Photo: TGR NZ / Joel Hanks

MTEC Motorsport’s Zack Scoular won Formula Regional Oceania’s season-ending New Zealand Grand Prix, as M2 Competition’s Ugo Ugochukwu clinched the title.

Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura started the prestigious and lengthy 27-lap race on pole, and joined on the front row by Scoular rather than Ryan Wood.

The MTEC driver had qualified second, but was excluded from the results of qualifying due to a technical breach regarding his rideheight. His team appealed the decision for Q1 and Q2 successfully, but not for Q3, putting him seventh on the grid.

Ugochukwu had a suspension failure at the start of Q1, and M2’s repair job to get him back on track did not include the front wishbone covers. He qualified third, but was excluded from Q2 and Q3 so lined up 13th.

Scoular’s luck went even further at the start of the grand prix, as Nakamura bogged down in the second stage of the launch. Having nosed ahead through turn one, Scoular asserted himself as leader into the bus stop chicane and pulled away.

Ugochukwu made up one place, and on lap two Wood barged past HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’s Liam Sceats for sixth into the turn 14 hairpin decide Sceats trying to defend the inside. On lap three, Ugochukwu nailed an overtake on Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David into the bus stop chicane from the outside line on entry, and gained another spot as Giles Motorsport’s Nolan Allaer had an off.

At the back of the field, HMD’s Trevor LaTourrette suffered a delaminated rear-left tyre and had to pit on lap five.

The gap between the top two hovered between 0.56 and 0.82 seconds, as Ugochukwu continued his rise. After several attempts at passing team-mate Sebastian Manson on lap nine, he appeared to be let past at turn 10 next time by, which made it harder for their other team-mate Freddie Slater to overturn Ugochukwu’s points lead as he occupied fourth place.

Racing was neutralised on lap 11 after Jack Taylor (Giles) crashed out, and red flags waved on lap 13 to ensure more green flag running occurred.

The race restarted on lap 14 behind the safety car, and David pitted from 11th at the end of that lap as green flags waved. Wood, who set the fastest lap shortly before the stoppage, passed MTEC’s Louis Sharp for fifth while Scoular built a 0.7s gap again. It ebbed and flowed again as the leader saved his tyres, then on lap 20 he took the fastest lap and broke 1.2s clear.

Nakamura responded by being faster next time around, but Scoular in turn responded and began lap 23 with a 1.585s lead.

That distance was maintained until the safety car returned on the penultimate lap. Kiwi’s Cooper Shipman crashed at turn two, but only local yellow flags were required, then LaTourrette hit the wall hard through turn six and left debris.

It settled the fight for victory and the title, and also halted the fight for seventh. Sceats began holding off team-mate James Wharton lap 17, at the hairpin and after the bridge, and next time by Wharton lunged into the turn 14 hairpin. Sceats locked up and stayed ahead. Wharton tried the outside there on lap 20, and was on Sceat’s gearbox through the next two laps as another failed overtaking attempt was made.

Race results (27 laps)

The post Scoular wins New Zealand GP, Ugochukwu takes FRegional Oceania title appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ / Bruce Jenkins

Ugo Ugochukwu won the second Formula Regional Oceania race at Highlands Motorsport Park to extend his points lead with two races of the season left to go.

The M2 Competition driver started second alongside Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura, who had taken pole by topping the first segment of qualifying on Saturday morning.

He had outpaced Ugochukwu and MTEC Motorsport’s Louis Sharp by 0.014s, with Ugochukwu qualifying ahead having set his laptime first.

Sharp’s team-mates Zack Scoular and Ryan Wood were also within 0.1s of pole, and Ugochukwu’s main title rival and team-mate Freddie Slater qualified sixth.

Ugochukwu made a better start than Nakamura and led the field into the opening corner. He had a 1.267s gap by the end of lap one, and kept himself out of attacking range for Nakamura through the rest of the race.

Slater overtook Wood on the first lap, then had to defend from him into the main hairpin on lap two. Wood stayed in his tow for most of the lap, and HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’s Trevor LaTourrette headed to the pits where he would remain for several laps as his team examined his car.

Scoular began pressuring Sharp on lap three, but rather than force an error from the third-placed driver he instead made his own mistake. After the bridge crossing on lap lap seven he spun off, and rejoined at the back of the field.

That all but secured Sharp the final podium position, as Slater was unable to close in on him after eventually gapping Wood.

HMD’s James Wharton and Liam Sceats occupied the next two places, and Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David lost eighth to Hitech’s Kanato Le after being handed a five-second penalty for track limits abuse. He had been chased by M2’s Ernesto Rivera, rather than Le, for most of the race but on the penultimate lap Rivera crashed out after crossing the bridge.

That late drama, and the penalty, meant Le earned reversed-grid pole for the next race.

Race results (16 laps)

The post Ugochukwu wins FRegional Oceania race two at Highlands appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ / Bruce Jenkins

Freddie Slater won Formula Regional Oceania’s rescheduled race added to the final round to tighten the title fight.

What was supposed to be race three of round three at Teretonga Park was cancelled due to heavy rain that as well as posing dangerous conditions also put constraints on the schedule to fit it in later on last weekend, so the championship organiser instead added to the season finale at Highlands Motorsport Park as the first race of the weekend on a sunny Friday afternoon.

Since they were not present at Teretonga, HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’s Liam Sceats and James Wharton did not get to join the reschedule race action.

M2 Competition’s Freddie Slater started on pole, ahead of Kanato Le (Hitech GP), Ugo Ugochukwu (M2), Louis Sharp (MTEC Motorsport) and Yevan David (Kiwi Motorsport).

The field got through the first chicane cleanly on lap one, with Ugochukwu instantly into second. Sharp also passed Le quickly, and Scoular (MTEC) dived down the inside of David at the turn 14 hairpin for fifth place.

Slater gradually edged away from his team-mate and title rival through the first nine laps, then Ugochukwu almost brushed a barrier on lap 10 while Slater set the fastest lap and the lead gap grew to 0.793 seconds.

At that point the fight for victory was decided, and Slater finished the 16-lap encounter 1.978s ahead to close to within 18 points of Ugochukwu in the standings.

David came under attack from Ryan Wood (MTEC) approaching turn 14 on lap 10, then a wide moment next time by allowed Wood and Yuanpu Cui (MTEC) to get past. Wood took the fastest lap once in clean air, but ran out of time to catch Scoular.

Hitech’s Jin Nakamura had a tricky race, starting 13th and only recovering ground to 10th by the end.

Race results (16 laps)

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Photo: TGR NZ / Joel Hanks

M2 Competition’s Freddie Slater and Ugo Ugochukwu were victorious in Formula Regional Oceania’s races at Teretonga last weekend.

The track was wet for race one on Saturday, meaning everyone headed out on grooved tyres. The formation lap did little to displace water, and when M2’s poleman Ernesto Rivera reached the opening corner he spun off as soon as he turned in.

Slater inherited the lead, and Hitech GP’s Kalle Rovanpera had made the best start from third but was boxed in so was still in that position after turn one and now behind team-mate Jin Nakamura.

The safety car was brought out as Rivera’s car was recovered, and due to the shortness of the circuit it meant the restart was not until lap six of 25. Slater nailed it, building a 1.345-second lead within a lap and extending it to 4.2s after just two more tours.

He was 7.7s ahead of Nakamura when the safety car was called out again on lap 15, as HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’s Trevor LaTourrette spun off (but going again) and MTEC Motorsport’s Zack Scoular planted his car in the barriers.

Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David then went off too, ending a brilliant charge. He had bogged down at the start, dropping to last place, but recovered to 13th on the restart lap, nailed a pass on MTEC’s Yuanpu Cui around the outside of turn three on lap 13 and had then cleared M2’s Sebastian Manson for 10th before crashing out.

Six laps remained at the second restart, and Slater once again pulled away as the track got wetter again. He was 3.1s clear within two laps, and had a five-second gap before the safety car returned with a lap to go after Giles Motorsport’s Nolan Allaer crashed going through turn one. That locked in the finishing order, and therefore victory for Slater.

Jack Taylor (Giles) had taken fifth from Cooper Shipman (Kiwi) with a great move around the outside of turn one on lap nine, while MTEC’s Ryan Wood held seventh at that point. The attacks of Fionn McLaughlin on him instead made the Hitech driver vulnerable to Ugochukwu, and they were at a fighting stalemate until Ugochukwu overtook McLaughlin on lap 14.

He rapidly then made his way onto the rear of Wood’s car, and on the lap 20 restart go alongside him on the outside at turn one but could not pull off the move.

