2018 Toyota Racing Series

Motorsport event

2018 Toyota Racing Series

Drivers' Champion: Robert Shwartzman

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2017

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2019

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

[edit]

Team  | No. | Driver  | Status  | Rounds

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Giles Motorsport  | 4  |  Reid Harker[6] | R | All
17  |  Clément Novalak[7] | R | All
MTEC Motorsport  | 5  |  Ryan Yardley  | R | All
11  |  Taylor Cockerton  |  | All
52  |  Charles Milesi[8] | [N 1] | All
M2 Competition | 7  |  Richard Verschoor[9] |  | All
9  |  Marcus Armstrong[10] |  | All
15  |  James Pull[11] | [N 1] | All
35  |  Robert Shwartzman[12] | [N 1] | All
68  |  Juan Manuel Correa[13] | [N 1] | All
Victory Motor Racing  | 28  |  Cameron Das | [N 1] | All
44  |  Calvin Ming | R | 1–3
47  |  Ken Smith |  | 5
86  |  Brendon Leitch[14] |  | All

## Race calendar and results

[edit]

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

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1  | R1  | 13 January  | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch |  Robert Shwartzman |  Robert Shwartzman |  Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition |  Marcus Armstrong | Report
R2  | 14 January  |  |  Richard Verschoor |  Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition
R3  |  Robert Shwartzman |  Marcus Armstrong |  Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition
2  | R1  | 20 January  | Teretonga Park, Invercargill |  Clément Novalak |  Clément Novalak |  Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition |  Marcus Armstrong | Report
R2  | 21 January  |  |  Clément Novalak |  Juan Manuel Correa | M2 Competition
R3  |  Marcus Armstrong |  Clément Novalak |  Clément Novalak | Giles Motorsport
3  | R1  | 27 January  | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato |  Richard Verschoor |  Richard Verschoor |  Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition |  Richard Verschoor | Report
R2  | 28 January  |  |  Juan Manuel Correa |  Clément Novalak | Giles Motorsport
R3  |  Richard Verschoor |  Robert Shwartzman |  Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition
4  | R1  | 3 February  | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō |  Juan Manuel Correa |  Juan Manuel Correa |  Juan Manuel Correa | M2 Competition |  Richard Verschoor | Report
R2  | 4 February  |  |  Brendon Leitch |  Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing
R3  |  Robert Shwartzman |  Robert Shwartzman |  Robert Shwartzman | M2 Competition
5  | R1  | 10 February  | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding |  Richard Verschoor |  Richard Verschoor |  Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition |  Richard Verschoor | Report
R2  | 11 February  |  |  Brendon Leitch |  Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing
R3  |  Richard Verschoor |  Richard Verschoor |  Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition

## Championship standings

[edit]

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

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Points  | 75  | 67  | 60  | 54  | 49  | 45  | 42  | 39  | 36  | 33  | 30  | 28  | 26  | 24  | 22  | 20  | 18  | 16  | 14  | 12

### Drivers' championship

[edit]

| Pos.  | Driver  | RUA | TER | HMP | TAU | MAN | Points

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1  |  Robert Shwartzman | 2 | 3  | 2 | 2  | 4  | 4  | 4  | 2  | 3 | 4  | 5  | 1 | 2  | 4  | 2  | 916
2  |  Richard Verschoor | 1  | 2 | Ret  | 1  | 6  | 3  | 1 | 5  | 1 | 3  | 3  | 3  | 1 | 3  | 1 | 911
3  |  Marcus Armstrong | 3  | 1  | 1 | 3  | 3  | 2 | 2  | 3  | 2  | 5  | 4  | 2  | 5  | 5  | 7  | 901
4  |  Juan Manuel Correa | 10  | 6  | 8  | 6  | 1  | 7  | 3  | 4 | 4  | 1 | 9  | 4  | 6  | 6  | 4  | 756
5  |  Clément Novalak | 4  | 10  | 6  | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5  | 1  | 9  | 10  | 10  | Ret  | 3  | 2  | 6  | 711
6  |  James Pull | 5  | 11  | 3  | 5  | 2  | 6  | 7  | 7  | 5  | 2  | 8  | 7  | 8  | 8  | 10  | 692
7  |  Brendon Leitch | 12  | Ret  | 4  | 7  | 8  | 5  | 9  | 6  | Ret  | 8  | 1 | 5  | 4  | 1 | 5  | 634
8  |  Reid Harker  | 8  | 8  | 12  | 8  | 13  | 10  | 6  | 9  | 12  | 6  | 7  | 12  | 9  | 9  | 9  | 538
9  |  Ryan Yardley  | 13  | 9  | 9  | 12  | 11  | 13  | 13  | 10  | 11  | 7  | 2  | 9  | 7  | 12  | 8  | 525
10  |  Taylor Cockerton  | 6  | 4  | 11  | 11  | 10  | 12  | 8  | 8  | 10  | 9  | 6  | 9  | 10  | 10  | Ret  | 514
11  |  Charles Milesi | 9  | 7  | 5  | 13  | 12  | 11  | 10  | Ret  | 6  | 11  | 12  | 8  | 12  | 11  | 3  | 504
12  |  Cameron Das | 11  | Ret  | 7  | 9  | 7  | 8  | 11  | Ret  | 7  | Ret  | 11  | 6  | 11  | 7  | 11  | 438
13  |  Calvin Ming | 7  | 5  | 10  | 10  | 9  | 9  | 12  | 11  | 10  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 320
14  |  Ken Smith |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 13  | 13  | 12  | 80
Pos.  | Driver  | RUA | TER | HMP | TAU | MAN | Points
| Colour | Result

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Gold | Winner
Silver | Second place
Bronze | Third place
Green | Points finish
Blue | Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple | Retired (Ret)
Red | Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black | Disqualified (DSQ)
White | Did 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

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Under the series' sporting regulations, not considered as Rookie because of his previous racing experience

## References

[edit]

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. 15 December 2017. 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.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website of the Toyota Racing Series

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