Photo: Toyota Racing NZ
M2 Competition drivers Steijn Schothorst and Egor Orudzhev saw off local favourite Damon Leitch to claim a pole position each at the opening round of the Toyota Racing Series at Teretonga.
Schothorst, a title favourite after finishing fourth in the 2013 standings, finished on top in a first session that was ended early by a second red flag with five minutes left on the clock.
Leitch was three tenths of a second behind in second place ahead of Victor Motor Racing team-mate and fellow New Zealander Michael Scott.
Australian Jordan Oon was the top TRS debutant in fourth for ETEC, ahead of Estonian Martin Rump and Russian Orudzhev. Dennis Korneev was seventh with the top ten for Saturday’s first race completed by?Jann Mardenborough,?Ryan Tveter and?Matteo Ferrer.
Session two, which set the grid for the third and final race on Sunday, was also disrupted by two red flags, the second of which ended the session early in the final minute. Schothorst was an early pace-setter until Leitch moved ahead before the first of the stoppages.
Upon the restart, Orudzhev moved up to second place past Schothorst and then stole top spot away from Teretonga local Leitch before the second red flag.
Behind Leitch and Schothorst, Macauley Jones claimed fourth spot ahead of Andrew Tang and Levin Amweg. Scott was seventh ahead of Rump, with Matevos Isaakyan and Pedro Piquet completing the top ten.
Qualifying 1 results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Steijn Schothorst | M2 Competition | 54.376 | |
| 2 | Damon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 54.791 | +0.415 |
| 3 | Michael Scott | Victory Motor Racing | 54.860 | +0.484 |
| 4 | Jordan Oon | ETEC Motorsport | 54.861 | +0.485 |
| 5 | Martin Rump | Giles Motorsport | 54.867 | +0.491 |
| 6 | Egor Orudzhev | M2 Competition | 54.937 | +0.561 |
| 7 | Denis Korneev | ETEC Motorsport | 55.022 | +0.646 |
| 8 | Jann Mardenborough | Giles Motorsport | 55.035 | +0.659 |
| 9 | Ryan Tveter | Giles Motorsport | 55.106 | +0.730 |
| 10 | Matteo Ferrer | Giles Motorsport | 55.202 | +0.826 |
| 11 | Levin Amweg | M2 Competition | 55.218 | +0.842 |
| 12 | Matevos Isaakyan | ETEC Motorsport | 55.265 | +0.889 |
| 13 | Andrew Tang | Neale Motorsport | 55.282 | +0.906 |
| 14 | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 55.386 | +1.010 |
| 15 | Gustavo Lima | M2 Competition | 55.542 | +1.166 |
| 16 | Pedro Piquet | M2 Competition | 55.705 | +1.329 |
| 17 | Martin Kodric | ETEC Motorsport | 55.854 | +1.478 |
| 18 | Neil Alberico | Victory Motor Racing | 55.986 | +1.610 |
| 19 | Matt Rao | Giles Motorsport | 56.001 | +1.625 |
| 20 | Robin Hansson | Victory Motor Racing | 56.360 | +1.984 |
| 21 | Macauley Jones | M2 Competition | 56.853 | +2.477 |
| 22 | Alif Hamdan | Giles Motorsport | 56.949 | +2.573 |
| 23 | James Munro | Neale Motorsport | 1:02.219 | +7.843 |
Qualifying 2 results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Egor Orudzhev | M2 Competition | 53.845 | |
| 2 | Damon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 53.859 | +0.014 |
| 3 | Steijn Schothorst | M2 Competition | 53.997 | +0.152 |
| 4 | Macauley Jones | M2 Competition | 54.137 | +0.292 |
| 5 | Andrew Tang | Neale Motorsport | 54.236 | +0.391 |
| 6 | Levin Amweg | M2 Competition | 54.330 | +0.485 |
| 7 | Michael Scott | Victory Motor Racing | 54.343 | +0.498 |
| 8 | Martin Rump | Giles Motorsport | 54.348 | +0.503 |
| 9 | Matevos Isaakyan | ETEC Motorsport | 54.484 | +0.639 |
| 10 | Pedro Piquet | M2 Competition | 54.527 | +0.682 |
| 11 | Matteo Ferrer | Giles Motorsport | 54.553 | +0.708 |
| 12 | Martin Kodric | ETEC Motorsport | 54.679 | +0.834 |
| 13 | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | 54.714 | +0.869 |
| 14 | Denis Korneev | ETEC Motorsport | 54.781 | +0.936 |
| 15 | Neil Alberico | Victory Motor Racing | 54.856 | +1.011 |
| 16 | Ryan Tveter | Giles Motorsport | 54.908 | +1.063 |
| 17 | Matt Rao | Giles Motorsport | 55.013 | +1.168 |
| 18 | Jordan Oon | ETEC Motorsport | 55.165 | +1.320 |
| 19 | Gustavo Lima | M2 Competition | 55.321 | +1.476 |
| 20 | Robin Hansson | Victory Motor Racing | 55.891 | +2.046 |
| 21 | Alif Hamdan | Giles Motorsport | 56.111 | +2.266 |