Race two was scheduled for later in the day and also very wet, and Ugochukwu started in first place on the reversed grid thanks to his earlier eighth place finish. A lot of time was spent sat in the grid spot as sweepers tried to remove water from the circuit, then the race was abandoned.

The paddock reconvened the next day to find a wet track again, and qualifying two was the first session.

Le set the pace early on, then Slater was first into the 1m03s. He was usurped by Le, who set a 1m03.402s to then lead Ugochukwu by 0.248s. MTEC’s Louis Sharp was next to the top, by 0.056s, before Le reclaimed top spot once again by lapping sub-1m03s. Shortly after he was down to third as Slater set a 1m02.105s and Ugochukwu went second fastest 0.497s behind him.

Nakamura reduced Slater’s advantage to 0.088s with nine minutes to go, only for the provisional poleman to improve to 1m01.881s and stay ahead by 0.066s over Ugochukwu.

Several drivers had offs, including Slater who caused a red flag period as he could not get his car going again after a clash with LaTourrette.

Both were able to join the field when qualifying restarted, and the next moment of drama was Wood having a big off with four minutes to go. That proved non-disruptive, but Manson and McLaughlin then crashed and red flags waved again. The schedule left no time for another restart, and Slater secured pole for the Spirit of a Nation Cup-awarding race four.

Le qualified third, 0.248s off pole and 0.064s ahead of Nakamura, and Sharp and Scoular set identical laptimes in fifth and sixth. Rovanpera trailed by 0.597s in seventh, Wood was 10th and McLaughlin was 11th.

Race two took place at the expense of race three, and it was still wet at Teretonga by the time it began. Ugochukwu was untouchable throughout, although disruptions to the race made his victory look less dominant.

On lap one he sprinted off, as Slater’s victory hopes ended through contact with Le that sent both spinning off before turn seven. The safety car was summoned as they were helped back on track, and they were several laps down at the back of the pack when racing resumed on lap seven.

Ugochukwu built a 2.86s gap over Wood in two laps, and had a six-second margin before his lead was slashed again when LaTourrette crashed and the safety car reappeared on lap 14. When the field returned to racing speeds at the end of lap 19, Nakamura crashed out of sixth place and so the lap 20 restart only lasted long enough for Shipman to nab third from Taylor.

In the green flag action up until that point, Shipman had been attacked almost non-stop by Rovanpera. He was stronger in the wet conditions and was happy to slide his car as he looked to the left and right of Shipman, and often running right up to his gearbox too.

Once Nakamura’s car was cleared, the field got to race again on the last lap. Ugochukwu built a 1.698s lead and stole the fastest lap from Slater, Shipman attacked Taylor around the outside of turn one and Rovanpera settled for fifth.

The track had dried enough for slick tyres in race four. Problems on the pre-grid meant Le did not get to sample the dry conditions, but once he was wheeled off and the formation lap was complete there were spots of rain again and the start was delayed.

When the lights eventually did go out, Ugochukwu made a stronger launch than poleman Slater but his rival had the inside line so lead into turn one. Ugochukwu then got on the marbles exiting the corner and drifted wide, allowing Scoular by. But Scoular then had his own understeering moment that brought Ugochukwu back up to second, and he kept the position as the safety car was called out due to Rivera crashing.

Sharp ended lap one in third, ahead of Nakamura, Cui and David. They were all gapped by Slater on the lap seven restart, but Ugochukwu eventually responded to the leader and on lap 10 set a new lap record as he closed back in.

They were nose-to-tail again on lap 14 after Slater had a brief off, but both were making errors on the slippy track surface.

Ugochukwu used push-to-pass to help him go around the outside of Slater entering turn one on lap 16, getting the move done early enough to not drift onto the marbles, then Slater went off briefly again at turn five where it was raining.

Sharp was all over Slater through lap 17, and the safety car came out next time by as Manson crashed out and the rain intensified. Red flags waved on lap 20, and everyone got to switch to grooved tyres during the half-hour stoppage.

The race restarted behind the safety car on lap 21, and green flags waved on lap 24 of 29. There was drama immediately as Ugochukwu found the marbles on the wider line through turn one again and he went off. After avoiding the barriers he made it back on track but was now last, while Slater led with a 1.975s gap to Sharp.

It was a dominant display thereon, as Slater was victorious by 5.129s and Ugochukwu’s points lead was greatly reduced as he finished 14th.

