2015 Toyota Racing Series

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The 2015 Toyota Racing Series was the eleventh running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheeler motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series, which consisted of sixteen races at five meetings, began on 14 January at Ruapuna Park in Christchurch, and ended on 15 February with the 60th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.

Contents

With a third-place finish in the penultimate race of the season at Manfeild, Canadian driver Lance Stroll  – driving for M2 Competition – clinched the championship title, having amassed an unassailable 93-point lead ahead of the final race. Stroll won three of the first four races to be held in the series at Ruapuna and Teretonga (taking the round wins at both circuits) before consistent finishing for the remainder of the campaign allowed him to maintain his championship lead throughout. Stroll added his fourth win of the season in the final race, the New Zealand Grand Prix, becoming the first Canadian to win the Grand Prix. M2 Competition team-mate Brandon Maïsano finished the season as runner-up, 108 points in arrears of Stroll. Maïsano won five races during the season – the most of all drivers – with a win at each meeting except for Teretonga, while taking the round win at Hampton Downs.

Third place in the championship went to Santino Ferrucci, for the Giles Motorsport team. Ferrucci took five podium finishes before taking his first victory at Manfeild, in the second race. He finished 33 points behind Maïsano and 141 behind Stroll. Four other drivers took race victories during the 2015 season as Arjun Maini (M2 Competition) and Sam MacLeod (Giles Motorsport) each won two races – both at Hampton Downs and Taupo respectively – as they completed the top five in the drivers' championship, with MacLeod taking the round wins at Taupo and Manfeild. Two drivers from New Zealand also won races, both coming at Teretonga Park as Jamie Conroy – another M2 Competition driver – and Brendon Leitch, for Victory Motor Racing, both achieved their first victories in the series. Only ETEC Motorsport failed to take a race win, with a pair of third places from Thomas Randle being their best result.

Teams and drivers

All teams were New-Zealand registered.

TeamNo.DriverStatusRounds
Giles Motorsport4 Flag of Mexico.svg Alfonso Celis Jr. [1] RAll
5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeod [1] RAll
7 Flag of Russia.svg Dzhon Simonyan [1] R1–3
Flag of Brazil.svg Sérgio Sette Câmara R4–5
10 Flag of the United States.svg Santino Ferrucci [1] RAll
21 Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov [2] RAll
40 Flag of New Zealand.svg James Munro [3] All
M2 Competition 8 Flag of Denmark.svg Mathias Kristensen [1] RAll
18 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll [2] RAll
19 Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano RAll
23 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jamie Conroy [4] RAll
28 Flag of Ireland.svg Charlie Eastwood [1] RAll
36 Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini [1] RAll
Victory Motor Racing11 Flag of Austria.svg Stefan Riener [1] RAll
62 Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg [1] RAll
86 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch [1] All
87 Flag of New Zealand.svg Damon Leitch [2] All
ETEC Motorsport12 Flag of Italy.svg Matteo Ferrer [1] RAll
17 Flag of Russia.svg Nikita Mazepin [1] RAll
49 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Thomas Randle [5] RAll
53 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Callum Ilott [6] RAll

Race calendar and results

The calendar for the series was announced on 14 July 2014, and was held over five successive weekends in January and February. [7] The event at Taupo Motorsport Park was held as a quadruple-header, [8] the first such instance for the series.

RoundDateCircuitPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning teamRound winner(s)
1R117 January Ruapuna Park, Christchurch Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of Austria.svg Stefan Riener Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll M2 Competition Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll
R218 January Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano M2 Competition
R3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeod Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeod Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll M2 Competition
2R124 January Teretonga Park, Invercargill Flag of Italy.svg Matteo Ferrer Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll M2 Competition Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll
R225 January Flag of the United States.svg Santino Ferrucci Flag of New Zealand.svg Jamie Conroy M2 Competition
R3 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch Flag of the United States.svg Santino Ferrucci Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing
3R131 January Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini M2 Competition Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano
R21 February Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano M2 Competition
R3 Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeodGiles Motorsport
4R17 February Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupo Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini Flag of Australia (converted).svg Thomas Randle Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeodGiles Motorsport Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeod
R2 Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano M2 Competition
R38 February Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano M2 Competition
R4 Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini Flag of Ireland.svg Charlie Eastwood Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini M2 Competition
5R114 February Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano M2 Competition Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeod
R215 February Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Callum Ilott Flag of the United States.svg Santino Ferrucci Giles Motorsport
R3 Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll M2 Competition

Championship standings

In order for a driver to score championship points, they had 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
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th
Points7567605449454239363330282624222018161412

Drivers' championship

Pos.Driver RUA TER HMP TAU MAN Points
1 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll 141133Ret5234211631906
2 Flag of France.svg Brandon Maïsano 51Ret12116213611Ret183798
3 Flag of the United States.svg Santino Ferrucci 754Ret17233522816515765
4 Flag of India.svg Arjun Maini 262974116412144121714750
5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam MacLeodRet85Ret135Ret911635324684
6 Flag of New Zealand.svg Damon Leitch 15914891356188856121610546
7 Flag of Ireland.svg Charlie Eastwood 42Ret141210121415NC97315122535
8 Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov RetRet35277Ret614RetRet2776525
9 Flag of New Zealand.svg James Munro 1310122496Ret97Ret649Ret16522
10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Thomas Randle 31461188Ret8743Ret919Ret9518
11 Flag of Denmark.svg Mathias Kristensen912101010149419117147141018502
12 Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg 63Ret761210211151616141114Ret490
13 Flag of Austria.svg Stefan Riener111573RetDNS137109515Ret1058483
14 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch 10Ret9451DSQ1116NC11108131115477
15 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jamie Conroy1211136111NC1314Ret13111318912446
16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Callum Ilott 16NCRet1514Ret41217Ret12121244Ret358
17 Flag of Mexico.svg Alfonso Celis Jr. 878DNSRetDNSRet101210Ret1810171513329
18 Flag of Russia.svg Nikita Mazepin Ret13Ret13161511Ret81310171520Ret11304
19 Flag of Italy.svg Matteo Ferrer141611Ret15NCRet1513Ret179Ret16137286
20 Flag of Brazil.svg Sérgio Sette Câmara 51513Ret8617199
21 Flag of Russia.svg Dzhon SimonyanRetRetDNSDNS18Ret8NCRet55
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)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

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References

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