2018 AutoReject World Series season

2018 AutoReject World Series
Previous: 2017	Next: 2019

The 2018 AutoReject World Series season will be the 9th season of ARWS competition, but the first since the rebrand from the former F1RWRS moniker. The new season marked a substantial shift in the sport, with five teams vanishing from the series at the end of 2017, and another being involved in a takeover deal (Aeroracing Engineering). It also saw a changing of the guard in drivers, with no less than three former champions disappearing from the sport. Rhys Davies, the 2016 winner, packed his bags for Formula 1, Pippa Mann retired from both driving and team ownership, and Nathanael Spencer was left on the sidelines without a race drive. Other notable retirees included Kay Lon and Hagane Shizuka, leaving a large influx of both rookies and former fringe drivers returning to the sport.

Drivers and Teams

Team	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	#	Race Drivers	Rounds	Test Driver(s)
Template:FRA DScity Voeckler Renault [?]	Voeckler	VGPTwo	Renault RSXXII	TBA	1	Template:BEL Thomas De Bock	TBD	Template:GBR Nathanael Spencer Template:GBR Pippa Mann
					2	Template:USA Dan Greenlaw	TBD
Template:GBR Jones Racing Group [?]	Jones	114	Ford XR8D	TBA	3	Template:GBR Mark Dagnall	TBD	TBA
					4	Diego Álvarez Torrente	TBD
Template:GBR Peak Aeroracing Engineering [?]	PAE	PAE01-04	Audi AF1-5	TBA	5	Template:GBR Ashley Watkinson	TBD	Daniel Martins Tommi Hämäläinen
					6	Renaldo Jiménez	TBD
Template:AUS/ Melrose Racing Team [?]	MRT	M9	BMW P92		7	Template:FRA Phillippe Nicolas	TBD	Gianluigi Pazzini Template:AUS Mitchell Macklin
					8	Alberto Cara	TBD
Template:AUS Dacia F1RWRS Team [?]	Simpson	DSM-040	Dacia RSXXII	TBA	9	Alexey Buyvolov	TBD	Template:AUS Dave Simpson
					10	Template:SUI Jean-Luc Schiller	TBD
Template:FRA Equipe Gauthier [?]	Gauthier	G3.18	Pure-Hart PHRWRS-2	TBA	11	Danny van Rijkens	TBD	TBA
					12	Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen	TBD
Template:GBR Rosenforth Engineering [?]	Rosenforth	RF18	Holden LSWS-18	TBA	13	TBA	TBD	TBA
					14	TBA	TBD
Template:GBR Plus One Kingfisher Racing [?]	Kingfisher	KR-05	TBA	TBA	15	David Neuberg	TBD	TBA
					16	TBA	TBD
Revolution Engineering [?]	Revolution	HS18	TBA	TBA	17	Andrej Kremnicky	TBD	TBA
					18	Marco Bizzarri	TBD
/ Nurminen Grand Prix [?]	Nurminen	NRE Type 02	Holden LSF1-18	TBA	19	Template:GBR Martin McFry	TBD	TBA
					20	Template:AUT Marko Jantscher	TBD
Kamaha Motorsports [?]	Kamaha	KM-8	Yamaha OX64	TBA	21	TBA	TBD	Barii Mori
					22	Template:AUS Daniel Melville	TBD
Template:GBR Rob Lomas Racing [?]	Lomas	RLR-P02	Audi AF1-5		23	Hansuke Shioya	TBD	TBA
					24	Miko Fäkkinen	TBD
Template:GBR Coca-Cola Fusion Motorsports [?]	Fusion	CL1/18	TBA		25	Fredo Mestolio	TBD	Template:GBR Nathanael Cameron Nino Barlini
					26	Template:GBR Terry Hawkin	TBD
Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge [?]	Gillet ENB	ENB118	Gillet GV12	TBA	27	Template:BEL Aurelien Moll	TBD	TBA
					28	Template:USA Shane Walsh	TBD
Team Mecha Racing [?]	Mecha	FM-18	TBA	TBA	29	Template:GBR John Bean	TBD	Template:USA Dave Anderson
					30	Kazuki Fushida	TBD
Template:DEN/Template:FRA Kjellerup by Écurie Prenois [?]	Kjellerup	017 018	TBA	TBA	31	Alessandro Lucarelli	TBD	Template:GBR James Davies
					32	Nick Nurmester	TBD
Template:AUS Tassie Racing [?]	Tassie	TR01/18	TBA	TBA	33	Akira Yamamura	TBD	TBA
					34	Tomo Kazama	TBD
Template:AUT Union Saver Developments [?]	USD	KS-01	TBA	TBA	35	Jari Kekkonen	TBD	TBA
					36	Naoki Shinjo	TBD
RUF Blokkmonsta Motorsport [?]	Blokkmonsta	GPR-01	TBA	TBA	37	Template:BEL Wouter Lamberigts	TBD	Connor O'Heagan
					38	Template:USA Nicolas Steele	TBD
Template:FRA Venturi Formula [?]	Venturi	V2-001	TBA	TBA	39	Shinobu Katayama	TBD	Jesus Plaza Andrej Kremnicky
					40	Jean-Vincent Albertini	TBD

Driver and team changes

Teams leaving the sport

Team Name	CEO	Reason
ArrowTech-Acuri Autosport	The Fox Andrea Acuri	Missed registration deadline (AWOL)
Template:AUS Autodynamics Grand Prix	Unknown	Financial difficulties
Sunshine Daihatsu	Daniel Martins	Wound down (voluntary)
Foxdale Auto Racing Team	Douglas Mann Template:GBR Pippa Mann	Financial difficulties
Boxtel Engineering	Template:DEN Mattias Kjellerup Template:FRA Jean-Marc Hadamard	Liquidated

