Motorsport Diary: Kiwis competing abroad this weekend

The motorsport season is in full swing, with this weekend proving no different.

Liam Lawson will take the track in Japan, while Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong and Tom Blomqvist make for a four-strong Kiwi IndyCar charge in Toronto. Jacob Douglas will also return to USF2000 in Toronto for their second to last round of 2023.

Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans are two of the four drivers who remain in contention for the Formula E World Championship ahead of the penultimate race weekend of the year in Rome.

There’s also plenty of GT racing abroad, with Chris van der Drift and Marco Giltrap in action at Fuji, Reid Harker at Suzuka, Jaxon Evans in Germany and Brendon Leitch in France.

If you run out of things to watch (unlikely), there’s also the Goodwood Festival of Speed going on, which is well worth a watch on their YouTube channel.

To see what Kiwis are in action, how you can follow, and at what times, see below.

Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong & Tom Blomqvist: IndyCar- Honda Indy Toronto

• Where? Exhibition Place Street Circuit, Toronto, Canada
• NZ Times:
  • Practice 1: Saturday 6.50 am
  • Practice 2: Sunday 2.35 am
  • Qualifying: Sunday 7.00 am
  • Pre-race warm-up: Monday 2.15 am
  • Race: Monday 5.30 am
• How to watch: Sky Sport 5 (055)

Four Kiwis will take to the Streets of Toronto for this weekend’s IndyCar race. Scott Dixon currently sits second in the championship standings but is 110 points behind runaway leader and teammate Alex Palou.

Scott McLaughlin sits sixth, 38 points off Dixon, while Marcus Armstrong is 17th as the top rookie of the field.

Tom Blomqvist will fill in for an injured Simon Pagenaud at Meyer Shank Racing, making his IndyCar debut.

The Honda Indy Toronto race will cover 85 laps of the 11-turn, 1.786-mile Exhibition Place street circuit for a total race length of 151.81 miles.

Liam Lawson: Super Formula

• Where? Fuji, Japan
• NZ Times:
  • Qualifying: Saturday 5.12 pm
  • Race: Sunday 5.15 pm
• How to watch: motorsport.tv (paid stream)

Liam Lawson enters Round 6 of the Super Formula season sitting second in the championship standings, 12 points off leader Ritomo Miyata.

Lawson has already tasted success at Fuji this year, winning the season-opening race in his Super Formula debut.

Mitch Evans & Nick Cassidy: Formula E- Rome E-Prix

• Where? Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR, Rome.
• NZ Times:
  • Practice 1: Saturday 2.55 am
  • Practice 2: Saturday 6.05 pm
  • Race 1 Qualifying: Saturday 8.30 pm
  • Race 1: Sunday 12.30 am
  • Practice 3: Sunday 6.05 pm
  • Race 2 Qualifying: Sunday 8.30 pm
  • Race 2: Monday 12.30 am
• How to watch: Sky Sport

It’s crunch time in Formula E, with just two double-header rounds left to decide the title. Only four drivers remain in contention for the 2023 title, and two of them are Kiwis.

Nick Cassidy is only one point off the championship lead, having won the Portland E-Prix last round. Mitch Evans is fourth in the standings and 32 points off championship leader Jake Dennis. Evans won both races of last season’s Rome E-Prix.

Brendon Leitch: Le Mans Cup

• Where?  Circuit Paul Ricard, France
• NZ Times:
  • Qualifying: Saturday 10.20 pm
  • Race: Sunday 3.00 am
• How to watch: Free live stream (YouTube)

Brendon Leitch returns to Circuit Paul Ricard for the third time this season to compete in the fourth round of the Le Mans Cup.

Leitch and Gerhard Watzinger will share the #70 Crowdstrike Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, prepared by Leipert Motorsport for the 110-minute race.

Chris van der Drift & Marco Giltrap: Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia

• Where? Fuji, Japan
• NZ Times:
  • Race 1: Saturday 6.30 pm
  • Race 2: Sunday 2.35 pm
• How to watch: Lamborghini Squadra Corse (Free, YouTube)

Marco Giltrap and Chris van der Drift enter Round 3 of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia in the championship lead having won the opening two rounds of the season.

The duo will share driving duties of the Lamborghini Auckland-entered, Absolute Racing-run Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo2 for two 50-minute races at Fuji, run in support of Super Formula.

Reid Harker: GT World Challenge Asia

• Where? Suzuka International Circuit, Japan
• NZ Times:
  • Qualifying: Saturday 12.05 pm
  • Race 1: Saturday 5.05 pm
  • Race 2: Sunday 2.15 pm
• How to watch: motorsport.tv (free)

Reid Harker joins Setiawan Santoso for Rounds 5 and 6 of the GT World Challenge Asia at Suzuka International Circuit this weekend.

The duo will share Earl Bamber Motorsport’s Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) over two races and currently sit ninth in the standings, having podiumed in the last round.

Jaxon Evans: ADAC GT Masters

• Where? Nürburgring, Germany
• NZ Times:
  • Race 1 Qualifying: Saturday 10.15 pm
  • Race 1: Sunday 1.10 am
  • Race 2 Qualifying: Sunday 7.05 pm
  • Race 2: Monday 1.10 am
• How to watch: ADAC Motorsports YouTube (free)

Jaxon Evans will share driving duties with Tim Zimmermann for Round 3 of the ADAC GT Masters at Nürburgring, taking the wheel of Huber Racing’s #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R for two races.

The duo sit third in the championship standings, having won the opening round at Hockenheimring.

Jacob Douglas: USF2000

• Where? Exhibition Place Street Circuit, Toronto, Canada
• NZ Times:
  • Qualifying 1: Saturday 5.35 am
  • Qualifying 2: Sunday 1.50 am
  • Race 1: Sunday 5.40 am
  • Race 2: Monday 12.10 am
• How to follow: USF2000 website

Jacob Douglas returns to action in Toronto, looking to bounce back from a tough weekend in Mid-Ohio. Having sat out the mid-season oval round at Indianapolis, the Kiwi teenager is out of championship contention, however, he has shown great pace since switching to new team Pabst racing, for whom he scored a career-best result of second on debut.

USF2000 is racing in support of IndyCar in Toronto.