# 2015 Toyota Racing Series

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.
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 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 Taupō respectively – as they completed the top five in the drivers' championship, with MacLeod taking the round wins at Taupō 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.
| Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
| Giles Motorsport | 4 | Alfonso Celis Jr. | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 5 | Sam MacLeod | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 7 | Dzhon Simonyan | R | 1–3 |
| Giles Motorsport | 7 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | R | 4–5 |
| Giles Motorsport | 10 | Santino Ferrucci | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 21 | Artem Markelov | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 40 | James Munro | | All |
| M2 Competition | 8 | Mathias Kristensen | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 18 | Lance Stroll | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 19 | Brandon Maïsano | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 23 | Jamie Conroy | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 28 | Charlie Eastwood | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 36 | Arjun Maini | R | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 11 | Stefan Riener | R | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 62 | Ferdinand Habsburg | R | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 86 | Brendon Leitch | | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 87 | Damon Leitch | | All |
| ETEC Motorsport | 12 | Matteo Ferrer | R | All |
| ETEC Motorsport | 17 | Nikita Mazepin | R | All |
| ETEC Motorsport | 49 | Thomas Randle | R | All |
| ETEC Motorsport | 53 | Callum Ilott | R | All |

## 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. The event at Taupo Motorsport Park was held as a quadruple-header, the first such instance for the series.
| Round | Round | Date | Circuit | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team | Round winner(s) |
| 1 | R1 | 17 January | Ruapuna Park, Christchurch | Brandon Maïsano | Stefan Riener | Lance Stroll | M2 Competition | Lance Stroll |
| 1 | R2 | 18 January | Ruapuna Park, Christchurch | | Brandon Maïsano | Brandon Maïsano | M2 Competition | Lance Stroll |
| 1 | R3 | 18 January | Ruapuna Park, Christchurch | Sam MacLeod | Sam MacLeod | Lance Stroll | M2 Competition | Lance Stroll |
| 2 | R1 | 24 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | Matteo Ferrer | Lance Stroll | Lance Stroll | M2 Competition | Lance Stroll |
| 2 | R2 | 25 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | | Santino Ferrucci | Jamie Conroy | M2 Competition | Lance Stroll |
| 2 | R3 | 25 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | Brendon Leitch | Santino Ferrucci | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | Lance Stroll |
| 3 | R1 | 31 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | Arjun Maini | Arjun Maini | Arjun Maini | M2 Competition | Brandon Maïsano |
| 3 | R2 | 1 February | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | | Ferdinand Habsburg | Brandon Maïsano | M2 Competition | Brandon Maïsano |
| 3 | R3 | 1 February | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | Brandon Maïsano | Arjun Maini | Sam MacLeod | Giles Motorsport | Brandon Maïsano |
| 4 | R1 | 7 February | Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupō | Arjun Maini | Thomas Randle | Sam MacLeod | Giles Motorsport | Sam MacLeod |
| 4 | R2 | 7 February | Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupō | | Brandon Maïsano | Brandon Maïsano | M2 Competition | Sam MacLeod |
| 4 | R3 | 8 February | Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupō | Brandon Maïsano | Brandon Maïsano | Brandon Maïsano | M2 Competition | Sam MacLeod |
| 4 | R4 | 8 February | Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupō | Arjun Maini | Charlie Eastwood | Arjun Maini | M2 Competition | Sam MacLeod |
| 5 | R1 | 14 February | Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding | Brandon Maïsano | Brandon Maïsano | Brandon Maïsano | M2 Competition | Sam MacLeod |
| 5 | R2 | 15 February | Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding | | Callum Ilott | Santino Ferrucci | Giles Motorsport | Sam MacLeod |
| 5 | R3 | 15 February | Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding | Arjun Maini | Brandon Maïsano | Lance Stroll | M2 Competition | Sam MacLeod |

## 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

| 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

| Pos. | Driver | RUA | RUA | RUA | TER | TER | TER | HMP | HMP | HMP | TAU | TAU | TAU | TAU | MAN | MAN | MAN | Points |
| 1 | Lance Stroll | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 906 |
| 2 | Brandon Maïsano | 5 | 1 | Ret | 12 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 8 | 3 | 798 |
| 3 | Santino Ferrucci | 7 | 5 | 4 | Ret | 17 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 765 |
| 4 | Arjun Maini | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 750 |
| 5 | Sam MacLeod | Ret | 8 | 5 | Ret | 13 | 5 | Ret | 9 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 684 |
| 6 | Damon Leitch | 15 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 546 |
| 7 | Charlie Eastwood | 4 | 2 | Ret | 14 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | NC | 9 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 535 |
| 8 | Artem Markelov | Ret | Ret | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | Ret | 6 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 525 |
| 9 | James Munro | 13 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 6 | Ret | 9 | 7 | Ret | 6 | 4 | 9 | Ret | 16 | 522 |
| 10 | Thomas Randle | 3 | 14 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 8 | Ret | 8 | 7 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 9 | 19 | Ret | 9 | 518 |
| 11 | Mathias Kristensen | 9 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 502 |
| 12 | Ferdinand Habsburg | 6 | 3 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 14 | Ret | 490 |
| 13 | Stefan Riener | 11 | 15 | 7 | 3 | Ret | DNS | 13 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 15 | Ret | 10 | 5 | 8 | 483 |
| 14 | Brendon Leitch | 10 | Ret | 9 | 4 | 5 | 1 | DSQ | 11 | 16 | NC | 11 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 477 |
| 15 | Jamie Conroy | 12 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 11 | NC | 13 | 14 | Ret | 13 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 12 | 446 |
| 16 | Callum Ilott | 16 | NC | Ret | 15 | 14 | Ret | 4 | 12 | 17 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 4 | Ret | 358 |
| 17 | Alfonso Celis Jr. | 8 | 7 | 8 | DNS | Ret | DNS | Ret | 10 | 12 | 10 | Ret | 18 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 329 |
| 18 | Nikita Mazepin | Ret | 13 | Ret | 13 | 16 | 15 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 20 | Ret | 11 | 304 |
| 19 | Matteo Ferrer | 14 | 16 | 11 | Ret | 15 | NC | Ret | 15 | 13 | Ret | 17 | 9 | Ret | 16 | 13 | 7 | 286 |
| 20 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | | | | | | | | | | 5 | 15 | 13 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 17 | 199 |
| 21 | Dzhon Simonyan | Ret | Ret | DNS | DNS | 18 | Ret | 8 | NC | Ret | | | | | | | | 55 |
| Pos. | Driver | RUA | RUA | RUA | TER | TER | TER | HMP | HMP | HMP | TAU | TAU | TAU | TAU | MAN | MAN | MAN | Points |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |