The harder he works, the faster he gets

Marcus Armstrong is a young man in a hurry. Building on a solid foundation career in kartsport, he is working hard to make his way in motor racing.

His career began in karting in 2007 and ramped up sharply to the 2010 Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship where he finished 14th of 23 in the cadet class. The following year he won the class and was second overall in the 100cc Junior Restricted class at the NZ School Nationals. In 2012 Armstrong was juggling study with motor racing both in New Zealand and the USA, with Armstrong winning the Kiwi 100cc Junior Restricted title.

In an impressive karting career spanning six years, Armstrong had amassed seven major category title wins and many podium finishes here and in the USA.

Stepping straight from the ‘on-rails’ handling and performance of a kart and into sports coupes at age 13, he drove seven races of the inaugural Toyota Finance 86 Championship in 2013-2014. Despite only contesting the second part of the season he finished eighth overall.

Returning the following year, he partnered with his cycling buddy and multiple TRS champion Nick Cassidy and raced the first three rounds, recording two outright wins and finishing seventh, winning the Rookie award.

Armstrong topped his 86 career off with three races in the most recent championship, recording two podium finishes and one fastest lap.

His racing gathered momentum this year, the 16-year-old competing in European and world championship events in the intensely competitive KZ classes. At the same time he began testing in a Formula Renault single-seater, then contested the penultimate round of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC at the Nurburgring Formula One track. The Formula Renault categories use a similar chassis to the Tatuus used by TRS, making Armstrong’s testing and racing in Europe a valuable preparation for TRS.

“Testing is great, but there really is no substitute for racing to sharpen your race-craft. Competing in Europe was fantastic, and TRS can only add to what I have learned so far. Even better, I’ll be competing against people I raced against in Europe,” he said.

Marcus Armstrong’s kart racing career highlights

2015    2nd      South Garda Winter Cup - KF

2014    3rd       Kartsport NZ Sprint Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha class

2014    1st       Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship - Junior Rotax class

2013    1st       Rotax Max Challenge NZ - Arai Helmets Junior class

2013    1st       Kartsport NZ Sprint Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha class

2013    3rd       SKUSA SuperNationals XVII - S5 Junior Stock Moto

2013    1st       Kartsport NZ South Island Sprint Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha

2013    1st       Kartsport NZ Schools Championship - Formula Junior

2012    2nd      Kartsport NZ South Island Sprint Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha

2012    1st       Kartsport NZ Schools Championship - 100cc Junior Restricted

2011    1st       Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship - Cadet class

2011    2nd      Kartsport NZ Schools Championship - 100cc Junior Restricted

Full racing career information is at https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/marcus-armstrong/