Motorsport: Teen Evans joins elite club with NZ Cup victory

Mitch Evans locks a front wheel on his way to success at Hampton Downs yesterday. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Auckland teenager Mitch Evans added his name to a long and illustrious list on the New Zealand Motorsport Cup at the third round of the Toyota Racing Series (TRS) championships at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park yesterday.

Evans, 16, joins the likes of Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill and Chris Amon, to name but a few, as a winner of one of the oldest New Zealand motorsport trophies, the New Zealand Motor Cup.

The NZ Motor Cup was race three, of round three, of the TRS series and was a 20-lap affair where the grid was decided by the average of each driver's fastest two laps in qualifying. Foster and Evans were on the front row with Red Bull Development driver Daniil Kvyat and Nick Cassidy behind on row two.

Evans does not squander front row advantage and he showed a clean pair of heels to the chasing pack as they disappeared down into turn one. Although Kvyat closed up on Evans in the closing stages of the race, Evans had the measure of him with Cassidy coming home third.

"I got a really good start and managed to pull a comfortable gap at the start of the race," said Evans. "The car was really good and Daniil's [Kvyat] car came on really good at the end.

"He was flying at the end and drove awesome. He came firing up over the last few laps and put some pressure on me. I knew he was closing but I was comfortable in the car and there were only a few laps left anyway."

When the lights went out in race one on Saturday, Evans hooked up perfectly and owned the racing line going into turn one. Pole sitter Nick Foster hiccupped off the line and was swallowed up by Kvyat, who set about trying to catch Evans.

"The car felt really nervous in the opening laps when Daniil was attacking but I was able to settle into a good pace and control the gap," said Evans.

Kvyat set the fastest lap in race one and is happy to be turning his speed in testing at the two opening rounds into a solid race result.

"I'm feeling better and I am more confident in the car. Today was a good result in the run-up to the New Zealand Grand Prix next weekend," said Kvyat.

Local lad Nick Cassidy survived a second-lap tangle with Foster to take third ahead of Brit Alex Lynn and Timaru race winner Jamie McNee.

The reversed grid top six race two was a doozy. Pole sitter Jamie McNee put his front position to good use and launched hard getting to the first corner in front.

McNee was never troubled for the remaining 15 laps, taking his second win of the series. Behind him, though, it was all on for young and old. The standout performance came from Evans, who started from sixth on the grid, and after pulling off some audacious passing manoeuvres, finished second ahead of the fast-improving Nick Cassidy.

The pace was so furious that Evans lowered his own lap record twice before third-placed Kvyat pulled a blinder out of the bag on the last lap to claim the record.

The series heads to Manfeild next weekend where the New Zealand Grand Prix will also take place. Evans leads the championship with a comfortable 137-point lead over Australian Scott Pye.