Maranello, 16 January - Last weekend, Raffaele Marciello took part, at the Teretonga circuit in New Zealand in the first of the five races making up the Toyota Racing Series. It was not a successful weekend in terms of results, but the 17 year old Ferrari Driver Academy student did show he had made progress as in both races he was a front runner. But in two of the three events he had to relinquish a result that would have been just reward for the team, as he was caught up in incidents.

“I definitely did not have much luck this weekend,” said Marciello, “and already in the first race, things did not go too well. I moved up to third at the start but at the first corner, the leader suddenly spun in front of me. I had no chance of avoiding him and so my race was over after just a few metres. In race 2 I got off to a good start, moving up from eighth on the grid to fifth, but the biggest disappointment came in the third race. I started from second and with a nice passing move round the outside of the first corner, I went into the lead. I kept the lead in the busy opening stages, but on lap 3 I felt I’d been hit at the back and I had to retire. It’s a shame as, along with the team we worked very hard and I think that with each passing session, our potential improved.”

Marciello gets a chance to try again in just three days, given that the next round of the championship takes place this weekend at the Timaru circuit. Action starts with free practice on Friday, going through to Sunday when the second and third races will be run.