Motorsport: Cockerton gets vital win in China

Taylor Cockerton got an important win in the Formula Masters series. Photo / Supplied

Another top round for Taylor Cockerton has resulted in him closing the gap to leader and rival driver Daniel Lu in the 2017 Formula Masters Series in China.

At the penultimate round held at the Zhuhai International Circuit, Cockerton finished all three races with two second placings and a fifth, giving him the round win and placing him just 16 points from the overall series lead.

"It has been a very good round for us at Zhuhai," commented Cockerton. "It's great to get the round win and be just 16 points behind Daniel (Lu) going into the last round."

Saturday morning saw the Waikato University student qualify third fastest for race one that afternoon while in the second qualifying session he qualified fifth for third and final race on Sunday afternoon.

"The times were very close in qualifying and I'm thrilled with the progress that we have made here. It was a hot weekend and the pace of the car was really good."

Race one saw James Yu drive a stunning pole to flag race. Championship leader Daniel Lu crossed the line in second, but was given a 30-second penalty for overtaking Cockerton outside the track limits. This promoted Cockerton to second with Lu dropped down to tenth.

Grid positions for the shorter race two on Sunday morning were determined by fastest laps in race one. Danial Frost went on to take his first race win of the series.

"We didn't get a great lap time in race one which made things difficult for us in the second race," commented Cockerton. "While I was able to get up in amongst the leaders the pace (of the car) went away and I finished fifth.

"The weekend heat made it difficult to get the tyre pressures right but in the third race we were spot on.

"I got a good start and was up to second very early on and tried to chase down Daniel (Lu), coming within a second of him. In the end, he was able to creep away from me for the win. We finished second and my Cebu Pacific Air by Pinnacle Motorsport team mate (Ben Grimes) third."

"All in all I'm very happy with the round win. The weekend was full of ups and downs but we have come out of it very well."

Drivers and teams have one round left at the Shanghai International Circuit at the end of September. A maximum of 74 points are up for grabs over four races at the fifth round. First Cockerton will delay his return to New Zealand and stay in China for another week enabling him to test at the Shanghai track, one he is yet to compete on, with his Cebu Pacific Air by Pinnacle Motorsport tea,.

"It's an important day for us as it will give us a great experience heading up to the final round. We need to maximise the time, which we will do and I'm really looking forward to it."