Esports star Igor Fraga wins TRS title

New FIA Formula 3 driver Fraga, who has joined the Charouz squad for the 2020 season, headed into the final TRS round eight points behind defending series champion Lawson. But victory in the first race of the Manfeild weekend and a fourth-place finish in the second race – after he and Lawson touched on the run to the first corner – left Fraga just two points behind his M2 Competition team-mate.

Fraga then led from pole in the finale, negotiating three restarts after safety-car periods to beat Argentinian Franco Colapinto to victory in the New Zealand GP and claim the title. Lawson's third-place finish meant Fraga, who won four of this year's 15 TRS races, ultimately claimed the title by six points.

Fraga previously won the Academy class in the final season of Brazilian F3 in 2017 before the series folded, and finished third in last year's Formula Regional European Championship standings.

In the Esports realm, Fraga was the inaugural Gran Turismo Nations Cup champion and became the McLaren Shadow Project champion last year.

The 2020 TRS season was the first featuring the FIA Regional Formula 3-spec car, featuring a Tatuus-built chassis and a turbocharged 280bhp Toyota engine.

The final round at Manfeild was also contested by 78-year-old Kenny Smith.

Smith, who has raced in 49 of the 65 New Zealand Grand Prix and is a three time winner of the event, qualified 1.433s off the pace for the opening race of the weekend. He finished the final race 25s behind Fraga after starting from the pitlane.