# 2017 Toyota Racing 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.
Thomas Randle became the first Australian to win the Toyota Racing Series when he clinched the title by five points over Pedro Piquet. In third place overall and the best-placed rookie was Red Bull Junior driver, Richard Verschoor, who led most of the championship through strong, consistent performances. The best-placed Kiwi would be rookie and Ferrari Driver Academy driver, Marcus Armstrong; beating out his other countrymen - Taylor Cockerton and Brendon Leitch.

## Teams and drivers

A new team, MTEC Motorsport made their debut this season. In December 2016, the grid was finalized as follows:
| Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
| Victory Motor Racing | 3 | Brendon Leitch | | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 49 | Thomas Randle | | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 51 | Shelby Blackstock | R | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 80 | Nikita Lastochkin | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 5 | Pedro Piquet | | All |
| M2 Competition | 8 | Marcus Armstrong | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 9 | Jehan Daruvala | | All |
| M2 Competition | 27 | Jean Baptiste Simmenauer | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 62 | Ferdinand Habsburg | | All |
| M2 Competition | 83 | Kami Laliberté | | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 10 | Thomas Neubauer | R | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 11 | Taylor Cockerton | | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 24 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | R | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 33 | Kory Enders | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 12 | Christian Hahn | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 22 | Richard Verschoor | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 26 | Harry Hayek | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 47 | Keyvan Andres Soori | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 65 | Enaam Ahmed | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 96 | Luis Leeds | R | All |

## Race calendar and results

The calendar for the series was announced on 12 July 2016, 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 | 14 January | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch | Jehan Daruvala | Richard Verschoor | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 1 | R2 | 15 January | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch | | Taylor Cockerton | Thomas Randle | Victory Motor Racing | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 1 | R3 | 15 January | Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch | Jehan Daruvala | Jehan Daruvala | Jehan Daruvala | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 2 | R1 | 21 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | Thomas Randle | Thomas Randle | Richard Verschoor | Giles Motorsport | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 2 | R2 | 22 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | | Thomas Randle | Pedro Piquet | M2 Competition | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 2 | R3 | 22 January | Teretonga Park, Invercargill | Brendon Leitch | Richard Verschoor | Richard Verschoor | Giles Motorsport | Richard Verschoor | Report |
| 3 | R1 | 28 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | Thomas Randle | Thomas Randle | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition | Pedro Piquet | Report |
| 3 | R2 | 29 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | | Enaam Ahmed | Enaam Ahmed | Giles Motorsport | Pedro Piquet | Report |
| 3 | R3 | 29 January | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato | Thomas Randle | Thomas Randle | Thomas Randle | Victory Motor Racing | Pedro Piquet | Report |
| 4 | R1 | 4 February | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō | Marcus Armstrong | Brendon Leitch | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 4 | R2 | 5 February | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō | | Taylor Cockerton | Pedro Piquet | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 4 | R3 | 5 February | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupō | Jehan Daruvala | Jehan Daruvala | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 5 | R1 | 11 February | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding | Jehan Daruvala | Thomas Randle | Pedro Piquet | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 5 | R2 | 12 February | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding | | Thomas Randle | Richard Verschoor | Giles Motorsport | Marcus Armstrong | Report |
| 5 | R3 | 12 February | Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding | Jehan Daruvala | Thomas Randle | Jehan Daruvala | M2 Competition | Marcus Armstrong | 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 | Thomas Randle | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 855 |
| 2 | Pedro Piquet | 6 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 850 |
| 3 | Richard Verschoor | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 843 |
| 4 | Marcus Armstrong | 1 | 3 | Ret | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | Ret | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 792 |
| 5 | Jehan Daruvala | 2 | Ret | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 781 |
| 6 | Enaam Ahmed | 8 | 12 | 2 | 5 | Ret | 8 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 6 | Ret | 6 | 586 |
| 7 | Taylor Cockerton | 5 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | Ret | 15 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 574 |
| 8 | Ferdinand Habsburg | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | Ret | 18 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 552 |
| 9 | Brendon Leitch | 9 | 6 | 7 | 2 | Ret | 7 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 8 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 502 |
| 10 | Kami Laliberté | 10 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 13 | Ret | 13 | 498 |
| 11 | Keyvan Andres Soori | 12 | 10 | Ret | 10 | 8 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 423 |
| 12 | Shelby Blackstock | 11 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 421 |
| 13 | Luis Leeds | 15 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 419 |
| 14 | Christian Hahn | 17 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 16 | Ret | 372 |
| 15 | Harry Hayek | 14 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 13 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 17 | 9 | 363 |
| 16 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | 13 | 14 | Ret | 15 | 11 | 19 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 12 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 358 |
| 17 | Thomas Neubauer | 16 | 18 | 14 | 20 | 13 | 13 | Ret | 14 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 308 |
| 18 | Nikita Lastochkin | Ret | 15 | Ret | 17 | 14 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 263 |
| 19 | Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer | 18 | 19 | Ret | 19 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 17 | Ret | 19 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 248 |
| 20 | Kory Enders | 19 | 13 | 9 | 18 | Ret | 20 | 16 | 17 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 15 | 192 |
| 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