Rising star: 14 year old Marcus Armstrong has won his first TR86 race, holding out a hard-charging Ash Blewett to score a result even he did not fully expect.
Armstrong, who is mentored by Andy Neale, had carved his way through from a P6 start position as Jamie McNee, Matt Gibson, Tom Alexander and Callum Quin fought for the lead in front of him. When Gibson made conatct with leader McNee in turn one, Armstrong was well positioned to close in on the leading bunch and pounced, going through to second behind Blewett and then into the lead, setting up a torrid two-car battle for the last four laps of the race.
Armstrong said afterward he had come into the championship aiming for race wins, but hadn’t expected the result to come so soon.
When the tangle happened in front of him, he said, he was thinking of advice Andy Neale had given him: “if you see half a gap, grab it”.
The ensuing laps were tense as Armstrong raced Blewett to the chequered flag.
“That was huge pressure, full credit to Ash for racing clean and he was definitely trying everything he could to get back into the lead,” said Armstrong afterward.
With McNee driving slowly around to pit, Gibson doing the same and Tom Alexander in the pits, Callum Quin came through to third behind Armstrong and Blewett.
The Spark/Spotify car had been overtseering through the early laps but settled as the race drew to a close, enabling Quin to take the final spot on the podium.
Great work young man