2014–15 Toyota Finance 86 Championship Explained

The 2014–2015 Toyota Finance 86 Championship was the second running of the Toyota Finance 86 Championship. The championship began on 27 September 2014 at Taupo Motorsport Park and ended on 1 March 2015 at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park after eighteen races held at six meetings.[1]

The championship was won by Ken Smith Motor Racing driver Tom Alexander, after a run of six successive wins – four overall wins plus two class wins, behind the non-scoring Nick Cassidy (Neale Motorsport) at Manfeild – at Teretonga, Manfeild and Hampton Downs. Alexander won the championship by 66 points ahead of defending champion Jamie McNee, who won races at Taupō, Pukekohe and Hampton Downs for ETEC Motorsport. Ash Blewett finished in third place in the series, 52 points in arrears of McNee and 118 of Alexander. He won four races over the course of the season, including a double at Pukekohe. The other drivers to win races were Marcus Armstrong, who won races at each of the first three race meetings, Matt Gibson won the opening race at Taupō, en route to fifth in the championship, while Cassidy won a third race at Teretonga, the only round in which he was eligible for championship points.

Teams and drivers

All teams were New-Zealand registered.

TeamDriverClassRounds
ETEC Motorsport1 Jamie McNeeEAll
96 Luis Leeds3
Neale Motorsport002 Rick Armstrong3
Nick Cassidy5
Reid Harker6
9 Marcus Armstrong1–3
Nick Cassidy4
Rick Armstrong5
Neil Allport Motorsports8 Neil Allport1–5
Ken Smith Motor Racing11 Tom AlexanderEAll
West City Motorsport15 Bruce Thomlinson1–2, 6
66 Ash BlewettAAll
Richards Team Motorsport58 Cory Holmes1–2
Matt Gibson Motorsport88 Matt GibsonAAll
Quin Motorsport NZ91 Callum QuinAAll
IconClass
EElite
AAmateur

Race calendar and results

All rounds were held in New Zealand. Rounds 3, 4 and 5 were held with the Toyota Racing Series.[1]

RoundDateCircuitPole positionFastest LapWinning driverWinning team
2014
1R127 SeptemberTaupo Motorsport Park, Taupō Matt Gibson Ash Blewett Matt GibsonMatt Gibson Motorsport Jamie McNee
Ash Blewett
R228 September Matt Gibson Jamie McNeeEtec Motorsport
R3 Matt Gibson Marcus ArmstrongNeale Motorsport
2R129 NovemberPukekohe Park Raceway, Pukekohe Ash Blewett Ash Blewett Ash BlewettWest City Motorsport Ash Blewett
R230 November Tom Alexander Jamie McNeeEtec Motorsport
R3 Tom Alexander Ash BlewettWest City Motorsport
2015
3R117 JanuaryRuapuna Park, Christchurch Marcus Armstrong Tom Alexander Marcus ArmstrongNeale Motorsport Marcus Armstrong
R218 January Ash Blewett Ash BlewettWest City Motorsport
R3 Marcus Armstrong Marcus ArmstrongNeale Motorsport
4R124 JanuaryTeretonga Park, Invercargill Nick Cassidy Tom Alexander Nick CassidyNeale Motorsport Tom Alexander
R225 January Nick Cassidy Tom AlexanderKen Smith Motor Racing
R3 Nick Cassidy Tom AlexanderKen Smith Motor Racing
5R114 FebruaryManfeild Autocourse, Feilding Tom Alexander Nick Cassidy Nick CassidyNeale Motorsport Nick Cassidy
R215 February Tom Alexander Nick CassidyNeale Motorsport
R3 Nick Cassidy Tom AlexanderKen Smith Motor Racing
6R128 FebruaryHampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato Tom Alexander Tom Alexander Tom AlexanderKen Smith Motor Racing Jamie McNee
R21 March Ash Blewett Jamie McNeeETEC Motorsport
R3 Tom Alexander Ash BlewettWest City Motorsport

Championship standings

In order for a driver to score championship points, they had to complete at least 75% of the race winner's distance, and be running at the finish. All races counted towards the final championship standings.

Scoring system
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th
Points756760544945423936
DriverTAUPUKRUATERMANHMPPoints
1 Tom Alexander (E)4573222322112211261162
2 Jamie McNee (E)2162143434245552131096
3 Ash Blewett (A)33213141DNS5634437311044
4 Callum Quin (A)54356695Ret645334342910
5 Matt Gibson (A)12Ret875564376666565857
6 Neil Allport7757987Ret6757888596
7 Marcus Armstrong961DNS53121482
8 Bruce Thomlinson894689677378
9 Rick Armstrong687777261
10 Cory Holmes68Ret447234
11 Nick Cassidy132112202
12 Reid Harker454157
13 Luis Leeds875130
DriverTAUPUKRUATERMANHMPPoints
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
(E) – Elite
(A) – Amateur

Notes and References

  1. News: New circuits to test drivers in Toyota Finance 86 Championship. Toyota Racing Series. Toyota Racing Management. 29 July 2014. 15 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150115044052/http://www.toyota.co.nz/racing/toyota-finance-86-championship/news/new-circuits-to-test-drivers-in-toyota-finance-86-championship/. 15 January 2015. dead.