2016 Toyota Racing Series

Last updated

The 2016 Toyota Racing Series was the twelfth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series, which consisted of fifteen races at five meetings, began on 16 January at Ruapuna Park in Christchurch, and ended on 14 February with the 61st running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.

Contents

As the first European driver to win the Toyota Racing Series, M2 Competition's Lando Norris wrapped up the championship with a race to spare, amassing six wins, eight poles, five fastest laps, and three round wins on his way to the title. Norris won a race at every meeting, taking a pair of victories in Taupo, while only finishing off the podium four times.

Force India protégé Jehan Daruvala took the runner-up spot in the championship, with one pole and three wins. Daruvala struggled in Ruapuna, but a strategic tyre gamble in a soggy Race 3 paid off, enabling him to take the Lady Wigram Trophy, despite starting 15th. Two further wins followed in Teretonga and Taupo, and solid top-8 finishes in each of the last nine races helped the Indian to second place overall.

New Zealand's Brendon Leitch finished the season in a strong third, despite only one win and three podiums. However, it was his amazing consistency that gave him such a good championship position, as he finished every race in the top 10. Leitch's 754-point haul is also the most points accrued by a Victory Motor Racing driver in team history.

Of the other drivers, Ferdinand Habsburg was top Giles Motorsport driver, after a strong campaign saw him take two wins. Pedro Piquet also took victory on two occasions, first in the second race at Teretonga, and again at Hampton Downs, where a superb run from pole saw him take the NZ Motor Cup. Piquet was often runaway leader Norris's main challenger, both on track and in the standings. Ferrari Driver Academy member Guanyu Zhou scored a breakthrough win in Hampton Downs and finished strongly throughout the duration of the series, although a disastrous final weekend compromised his attack. Rookie Taylor Cockerton was the best-placed ETEC Motorsport driver, finishing in ninth.

Teams and drivers

All teams were New Zealand-registered.

TeamNo.DriverStatusRounds
ETEC Motorsport4 Flag of the United States.svg Theo Bean [1] RAll
11 Flag of New Zealand.svg Taylor Cockerton [2] RAll
13 Flag of Brazil.svg Rodrigo Baptista [3] RAll
26 Flag of France.svg Timothé Buret [4] RAll
M2 Competition 5 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet [5] All
6 Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala [6] RAll
10 Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov [7] All
15 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kami Laliberté [8] RAll
31 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris [9] RAll
33 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guanyu Zhou [10] RAll
Giles Motorsport17 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Devlin DeFrancesco RAll
21 Flag of Argentina.svg Nicolas Dapero RAll
23 Flag of the United States.svg Will Owen [11] RAll
40 Flag of New Zealand.svg James Munro [12] All
62 Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg [13] All
67 Flag of Poland.svg Antoni Ptak Jr. [14] RAll
Victory Motor Racing18 Flag of Germany.svg Julian Hanses [15] RAll
25 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Baptista [16] RAll
49 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Thomas Randle [17] 5
86 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch [18] All

Race calendar and results

The calendar for the series was announced on 23 June 2015, and will be held over five successive weekends in January and February. [19] As opposed to the previous year, all rounds will be triple-headers. [20]

RoundDateCircuitPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning teamRound winner(s)Report
1R116 January Ruapuna Park, Christchurch Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg Giles Motorsport Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg Report
R217 January Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris M2 Competition
R3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition
2R123 January Teretonga Park, Invercargill Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Report
R224 January Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet M2 Competition
R3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris M2 Competition
3R130 January Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris M2 Competition Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet Report
R231 January Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guanyu Zhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guanyu Zhou M2 Competition
R3 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet M2 Competition
4R16 February Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris M2 Competition Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Report
R27 February Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala M2 Competition
R3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris M2 Competition
5R113 February Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala Flag of New Zealand.svg James Munro Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg Giles Motorsport Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Report
R214 February Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch Victory Motor Racing
R3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris 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
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th
Points7567605449454239363330282624222018161412

Drivers' championship

Pos.Driver RUA TER HMP TAU MAN Points
1 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris 3192211176121341924
2 Flag of India.svg Jehan Daruvala 81311517243518427789
3 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Leitch 6955425297455110754
4 Flag of Austria.svg Ferdinand Habsburg 17213846986124173727
5 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Piquet 72Ret4110331252Ret815710
6 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guanyu Zhou 534768714433Ret1017685
7 Flag of New Zealand.svg James Munro 4Ret141510941123611264621
8 Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 24363312Ret5127RetRet122588
9 Flag of New Zealand.svg Taylor Cockerton9111111121110810996656545
10 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Devlin DeFrancesco 14106Ret145111312811107913465
11 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Baptista Ret88Ret13697Ret10879119443
12 Flag of Poland.svg Antoni Ptak Jr.135123Ret158511RetRet1483Ret426
13 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kami LalibertéRet147Ret167176711Ret914148386
14 Flag of the United States.svg Will Owen 1112Ret109131610Ret131012151714357
15 Flag of France.svg Timothé Buret106151411Ret13151316Ret13101318349
16 Flag of Brazil.svg Rodrigo BaptistaRet16139181615141417RetRet111611286
17 Flag of Argentina.svg Nicolas Dapero 12DSQ10871819RetRet14RetRetRet1516238
18 Flag of the United States.svg Theo Bean1617Ret1217141812Ret151315Ret18Ret238
19 Flag of Germany.svg Julian Hanses 1515RetRet15121416RetRetRet16131912226
20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Thomas Randle 1220589
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

Rookie

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