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.
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 Taupō, 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 Taupō, 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.
All teams were New Zealand-registered.
Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|---|
ETEC Motorsport | 4 | Theo Bean [1] | R | All |
11 | Taylor Cockerton [2] | R | All | |
13 | Rodrigo Baptista [3] | R | All | |
26 | Timothé Buret [4] | R | All | |
M2 Competition | 5 | Pedro Piquet [5] | All | |
6 | Jehan Daruvala [6] | R | All | |
10 | Artem Markelov [7] | All | ||
15 | Kami Laliberté [8] | R | All | |
31 | Lando Norris [9] | R | All | |
33 | Guanyu Zhou [10] | R | All | |
Giles Motorsport | 17 | Devlin DeFrancesco | R | All |
21 | Nicolas Dapero | R | All | |
23 | Will Owen [11] | R | All | |
40 | James Munro [12] | All | ||
62 | Ferdinand Habsburg [13] | All | ||
67 | Antoni Ptak Jr. [14] | R | All | |
Victory Motor Racing | 18 | Julian Hanses [15] | R | All |
25 | Bruno Baptista [16] | R | All | |
49 | Thomas Randle [17] | 5 | ||
86 | Brendon Leitch [18] | All | ||
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]
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.
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 |
|
Bold – Pole
|
Teretonga is a 2.570 km (1.597 mi) motor racing circuit situated 8 km (5.0 mi) south-west of Invercargill, New Zealand. It is home of the Southland Sports Car Club. The circuit was established in 1957 and is the southernmost FIA-recognised race track in the world. It is also the country's oldest purpose-built venue.
The 2013 Toyota Racing Series was the ninth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier motorsport category for open-wheel cars, held in New Zealand. The series, which consisted of five meetings of three races, began on 12 January at Teretonga Park in Invercargill, and ended on 10 February with the 58th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.
The 2014 Toyota Racing Series was the tenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheeler motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series, which consists of five meetings of three races, began on 11 January at Teretonga Park in Invercargill and ended on 9 February with the 59th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.
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.
Matevos "Matos" Isaakyan is a Russian racing driver. He is a current member of the SMP Racing driver programme.
The 2016 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across Europe. The championship features drivers competing in 2 litre Formula Renault single seat race cars that conform to the technical regulations for the championship.
The 2016 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup was the eleventh Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup season, an open-wheel motor racing series for emerging young racing drivers based in Europe.
The 2016 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Manfeild Autocourse near Feilding on 14 February 2016. It was the sixty-first New Zealand Grand Prix and was open to Toyota Racing Series cars. The event was also the third race of the fifth round of the 2016 Toyota Racing Series, the final race of the series.
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.
The 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship is a multi-event motor racing championship for third-tier single-seat open wheel formula racing cars that is held across Europe. The championship featured drivers competing in two-litre Formula Three racing cars which conform to the technical regulations, or formula, for the championship. It was the sixth edition of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
The 2017 Formula Renault Eurocup was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across Europe. The championship featured drivers competing in 2 litre Formula Renault single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2017 season was the 27th Formula Renault Eurocup season organized by the Renault Sport and the second season as the main category of the World Series by Renault. The series would visit ten circuits around Europe, including Monaco.
Marcus John Armstrong is a New Zealand motor racing driver currently competing in the IndyCar series, driving the No. 11 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. He competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship between 2020 and 2022, and was the 2019 Formula 3 runner-up. He was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy between 2017 and 2021.
The 2017 Lady Wigram Trophy was the 56th running of the Lady Wigram Trophy and served as the first round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series. The event was held at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, in Christchurch, New Zealand from 13 to 15 January 2017.
The 2017 Teretonga Park TRS round was the second round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series. The event was held at Teretonga Park, in Invercargill, New Zealand from 21 to 22 January 2017.
The 2017 Hampton Downs TRS round was the third round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series. The event was held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, in North Waikato, New Zealand from 28 to 29 January 2017.
The 2017 Taupo TRS round was the fourth round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series. The event was held at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, in Taupō, New Zealand from 4 to 5 February 2017.
The 2017 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Circuit Chris Amon near Feilding on 12 February 2017. It was the sixty-second New Zealand Grand Prix and fielded Toyota Racing Series cars. The event was also the third race of the fifth round of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series, the final race of the 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.
The 2019 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was the fifteenth 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 10 January at Highlands Motorsport Park, in Cromwell, and concluded on 10 February with the 64th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding.
The 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship was the inaugural season of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship. It was originally planned to be the eighteenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand, before the series was rebranded to become a fully FIA-certified Formula Regional championship. It was held over five consecutive weekends in January and February 2023.