Liam Lawson takes second Toyota Racing Series feature race in a row

Liam Lawson has won the Spirit of a Nation Cup, awarded for Race 3 at Teretonga in the 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series. Igor Fraga was second, with Yuki Tsunoda in third.

Australian Jackson Walls was on pole for the Spirit of a Nation Cup, after an outstanding display in the second Qualifying session. However, when the red lights went out, it was Lawson who drove away from second place, stealing the lead by Turn 1.

Walls had a wild ride through the Castrol corner, losing two places to the chasing Igor Fraga and Yuki Tsunoda.

The shuffle for second left Lawson and Fraga with a large lead over their competitors. At half-race distance, Lawson was close to setting lap records, and the pair were six seconds ahead of Tsunoda in third.

Fraga eyed the lead momentarily on Lap 11, when Lawson lost power and a significant chunk of his advantage evaporated.

The 2019 champion was able to recover, holding his lead and matching Fraga’s pace for the next three laps before setting a new lap record. 

With his late burst of speed, plus a last-lap Safety Car, Lawson comfortably took the Spirit of a Nation Cup—his second feature race from the two rounds of the 2020 Toyota Racing Series. Fraga was second, with Tsunoda in third.

Lawson said “we made a great start but we did have a clutch issue from the first race so we had to be careful."

"It was nice until about half way through the race when we had a moment where the power dropped, I was freaking out but it came back. We have no idea what the problem was but thankfully it sorted itself out."

Australian Jackson Walls was able to hold on to fourth place, his highest finish so far this season.

With the win, Lawson holds the championship lead with 153 points. Igor Fraga is second with 135 points, and Australian Jackson Walls, having suffered two retirements, is P13 with 41 points.