The 2017
Castrol
Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...
Toyota Racing Series was the thirteenth running of the
Toyota Racing Series, the premier
open-wheel
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...
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
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, and concluded on 12 February with the 62nd running of the
New Zealand Grand Prix, at
Circuit Chris Amon
Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon (formerly Manfeild Autocourse) is a motor sport circuit located in Feilding, New Zealand. It was built by thManawatu Car Clubin 1973 as a purpose-built course. In 1990 extra land was acquired and the circuit extensio ...
in
Feilding.
Lando Norris
Lando Norris (born 13 November 1999) is a Belgian-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One with McLaren, racing under the British flag. He won the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Formul ...
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
Thomas Randle (born 7 April 1996) is an Australian racing driver. He currently races in the Supercars Championship for Tickford Racing in the No. 55 Ford Mustang GT. Randle has also won the 2014 Australian Formula Ford Series, 2017 Toyota Racing ...
became the first Australian to win the Toyota Racing Series when he clinched the title by five points over
Pedro Piquet
Pedro Estácio Leão Piquet Souto Maior (born 3 July 1998) is a Brazilian former racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet and younger half brother of Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr. He is known for ...
. 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
Marcus Cornelius Armstrong (born 29 July 2000) is a New Zealand motor racing driver. He is due to compete in IndyCar on road and street courses with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. Previously he competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship between 2 ...
; 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:
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.
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
Drivers' championship
References
External links
*
{{New Zealand Toyota Racing Series
Toyota Racing Series
Toyota Racing Series