2018 Toyota Racing Series
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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.[1] 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5]
| Team | No. | Driver | Status | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giles Motorsport | 4 |  Reid Harker[6] |
R | All |
| 17 |  Clément Novalak[7] |
R | All | |
| MTEC Motorsport | 5 | Ryan Yardley |
R | All |
| 11 | Taylor Cockerton |
All | ||
| 52 |  Charles Milesi[8] |
[N 1] | All | |
| M2 Competition | 7 |  Richard Verschoor[9] |
All | |
| 9 | Marcus Armstrong[10] |
All | ||
| 15 | James Pull[11] |
[N 1] | All | |
| 35 |  Robert Shwartzman[12] |
[N 1] | All | |
| 68 |  Juan Manuel Correa[13] |
[N 1] | All | |
| Victory Motor Racing | 28 | Cameron Das |
[N 1] | All |
| 44 |  Calvin Ming |
R | 1–3 | |
| 47 | Ken Smith |
5 | ||
| 86 | Brendon Leitch[14] |
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.[15]