Series leader Marcus Armstrong laid down the gauntlet at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo today, putting the fastest practice time of the day in after just four laps in the afternoon's second session.

As the drivers dialled into the track in temperatures of over 30 degrees, there were a number of drivers who limited their running in the extreme heat. Armstrong was one of them but he still managed to clock the quickest time. Title rival Liam Lawson was second in the session, followed by Austrian Lucas Auer. Calan Williams was two thousandths of a second behind Auer with Esteban Muth, Raoul Hyman, Petr Ptacek, Petru Florescu and Brendon Leitch rounding out the top ten.

Artem Petrov had a minor off and was unable to complete the session.

There are two further practice sessions on Friday and a qualifying session later on in the afternoon which will define the grid for the additional race on Saturday.