, but it was Rump whose consistent pace allowed him to lead the points after the first two rounds. With a maiden win at Timaru, Mardenborough was very close behind, while Orudzhev and Schothorst sat close enough to catch up with one good race.
At Highlands, the leading group bunched up with the arrival of Singaporean racer Andrew Tang, 15th in his debut year in 2013. Tang was only really expected to fight for the occasional podium, but newcomers Neale Motorsport clearly had a different plan.
Tang had won a reverse-grid race at the Teretonga, while he and teammate James Munro delivered a victory each at Timaru. But retirements kept him on the outskirts of the title fight only ? at least before Highlands, where Tang strung together three podiums to establish his title credentials.
It was then that Schothorst basically dropped out, having scored no points during the weekend, as Rump and Mardenborough continued marching on with wins. Leitch’s consistency pulled him up into the top group, while Orudzhev recorded another win to conclude a very close top five.
The opener of the penultimate round at Hampton Downs proved decisive, as Rump went off on the opening lap, relegating himself from the lead of the standings to fifth. Mardenborough won, but rivals Tang and Orudzhev were right there on the podium, preventing him from establishing a solid lead.
The Brit was low-key for the rest of the weekend and surrendered the lead to Tang coming into the final round. Still, the gap between them was minimal and, to add to the intrigue, both Orudzhev and Leitch remained in contention, as did Rump thanks to his second win.
An inspired Tang then dominated the first race of the Manfeild finale to get one hand on the title. And, albeit he was outperformed by Mardenborough in the other two races, he did clinch the title by eight points ? in a series which awards 75 for victory.
A last-race retirement left Leitch in third, while Rump closely led Schothorst, Orudzhev and Munro for fourth.
Most of the TRS protagonists went on to further their careers in the regular season, but military conscription left top man Tang on the sidelines.
Valentin Khorounzhiy