The 2021 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was the seventeenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series consisted of nine races at three meetings. It began on 24 January at Hampton Downs, in Waikato, and concluded on 14 February at Manfeild, Feilding. The season opener also hosted the 66th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix. The 2021 Toyota Racing Series was the first season in which no individual race teams were running and all drivers were under a Toyota Racing banner. This was due to the COVID situation.
Teams and drivers
Team No. DriverRoundsM2 Competition 3 Chris VlokAll 7 Matt PayneAll 14 Billy FrazerAll 15 Kaleb NgatoaAll 32 Josh Bethune1 97 Shane van Gisbergen1TGR NZ11 Conrad ClarkAllGiles Motorsport 22 Tom Alexander1–224 Andre Heimgartner1 50 Ken Smith1 84 Peter VodanovichAllTasman Motorsports 27 Daniel Gaunt1 31 Chris van der Drift1Kiwi Motorsport 51 Greg Murphy1 86 Brendon Leitch1 87 Damon Leitch1
Changes
Sporting To compensate for the shortened calendar, the race distances were increased, from 50 and 70 kilometers to 70 and 80 kilometers respectively.
Race calendar The 2021 calendar was announced on 17 November 2020. Heavy border restrictions in New Zealand because of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a shortened calendar compared to traditional seasons, with only three race weekends at two circuits, limited to the North Island. RoundCircuitDate Pole position Fastest lap Race winner1R1Hampton Downs Motorsport Park(Hampton Downs, North Waikato) 23 January Chris van der Drift Shane van Gisbergen Shane van GisbergenR2 24 January Shane van Gisbergen Shane van Gisbergen Shane van GisbergenR3 Kaleb Ngatoa Shane van Gisbergen Shane van Gisbergen2R1Hampton Downs Motorsport Park(Hampton Downs, North Waikato)30 January Matthew Payne Peter Vodanovich Matthew PayneR2 Matthew Payne Matthew Payne Matthew Payne3R1Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon(Feilding, Manawatū District)13 February Matthew Payne Matthew Payne Matthew PayneR2 Matthew Payne Matthew Payne Matthew PayneR314 February Matthew Payne Matthew Payne Billy Frazer R4 Matthew Payne Matthew Payne Matthew PayneSource:
Championship standings
Drivers' championship Pos. Driver HD1 HD2 MAN Points 1 Matthew Payne 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 287 2 Kaleb Ngatoa 5 4 4 4 2 2 3 4 5 229 3 Billy Frazer 10 9 8 3 6 4 5 1 2 201 4 Conrad Clark 12 6 10 6 5 3 4 5 3 183 5 Peter Vodanovich 9 7 Ret 2 DSQ 5 2 3 4 167 6 Chris Vlok 14 10 13 7 4 6 6 6 6 149 7 Shane van Gisbergen 1 1 1 105 8 Tom Alexander 8 Ret 11 5 3 75 9 Chris van der Drift 2 2 12 71 10 Damon Leitch 11 5 5 54 11 Andre Heimgartner 6 Ret 2 51 12 Brendon Leitch 4 Ret 6 44 13 Daniel Gaunt 7 Ret 7 36 14 Josh Bethune Ret 8 14 23 15 Greg Murphy 13 Ret 9 22 16 Ken Smith 15 Ret 15 12 Pos. Driver HD1 HD2 MAN PointsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
Notes
References