King to stay race-sharp Down Under

The country’s premier single-seater championship, the Toyota Racing Series will be spread over five weekends spanning mid-January to mid-February.

The one-make formula - marrying a Tatuus-designed carbon-fibre chassis to a 215bhp Toyota engine - will not only guarantee a level playing-field, but should also not be a million miles away from what King has been accustomed to in Formula Renault UK this year.

Having signed up to race for front-running outfit M2, the 17-year-old Princethorpe College student will find himself pitched directly against former karting sparring-partner and Ferrari Driver Academy member Raffaele Marciello in the team.

“I’m hoping to gain a lot of seat time, learn some different circuits, build up my level of experience and generally just progress my career a little bit further again,” said the Stoneleigh driver.

“It’s always important to try to keep your hand in and stay race-sharp and fit over the winter off-season, and it should be beneficial in terms of helping to hone my racecraft.

“If it’s anything like it looked to be this year, then the competition will certainly be pretty tough, with GP3, F3 and Formula Renault drivers there from across Europe and some extremely good local and Asian drivers as well.

“I’m definitely anticipating a high-calibre field and hopefully, that should generate some close and exciting racing.

“I would love to come away with some good results - top rookie or top Brit might be a good starting-point to aim for - and feeling like I’ve really achieved something worthwhile.”