The 2017 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was the thirteenth 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 14 January at Ruapuna Park in Christchurch, and concluded on 12 February with the 62nd running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding. Lando Norris was the defending drivers' champion but decided not to compete, concentrating on his European Formula Three campaign, whilst M2 Competition were the defending teams champions.
Thomas Randle became the first Australian to win the Toyota Racing Series when he clinched the title by five points over Pedro Piquet. In third place overall and the best-placed rookie was Red Bull Junior driver, Richard Verschoor, who led most of the championship through strong, consistent performances. The best-placed Kiwi would be rookie and Ferrari Driver Academy driver, Marcus Armstrong; beating out his other countrymen - Taylor Cockerton and Brendon Leitch.
Teams and drivers
A new team, MTEC Motorsport made their debut this season.[1] In December 2016, the grid was finalized as follows:[2]
Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|---|
Victory Motor Racing | 3 | Brendon Leitch | All | |
49 | Thomas Randle[3] | All | ||
51 | Shelby Blackstock | R | All | |
80 | Nikita Lastochkin | R | All | |
M2 Competition | 5 | Pedro Piquet | All | |
8 | Marcus Armstrong | R | All | |
9 | Jehan Daruvala | All | ||
27 | Jean Baptiste Simmenauer[4] | R | All | |
62 | Ferdinand Habsburg[5] | All | ||
83 | Kami Laliberté[6] | All | ||
MTEC Motorsport | 10 | Thomas Neubauer[7] | R | All |
11 | Taylor Cockerton[8] | All | ||
24 | Ameya Vaidyanathan[9] | R | All | |
33 | Kory Enders | R | All | |
Giles Motorsport | 12 | Christian Hahn | R | All |
22 | Richard Verschoor[10] | R | All | |
26 | Harry Hayek | R | All | |
47 | Keyvan Andres Soori | R | All | |
65 | Enaam Ahmed[11] | R | All | |
96 | Luis Leeds[12] | R | All | |
Race calendar and results
The calendar for the series was announced on 12 July 2016, and was held over five successive weekends in January and February.[13]
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
|
Bold – Pole
|
References
- ↑ "New Australasian team to challenge in Toyota Racing Series". Toyota New Zealand. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- ↑ "Field set for 2017 Toyota Racing Series". 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ↑ "Trio of Kiwis to battle strong international line-up in TRS". 19 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ↑ "French karting champion takes place of defending champion Lando Norris in TRS". 23 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ↑ "Habsburg joins Carlin for step up to European F3". 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
Habsburg will contest the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand for a third straight year next month, and will switch to top team M2 Competition after coming fourth in the 2016 standings with Giles Motorsport.
- ↑ "Trio of Kiwis to battle strong international line-up in TRS". 19 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ↑ "Trio of Kiwis to battle strong international line-up in TRS". 19 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ↑ "Cockerton first entry for 2017 Toyota Racing Series". Toyota New Zealand. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ↑ "Vaidyanathan joins MTEC for 2017 TRS season". 19 December 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ↑ "Verschoor overwintert in Toyota Racing Series" (in Dutch). Motorsport.com. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ↑ "Motorsport: Talented teen confirmed for Toyota Racing Series". 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ↑ "16-YEAR-OLD HEADS AUSTRALIAN ASSAULT ON TOYOTA RACING SERIES". 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
- ↑ "Toyota Racing Series — prospects look good". Toyota New Zealand. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.