Motorsport: Evans in cruise control

Mitch Evans. File photo / Paul Estcourt

It's just short of a year ago single-seater racer Mitch Evans drove a Toyota Racing series car in anger. The defending TRS champion, and New Zealand Grand Prix winner to boot, looked remarkably at home in a car he hasn't turned a wheel in for a long time at the fourth round of the series at Hampton Downs yesterday.

Evans, in his first race of the series, faced a battle as the other 18 drivers in the field had notched up 15 races apiece. But Evans' time racing in Europe last year put him in good stead, taking command early and winning comfortably from Netherlands driver Hannes van Asseldonk and series leader Nick Cassidy.

"I felt pretty comfortable out there," said Evans. "I'm pretty happy about the win and I know it's not going to get any easier.

It's easy to see why Evans was picked up by Red Bull Formula One driver Mark Webber's MW Arden GP3 team last year. The Aucklander has a wise head and knows just because he put the frighteners up the rest of the field in race one, he'll have to up his game for today's two races.

"I was experimenting a little bit to see how the tyres would wear in preparation for the feature race. I also had to get an idea again on how the tyres work around here [Hampton Downs].

The feature race this afternoon is for one of New Zealand's oldest motor racing trophies - the New Zealand Motor Cup. The list of names on the 80-year-old piece of silverware is a who's who of motor racing history including greats like John Surtees, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill (whose grandson Josh is racing in the series), Sir Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.

Evans already has his name on it but is under no illusion he'll have his work cut out to repeat.