2018 Toyota Racing Series

The 2018 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was the fourteenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series consisted of fifteen races at five meetings. It began on 13 January at Ruapuna Park in Christchurch, and concluded on 11 February with the 63rd running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding.

M2 Competition driver Robert Shwartzman won the title, being the only driver who finished in the top-five every race of the season.[1] His teammates (and series returnees) Richard Verschoor and Marcus Armstrong had more podium finishes and race wins, but were not as consistent as Shwartzman. Another M2 driver Juan Manuel Correa raced his first season in the series, but was not considered as a rookie due to his GP3 Series experience, and he won races at Teretonga and Taupō; he finished fourth in the standings.[2][3] Giles Motorsport driver Clément Novalak was the highest placed rookie who conformed series regulations, winning races at Teretonga and Hampton Downs and completed the top-five in the championship.[4][5]

Teams and drivers
Team No. Driver Status Rounds
Giles Motorsport 4 New Zealand Reid Harker[6] R All
17 United Kingdom Clément Novalak[7] R All
MTEC Motorsport 5 New Zealand Ryan Yardley R All
11 New Zealand Taylor Cockerton All
52 France Charles Milesi[8] [N 1] All
M2 Competition 7 Netherlands Richard Verschoor[9] All
9 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong[10] All
15 United Kingdom James Pull[11] [N 1] All
35 Russia Robert Shwartzman[12] [N 1] All
68 United States Juan Manuel Correa[13] [N 1] All
Victory Motor Racing 28 United States Cameron Das [N 1] All
44 Guyana Calvin Ming R 1–3
47 New Zealand Ken Smith 5
86 New Zealand Brendon Leitch[14] All

Race calendar and results

The calendar for the series was announced on 22 June 2017, and was held over five successive weekends in January and February.[15]

Round Date Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Round winner(s) Report
1 R1 13 January Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch Russia Robert Shwartzman Russia Robert Shwartzman Netherlands Richard Verschoor M2 Competition New Zealand Marcus Armstrong Report
R2 14 January Netherlands Richard Verschoor New Zealand Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition
R3 Russia Robert Shwartzman New Zealand Marcus Armstrong New Zealand Marcus Armstrong M2 Competition
2 R1 20 January Teretonga Park, Invercargill United Kingdom Clément Novalak United Kingdom Clément Novalak Netherlands Richard Verschoor M2 Competition New Zealand Marcus Armstrong Report
R2 21 January United Kingdom Clément Novalak United States Juan Manuel Correa M2 Competition
R3 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong United Kingdom Clément Novalak United Kingdom Clément Novalak Giles Motorsport
3 R1 27 January Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato Netherlands Richard Verschoor Netherlands Richard Verschoor Netherlands Richard Verschoor M2 Competition Netherlands Richard Verschoor Report
R2 28 January United States Juan Manuel Correa United Kingdom Clément Novalak Giles Motorsport
R3 Netherlands Richard Verschoor Russia Robert Shwartzman Netherlands Richard Verschoor M2 Competition
4 R1 3 February Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō United States Juan Manuel Correa United States Juan Manuel Correa United States Juan Manuel Correa M2 Competition Netherlands Richard Verschoor Report
R2 4 February New Zealand Brendon Leitch New Zealand Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing
R3 Russia Robert Shwartzman Russia Robert Shwartzman Russia Robert Shwartzman M2 Competition
5 R1 10 February Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding Netherlands Richard Verschoor Netherlands Richard Verschoor Netherlands Richard Verschoor M2 Competition Netherlands Richard Verschoor Report
R2 11 February New Zealand Brendon Leitch New Zealand Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing
R3 Netherlands Richard Verschoor Netherlands Richard Verschoor Netherlands Richard Verschoor M2 Competition

Championship standings

In order for a driver to score championship points, they have to complete at least 75% of the race winner's distance, and be running at the race's completion. All races counted towards the final championship standings.

Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th
Points 75 67 60 54 49 45 42 39 36 33 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12

Drivers' championship
Pos. Driver RUA TER HMP TAU MAN Points
1 Russia Robert Shwartzman 2 3 2 2 4 4 4 2 3 4 5 1 2 4 2 916
2 Netherlands Richard Verschoor 1 2 Ret 1 6 3 1 5 1 3 3 3 1 3 1 911
3 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong 3 1 1 3 3 2 2 3 2 5 4 2 5 5 7 901
4 United States Juan Manuel Correa 10 6 8 6 1 7 3 4 4 1 9 4 6 6 4 756
5 United Kingdom Clément Novalak 4 10 6 4 5 1 5 1 9 10 10 Ret 3 2 6 711
6 United Kingdom James Pull 5 11 3 5 2 6 7 7 5 2 8 7 8 8 10 692
7 New Zealand Brendon Leitch 12 Ret 4 7 8 5 9 6 Ret 8 1 5 4 1 5 634
8 New Zealand Reid Harker 8 8 12 8 13 10 6 9 12 6 7 12 9 9 9 538
9 New Zealand Ryan Yardley 13 9 9 12 11 13 13 10 11 7 2 9 7 12 8 525
10 New Zealand Taylor Cockerton 6 4 11 11 10 12 8 8 10 9 6 9 10 10 Ret 514
11 France Charles Milesi 9 7 5 13 12 11 10 Ret 6 11 12 8 12 11 3 504
12 United States Cameron Das 11 Ret 7 9 7 8 11 Ret 7 Ret 11 6 11 7 11 438
13 Guyana Calvin Ming 7 5 10 10 9 9 12 11 10 320
14 New Zealand Ken Smith 13 13 12 80
Pos. Driver RUA TER HMP TAU MAN Points
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Rookie

Footnotes
  1. Under the series' sporting regulations, not considered as Rookie because of his previous racing experience

References
  1. Waring, Bethonie (11 February 2018). "Shwartzman nicks TRS title from Ferrari stable-mate Armstrong in late drama". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. Waring, Bethonie (20 January 2018). "Juan Manuel Correa wins TRS Teretonga reversed-grid race". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. Waring, Bethonie (11 February 2018). "Juan Manuel Correa controls Taupo Toyota Racing Series opener". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  4. Waring, Bethonie (21 January 2018). "Novalak beats Armstrong to win Teretonga TRS feature race". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  5. Waring, Bethonie (11 February 2018). "Novalak takes second Toyota Racing Series win in Hampton Downs reversed-grid race". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  6. "Albany racer Reid Harker steps up to Castrol Toyota Racing Series title". 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  7. "Clement Novalak hoping to replicate karting success in Toyota Racing Series". 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  8. "Charles Milesi and Theo Coicaud heading to New Zealand for the Toyota Racing Series". 7 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  9. "Richard Verschoor to return to Toyota Racing Series with M2 | Formula Scout". www.formulascout.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  10. "FORMULA 4 CHAMP MARCUS ARMSTRONG BACK FOR TOYOTA RACING SERIES TILT". 9 November 2017. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  11. "James Pull runner-up in British F3 for Toyota Racing Series". Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  12. "RUSSIAN FERRARI JUNIOR HEADING DOWN UNDER FOR TOYOTA RACING SERIES". Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  13. "American driver for Toyota Racing Series". 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  14. "Southland driver Brendon Leitch targets 2018 Toyota Racing Series". 3 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  15. "Toyota Racing Series reveals 2018 schedule". Motorsport.com. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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