# 2019 Toyota Racing Series

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 championship, as well as the 2019 New Zealand Grand Prix was won by rookie Liam Lawson; who became the first New Zealander to win the championship since Nick Cassidy in 2013.
Champion Liam Lawson and runner-up Marcus Armstrong both took five wins apiece, whilst Cameron Das, FIA Formula 3 European Championship driver Lucas Auer, Esteban Muth, Brendon Leitch and Artem Petrov all had one race win each.

## Teams and drivers

| Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
| MTEC Motorsport | 5 | Petru Florescu | | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 11 | Jackson Walls | R | 2–5 |
| MTEC Motorsport | 36 | Kazuto Kotaka | R | All |
| MTEC Motorsport | 54 | Calan Williams | | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 7 | Raoul Hyman | | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 9 | Petr Ptáček | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 16 | Tommy Smith | R | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 21 | Dev Gore | | All |
| Giles Motorsport | 48 | Ken Smith | | 5 |
| M2 Competition | 8 | Marcus Armstrong | | All |
| M2 Competition | 10 | Liam Lawson | R | All |
| M2 Competition | 12 | Artem Petrov | | All |
| M2 Competition | 22 | Lucas Auer | | All |
| M2 Competition | 28 | Cameron Das | | All |
| M2 Competition | 30 | Esteban Muth | R | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 66 | Parker Locke | R | All |
| Victory Motor Racing | 86 | Brendon Leitch | | All |

## Race calendar

The calendar for the series was announced on 19 June 2018, and will be held over five successive weekends in January and February. Races 2 and 3 of the second round at Teretonga were postponed to due high winds and rescheduled. Race 2 will be run at Hampton Downs, and Race 3 qualifying and race will be run at Taupō.
| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning Driver | Winning Team |
| 1 | R1 | Highlands Motorsport Park Cromwell, Otago | 12 January | Raoul Hyman | Liam Lawson | Liam Lawson | M2 Competition |
| 1 | R2 | Highlands Motorsport Park Cromwell, Otago | 13 January | | Brendon Leitch | Brendon Leitch | Victory Motor Racing |
| 1 | R3 | Highlands Motorsport Park Cromwell, Otago | 13 January | Lucas Auer | Liam Lawson | Liam Lawson | M2 Competition |
| 2 | R1 | Teretonga Park Invercargill, Southland | 19 January | Liam Lawson | Marcus Armstrong | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition |
| 2 | R2 | Teretonga Park Invercargill, Southland | 20 January | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. |
| 2 | R3 | Teretonga Park Invercargill, Southland | 20 January | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. | Races 2 and 3 cancelled due to unsafe high wind conditions. |
| 3 | R1 | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Hampton Downs, North Waikato | 25 January | | Cameron Das | Artem Petrov | M2 Competition |
| 3 | R2 | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Hampton Downs, North Waikato | 26 January | Marcus Armstrong | Marcus Armstrong | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition |
| 3 | R3 | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Hampton Downs, North Waikato | 27 January | | Liam Lawson | Liam Lawson | M2 Competition |
| 3 | R4 | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Hampton Downs, North Waikato | 27 January | Marcus Armstrong | Artem Petrov | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition |
| 4 | R1 | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park Taupō, South Waikato | 2 February | Liam Lawson | Liam Lawson | Liam Lawson | M2 Competition |
| 4 | R2 | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park Taupō, South Waikato | 2 February | Liam Lawson | Marcus Armstrong | Lucas Auer | M2 Competition |
| 4 | R3 | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park Taupō, South Waikato | 3 February | | Marcus Armstrong | Esteban Muth | M2 Competition |
| 4 | R4 | Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park Taupō, South Waikato | 3 February | Lucas Auer | Lucas Auer | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition |
| 5 | R1 | Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon Feilding, Manawatū District | 9 February | Liam Lawson | Marcus Armstrong | Marcus Armstrong | M2 Competition |
| 5 | R2 | Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon Feilding, Manawatū District | 10 February | | Cameron Das | Cameron Das | M2 Competition |
| 5 | R3 | Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon Feilding, Manawatū District | 10 February | Lucas Auer | Liam Lawson | Liam Lawson | M2 Competition |

## Championship standings

The series had introduced a new drivers' championship points system for the season. Drivers were awarded the same number of points for Races 1 & 3. Race 2 featured a reversed grid of the top 6 to 8 finishers from Race 1, and awarded reduced points to the top 15 finishers. Drivers must have completed 75% of the race distance and be running at the finish to score points.

### Scoring system
#### Race (starting grid from qualifying)

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
| Points | 35 | 31 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

#### Reversed grid Race

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
| Points | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

### Drivers' championship

| Pos. | Driver | HIG | HIG | HIG | TER | TER | TER | HMP | HMP | HMP | HMP | TAU | TAU | TAU | TAU | MAN | MAN | MAN | Points |
| 1 | Liam Lawson | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | C | C | 7 | 3 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 356 |
| 2 | Marcus Armstrong | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | C | C | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | NC | 8 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 346 |
| 3 | Lucas Auer | 3 | Ret | 4 | 5 | C | C | Ret | 4 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 270 |
| 4 | Raoul Hyman | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | C | C | 5 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 270 |
| 5 | Esteban Muth | 6 | 4 | 11 | 9 | C | C | Ret | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 258 |
| 6 | Brendon Leitch | 5 | 1 | 9 | 8 | C | C | 3 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 245 |
| 7 | Cameron Das | 9 | 6 | 7 | 4 | C | C | Ret | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 | Ret | 205 |
| 8 | Calan Williams | 11 | 7 | 8 | 7 | C | C | Ret | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 183 |
| 9 | Artem Petrov | 10 | Ret | 6 | 3 | C | C | 1 | Ret | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Ret | DNS | DNS | Ret | 181 |
| 10 | Kazuto Kotaka | 8 | Ret | 10 | 6 | C | C | 11 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 6 | Ret | 10 | 3 | 176 |
| 11 | Petr Ptáček | 7 | 8 | 5 | 12 | C | C | 2 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 123 |
| 12 | Jackson Walls | | | | 13 | C | C | 8 | 5 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 110 |
| 13 | Dev Gore | 14 | 9 | 13 | 10 | C | C | 4 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 109 |
| 14 | Tommy Smith | 15 | 12 | 12 | 14 | C | C | 12 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 8 | Ret | 101 |
| 15 | Parker Locke | 13 | 11 | 14 | 15 | C | C | 9 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 15 | Ret | 12 | 11 | 7 | 100 |
| 16 | Petru Florescu | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | C | C | 6 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | Ret | 11 | 8 | Ret | DNS | 98 |
| 17 | Ken Smith | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | 13 | 8 | 27 |
| Pos. | Driver | HIG | HIG | HIG | TER | TER | TER | HMP | 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) |
* Rookie

## Footnotes

* ↑ Race 1 at Hampton Downs was the make-up of Race 2 from Teretonga, featuring a partially reversed grid of the top six finishers from the first race.