MTEC's gun Castrol Toyota Racing Series signing Caio Collet has been penalised for pre-race procedure; subsequently handing victory to Pukekohe's Liam Lawson.
Collet led every lap of today's 15-lap series opener at Cromwell's Highlands Motorsport Park, looking comfortable in front of Lawson despite a sustained level of pressure and a safety car.
But, the Brazilian's win was the topic of post-race protest due to a believed practice start that the 17-year-old performed during the pace laps. MotorSport New Zealand judged Collet to have breached the rules, handing him a five-second post-race penalty in the process.
Ironically, it's the second time that MTEC has lost a race win during a post-race penalty process. The team now goes back to a zero-count on race wins since its change from its former ETEC moniker.
This drops Collet to seventh, in turn elevating Lawson to first, Fraga to an impressive second, and Zendeli to a maiden TRS podium. Gregoire Saucy, Yuki Tsunoda, and Oliver Rasmussen improve to fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
The category's second qualifying session of the weekend is scheduled for 9.25am tomorrow on Sky Sport 55, with race two and race three of the weekend following at 12.10pm and 4.20pm respectively.