Red Bull junior Richard Verschoor has taken the early Toyota Racing Series points lead after the opening round of the 2017 edition held in Ruapuna, New Zealand.
The Dutchman finished third, second, and fourth respectively to build a three-point gap over Australian racer Thomas Randle. Force India protégé Jehan Daruvala completes the top-three positions after securing a win and another podium finish.
Held over five weekends in the off-season, the Toyota Racing Series allow top rising talents to step up their preparations ahead of their European programmes.
Up-and-coming drivers are competing to join the likes of Jaguar Formula E pilot Mitch Evans (2010/11), new Williams Formula 1 racer Lance Stroll (2015) and recent McLaren BRDC award winner Lando Norris (2016) in the books.
Verschoor was added to the Red Bull junior roster after winning on his car racing debut last year. The then 15-year-old went on to claim both the SMP F4 Championship and F4 Spanish Championship in dominant fashion, while also making select appearances in the German and Italian F4 series.
Besides Verschoor and Daruvala, new Ferrari Driver Academy member Marcus Armstrong also impressed in New Zealand by claiming his maiden single-seater victory in the opening contest at the weekend.
