Toyota Racing Series

Toyota Racing Series
Toyota Racing Series
Category Open-wheeler racing
Country New Zealand
Inaugural season 2005
Drivers 13 (2018)
Teams 4 (2018)
Constructors Tatuus
Engine suppliers Toyota
Drivers' champion Russia Robert Shwartzman
Official website www.toyotaracing.co.nz
Current season

The Toyota Racing Series is New Zealand's premier "open-wheeler" motorsport category. The Series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. The cars are also the category for the New Zealand Grand Prix – one of only two races in the world with FIA approval to use the Grand Prix nomenclature outside Formula One.

Summary

Toyota Racing Management
Founded 2004
Headquarters Hampton Downs, Auckland, New Zealand
Area served
 New Zealand
Key people
 Barrie Thomlinson
Louise Thomlinson
Mark Whittaker

The Toyota Racing Series is an incubator and showcase for the next generation of New Zealand racing talent. The Series offers emerging drivers the chance to gain valuable experience with carbon-fibre composite chassis, aerodynamics and slick tyres.

The Series has the full endorsement of Motorsport New Zealand, the sport's governing body. Until the beginning of 2017, the series was managed by Toyota Racing Management a company under the leadership of Barrie Thomlinson.

Previously, the country's leading drivers had to go offshore to step up to this level. High profile graduates from the series to date include Brendon Hartley, now in Formula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, and Earl Bamber.[1] The series has also seen the likes of Daniil Kvyat, Will Stevens and Lance Stroll compete on their way to Formula One.

For 2008, the series has also gone "green". Fuels for all cars racing in the series are now an E85 biofuel blend of 85 per cent ethanol made from whey, a dairy industry by-product; and petrol. Reduced emissions, reduced carbon "footprint" and reduced use of fossil fuels are all being showcased in this unique New Zealand programme. The 2008 New Zealand Grand Prix thus becomes the first ever biofuel grand prix in the world.

The short summer series (five weekends in five weeks, all in January and February) during the Southern Hemisphere summer has made the series attractive to drivers from the Northern Hemisphere, as the series takes place during the off-season. The 2015 season had a driver from Canada win the championship, and drivers from both Europe and the Americas actively participate in the series, as it allows them to develop their skills during the off-season.

Circuits

The current championship consists of five rounds, each comprising three races, except Taupo which has four races. For 2019 the circuits are:

Previously used circuits include:

Car

Toyota Racing Series Car Engine

The Toyota Racing Series run a Toyota Tatuus FT-50 with modified versions of 1.8L Toyota four cylinder 2ZZ-GE production engines which can produce 200BHP, a six speed Sadev sequential transmission with limited slip differential with a carbon fibre body and a Carbon monocoque chassis built by Tatuus in Italy to full FIA F3 specification.[2] The cars use Michelin S308 tyres (Front 20x54x13, Rear 24x57x13) and weigh approximately 480 kg.

Points system

Each championship round consists of three races, one on Saturday afternoon, one on Sunday morning and the final on Sunday afternoon.

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th
Points 75 67 60 54 49 45 42 39 36 33 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Champions

Source:[3]

Season Champion
2005 New Zealand Brent Collins
2005–06 New Zealand Daniel Gaunt
2006–07 New Zealand Daniel Gaunt
2007–08 New Zealand Andy Knight
2008–09 New Zealand Mitch Cunningham
2010 New Zealand Mitch Evans
2011 New Zealand Mitch Evans
2012 New Zealand Nick Cassidy
2013 New Zealand Nick Cassidy
2014 Singapore Andrew Tang
2015 Canada Lance Stroll
2016 United Kingdom Lando Norris
2017 Australia Thomas Randle
2018 Russia Robert Shwartzman

Trophies

The winner of the feature race of each round in the championship is awarded a trophy:

  1. Lady Wigram Trophy
  2. The Spirit of the Nation Cup
  3. The NZ Motor Cup
  4. Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy
  5. Dan Higgins Trophy
  6. The New Zealand Grand Prix Trophy

The overall winner of the championship (based on championship points) receives the Chris Amon Trophy[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Toyota - Toyota Racing New Zealand". Toyotaracing.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  2. ↑ "Toyota - Toyota Racing New Zealand". Toyotaracing.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  3. ↑ "Toyota - Toyota Racing New Zealand". Toyotaracing.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  4. ↑ "Toyota Racing Series: Feature Race Trophies". Toyota NZ. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
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