Teams joining the sport

Team Name	Base	CEO
Template:DEN/Template:FRA Kjellerup by Écurie Prenois	Dijon-Prenois, France	Template:DEN Mattias Kjellerup Template:FRA Jean-Marc Hadamard
Template:AUS Tassie Racing	Launcestion, Tasmania, Australia	Template:AUS Matthew Saoea
Template:AUT Union Saver Developments	Vienna, Austria	Template:AUT Karl Lichter Shultz
RUF Blokkmonsta Motorsport	Pfaffenhausen, Germany	Andrea Schnass
Template:FRA Venturi Formula	Paris, France	Unknown

Team ownership changes

Former team	Purchaser	New team name
Template:GBR Aeroracing Engineering	Peak Motorsport Group	Template:GBR Peak Aeroracing Engineering

Pre-Season Driver Changes

Driver	Previous Team	Role	New Team	Role	Notes
Alberto Cara	Template:AUS Holden Racing Team	Driver	Template:AUS/ Melrose Racing Team	Driver
Miko Fäkkinen	Template:GBR Fusion Motorsports	Driver	Template:GBR Rob Lomas Racing	Driver
Template:GBR Terry Hawkin	Template:GBR Jones Racing	Reserve Driver	Template:GBR Fusion Motorsports	Driver
Template:AUT Marko Jantscher	Template:GBR Jones Racing	Reserve Driver	/ Nurminen Grand Prix	Driver
Kay Lon	Template:GBR Aeroracing Engineering	Driver	Best In The World (IPC)	Driver
Alessandro Lucarelli	Template:GBR Plus One Kingfisher Racing	Driver	Template:DEN/Template:FRA Kjellerup by Écurie Prenois	Driver
Fredo Mestolio	Template:AUS/ Melrose Racing Team	Driver	Template:GBR Fusion Motorsports	Driver
Template:BEL Aurelien Moll	Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	Reserve Driver	Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	Driver
Barii Mori	Kamaha Motorsports	Driver	Kamaha Motorsports	Reserve Driver	Mori had announced retirement but has decided to stay due to his SANDWICH championship
Naoki Shinjo	Mazzacane Motorsport (F3RWRS)	Driver	Template:AUT Union Saver Developments	Driver
Hansuke Shioya	ArrowTech-Acuri Autosport	Driver	Template:GBR Rob Lomas Racing	Driver
Hagane Shizuka	Kamaha Motorsports	Driver	Retired
Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen	Template:BEL RonDen Racing Engineering (AR3.5)	Driver	Template:FRA Equipe Gauthier	Driver	2017 AR 3.5 Drivers Champion
Template:USA Shane Walsh	Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	Reserve Driver	Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	Driver
Akira Yamamura	Template:GBR Aeroracing Engineering	Reserve Driver	Template:AUS Tassie Racing	Driver	Drafted through Race of Rejects.
Template:BEL Wouter Lamberigts	Template:AUS Dacia F1RWRS Team	Driver	RUF Blokkmonsta Motorsport	Driver
Nick Nurmester	Template:GBR Jones Racing (F2RWRS)	Driver	Template:DEN/Template:FRA Kjellerup by Écurie Prenois	Driver
Kazuki Fushida	Luxray Engineering (SANDWICH)	Driver	Team Mecha Racing	Driver	2nd oldest debutant in series after Leonhard von Gottorp.
Template:USA Dan Greenlaw	Template:FRA Voeckler GPE (F2RWRS)	Driver	Template:FRA Voeckler Renault	Driver
Template:GBR Pippa Mann	Foxdale Auto Racing Team	Driver	Template:FRA Voeckler Renault	Reserve Driver	Semi-retirement
Template:SUI Jean-Luc Schiller	Template:AUS/ Melrose Racing Team	Driver	Template:AUS Dacia F1RWRS Team	Driver
Tomo Kazama	Template:USA Cassidy Racing (ARIWC)	Driver	Template:AUS Tassie Racing	Driver
Alexey Buyvolov	Template:GBR Aeroracing Engineering	Driver	Template:AUS Dacia F1RWRS Team	Driver	Drafted through Race of Rejects.
Template:USA Nicolas Steele	Template:AUS Autodynamics Grand Prix	Driver	RUF Blokkmonsta Motorsport	Driver	Drafted through Race of Rejects.
Jari Kekkonen	Template:FRA Voeckler Renault	Reserve Driver	Template:AUT Union Saver Developments	Driver	Drafted through Race of Rejects.
Renaldo Jiménez	Free Agent		Template:GBR Peak Aeroracing Engineering	Driver	Drafted through Race of Rejects.
Template:GBR Ashley Watkinson	Template:BEL RonDen Racing Engineering (ARIWC)	Driver	Template:GBR Peak Aeroracing Engineering	Driver
Template:GBR John Bean	Voeckler NISMO (F5000)	Driver	Team Mecha Racing	Driver
Daniel Martins	Sunshine Daihatsu	Driver	Template:GBR Peak Aeroracing Engineering	Reserve Driver
Template:GBR James Davies	Template:FRA Equipe Gauthier	Reserve Driver	Template:DEN/Template:FRA Kjellerup by Écurie Prenois	Reserve Driver
Shinobu Katayama	/ Nurminen Racing Engineering	Driver	Template:FRA Venturi Formula	Driver
Jean-Vincent Albertini	Template:AUS Autodynamics Grand Prix	Driver	Template:FRA Venturi Formula	Driver
Yellow background denotes a Rookie driver.