# 2018 Toyota Racing 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.
M2 Competition driver Robert Shwartzman won the title, being the only driver who finished in the top-five every race of the season. His teammates (and series returnees) Richard Verschoor and Marcus Armstrong had more podium finishes and race wins, but were not as consistent as Shwartzman. Another M2 driver Juan Manuel Correa raced his first season in the series, but was not considered as a rookie due to his GP3 Series experience, and he won races at Teretonga and Taupō; he finished fourth in the standings. Giles Motorsport driver Clément Novalak was the highest placed rookie who conformed series regulations, winning races at Teretonga and Hampton Downs and completed the top-five in the championship.

## Teams and drivers

| Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
| Giles Motorsport | 4 | Reid Harker | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 17 | Clément Novalak | R | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 5 | Ryan Yardley | R | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 11 | Taylor Cockerton | | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 52 | Charles Milesi | | All |
| M2 Competition | 7 | Richard Verschoor | | All |
| M2 Competition | 9 | Marcus Armstrong | | All |
| M2 Competition | 15 | James Pull | | All |
| M2 Competition | 35 | Robert Shwartzman | | All |
| M2 Competition | 68 | Juan Manuel Correa | | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 28 | Cameron Das | | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 44 | Calvin Ming | R | 1–3 |
| Victory Motor Racing | 47 | Ken Smith | | 5 |
| Victory Motor Racing | 86 | Brendon Leitch | | All |

## Race calendar and results

The calendar for the series was announced on 22 June 2017, and was held over five successive weekends in January and February.
| Round | Round | Date | Circuit | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team | Round winner(s) | Report |
| 1 | R1 | 13 January | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch | Robert Shwartzman | Robert Shwartzman | Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 1 | R2 | 14 January | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch | | Richard Verschoor | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 1 | R3 | 14 January | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch | Robert Shwartzman | Marcus Armstrong | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 2 | R1 | 20 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | Clément Novalak | Clément Novalak | Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 2 | R2 | 21 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | | Clément Novalak | Juan Manuel Correa | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 2 | R3 | 21 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | Marcus Armstrong | Clément Novalak | Clément Novalak | Giles Motorsport | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 3 | R1 | 27 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 3 | R2 | 28 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | | Juan Manuel Correa | Clément Novalak | Giles Motorsport | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 3 | R3 | 28 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | Richard Verschoor | Robert Shwartzman | Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 4 | R1 | 3 February | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō | Juan Manuel Correa | Juan Manuel Correa | Juan Manuel Correa | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 4 | R2 | 4 February | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō | | Brendon Leitch | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 4 | R3 | 4 February | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō | Robert Shwartzman | Robert Shwartzman | Robert Shwartzman | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 5 | R1 | 10 February | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 5 | R2 | 11 February | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding | | Brendon Leitch | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 5 | R3 | 11 February | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |

## 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

| 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 | MAN | MAN | MAN | Points |
| 1 | Robert Shwartzman | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 916 |
| 2 | Richard Verschoor | 1 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 911 |
| 3 | Marcus Armstrong | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 901 |
| 4 | Juan Manuel Correa | 10 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 756 |
| 5 | Clément Novalak | 4 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 2 | 6 | 711 |
| 6 | James Pull | 5 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 692 |
| 7 | Brendon Leitch | 12 | Ret | 4 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 634 |
| 8 | Reid Harker | 8 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 538 |
| 9 | Ryan Yardley | 13 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 525 |
| 10 | Taylor Cockerton | 6 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | Ret | 514 |
| 11 | Charles Milesi | 9 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | Ret | 6 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 504 |
| 12 | Cameron Das | 11 | Ret | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 11 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 11 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 438 |
| 13 | Calvin Ming | 7 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 10 | | | | | | | 320 |
| 14 | Ken Smith | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | 13 | 12 | 80 |
| Pos. | Driver | RUA | RUA | RUA | TER | TER | TER | HMP | HMP | HMP | 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) |
* Rookie

## Footnotes

* 1 2 3 4 5 Under the series' sporting regulations, not considered as Rookie because of his previous racing experience