Photo: Toyota Racing Series
Following two tough opening races of the penultimate round of the Toyota Racing Series season at Hampton Downs, Martin Rump has bounced back with a win in the final race of the weekend.
Rump will be taking home the NZ Motor Cup trophy after a stellar drive from pole position. The Estonian kept the lead following the sole safety car period of the race and maintained a consistent gap over nearest rival Andrew Tang until the checkered flag.
Tang himself came close to losing second during the restart, when he was beaten to the line by championship rival Jann Mardenborough, yet the Singaporean managed to reclaim the position into the first turn. Mardenborough then slipped back behind Egor Orudzhev, who promptly defended third place until the end of the race.
Damon Leitch took fifth, while Macauley Jones managed to overtake teammate Steijn Schothorst for sixth. James Munro wound up eighth, with Matt Rao and Matevos Isaakyan rounding out the top ten.
Tang will come into next week’s season finale at Manfeild with a ten-point lead over Mardenborough. Orudzhev, Damon Leitch and Rump are off by 24, 29 and 59 points respectively.
Race results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Martin Rump | Giles Motorsport | 20 laps in 23:43.963 |
| 2 | Andrew Tang | Neale Motorsport | +1.335 |
| 3 | Egor Orudzhev | M2 Competition | +5.747 |
| 4 | Jann Mardenborough | Giles Motorsport | +6.350 |
| 5 | Damon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | +7.316 |
| 6 | Macauley Jones | M2 Competition | +9.026 |
| 7 | Steijn Schothorst | M2 Competition | +9.374 |
| 8 | James Munro | Neale Motorsport | +11.059 |
| 9 | Matt Rao | Giles Motorsport | +13.603 |
| 10 | Matevos Isaakyan | ETEC Motorsport | +13.802 |
| 11 | Levin Amweg | M2 Competition | +14.296 |
| 12 | Matteo Ferrer | Giles Motorsport | +15.940 |
| 13 | Michael Scott | Victory Motor Racing | +22.033 |
| 14 | Robin Hansson | Victory Motor Racing | +23.938 |
| 15 | Jordan Oon | ETEC Motorsport | +25.339 |
| 16 | Martin Kodric | ETEC Motorsport | +25.467 |
| 17 | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | +28.046 |
| 18 | Alif Hamdan | Giles Motorsport | +41.416 |
| 19 | Denis Korneev | ETEC Motorsport | +1 lap |
| Not classified | |||
| Ryan Tveter | Giles Motorsport | +19 laps | |
| Gustavo Lima | M2 Competition | +19 laps | |
| Neil Alberico* | Victory Motor Racing | ||
* Neil Alberico was placed behind the non-finishers in the official classification due to having caused the first-lap incident that brought out the safety car.
Championship standings
| 1 | Andrew Tang | Neale Motorsport | 610 |
| 2 | Jann Mardenborough | Giles Motorsport | 603 |
| 3 | Egor Orudzhev | M2 Competition | 586 |
| 4 | Damon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 581 |
| 5 | Martin Rump | Giles Motorsport | 551 |
| 6 | James Munro | Neale Motorsport | 466 |
| 7 | Steijn Schothorst | M2 Competition | 443 |
| 8 | Matevos Isaakyan | ETEC Motorsport | 366 |
| 9 | Denis Korneev | ETEC Motorsport | 338 |
| 10 | Matt Rao | Victory Motor Racing | 326 |
| 11 | Jordan Oon | ETEC Motorsport | 326 |
| 12 | Levin Amweg | M2 Competition | 315 |
| 13 | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 313 |
| 14 | Gustavo Lima | M2 Competition | 309 |
| 15 | Neil Alberico | ETEC Motorsport | 300 |
| 16 | Michael Scott | Victory Motor Racing | 296 |
| 17 | Ryan Tveter | Giles Motorsport | 287 |
| 18 | Robin Hansson | Victory Motor Racing | 272 |
| 19 | Macauley Jones | M2 Competition | 252 |
| 20 | Matteo Ferrer | Giles Motorsport | 214 |
| 21 | Alif Hamdan | Giles Motorsport | 206 |
| 22 | Pedro Piquet | M2 Competition | 142 |
| 23 | Martin Kodric | M2 Competition | 118 |