Nakamura completed the podium, boosting his own title hopes, and Cui was fourth. Scoular had a dramatic race, finishing sixth on-the-road, being involved in multiple battles but then being penalised for a restart breach so was classified 11th.

Results round-up
Race 1 (25 laps)
1 Freddie Slater M2 Competition 35m30.113s
2 Jin Nakamura Hitech GP +1.088s
3 Kalle Rovanpera Hitech GP +2.138s
4 Kanato Le Hitech GP +2.882s
5 Jack Taylor Giles Motorsport +3.680s
6 Cooper Shipman Kiwi Motorsport +4.458s
7 Ryan Wood MTEC Motorsport +6.475s
8 Ugo Ugochukwu M2 Competition +7.183s
9 Fionn McLaughlin Hitech GP +8.090s
10 Sebastian Manson M2 Competition +8.645s
Fastest lap: Slater, 1m01.538s

Race 2 (24 laps)
1 Ugochukwu 39m29.231s
2 Wood +1.698s
3 Shipman +2.743s
4 Taylor +3.138s
5 Rovanpera +3.250s
6 Manson +3.908s
7 McLaughlin +4.254s
8 Louis Sharp MTEC Motorsport +5.739s
9 Yuanpu Cui MTEC Motorsport +6.597s
10 Yevan David Kiwi Motorsport +7.841s
FL: Ugochukwu, 59.683s

Spirit of a Nation Cup results (29 laps)
1 Slater 38m33.082s
2 Sharp +5.129s
3 Nakamura +5.731s
4 Cui +8.945s
5 David +9.725s
6 McLaughlin +11.333s
7 Rovanpera +12.181s
8 Wood +12.846s
9 Taylor +13.104s
10 Ricardo Baptista HMD w/ TJ Speed +14.653s
P: Slater, 1m01.881s
FL: Ugochukwu, 53.660s

Championship standings
1 Ugochukwu 237   2 Slater 215   3 Nakamura 211   4 Sharp 207   5 Wood 202   6 Le 185   7 Zack Scoular 135   8 Ernesto Rivera 124   9 Cui 120   10 James Wharton 113

The post Slater and Ugochukwu victorious at Teretonga in FRegional Oceania appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ / Joel Hanks

Ernesto Rivera claimed pole position for the first Formula Regional Oceania race at Teretonga last week in a dramatic qualifying session.

Drivers got used to the short circuit in pre-event testing on Thursday, with the benchmark laptime being a 54.05s from points leader Ugo Ugochukwu. He edged M2 Competition team-mate Slater by 0.097 seconds, and Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura was 0.159s behind in third. Under half a second covered the top 13.

Free practice followed on Friday, and Nakamura set the pace. FP3 was the quickest, despite two red flag interruptions, and Nakamura’s 53.749s lap put him 0.112s ahead of MTEC Motorsport’s Louis Sharp.

He had a 0.216s gap to MTEC’s Zack Scoular in third, and 0.222s to Slater in fourth. Ugochukwu was fifth, 0.296s behind.

Saturday began with qualifying one, and three red flag stoppages in soaking wet conditions meant almost every driver’s fastest lap came on their second tour of the circuit.

Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin was an early spinner, at which point Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David was atop the times. He was demoted to second by a 1m06.634s from Giles Motorsport’s Jack Taylor, whose team-mate Nolan Allaer set a 1m06.464s a few moments later.

Nakamura quickly bettered the pair with a 1m05.17s, which M2’s Rivera lapped 0.187s shy of. Slater was the only other driver within a second before qualifying was stopped with just under 12 minutes remaining due to Allaer crashing out.

It only took 24s after qualifying restarted for McLaughlin to fly off at high speed. After several spins he reached the gravel and got beached, prompting another stoppage before any outlaps were completed.

The session clock continued during this red flag period due to schedule constraints, and eight minutes were left when qualifying next restarted.

Some drivers were brave enough to go side-by-side in the torrential rain and low visibility conditions, and Nakamura went off through the long turn one on his first flying lap after leaving the pits.

That not only led to the session ending early, but guaranteed he would not be outpaced. However he did not claim race one pole, as his and Allaer’s punishment for triggering red flags were three-place grid penalties.

Rivera therefore claimed pole, 0.656s ahead of Slater. McLaughlin was fourth fastest, but a penalty of his own put him 10th on the grid, meaning World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera (Hitech) lined up third after being 1.159s off Rivera’s pace in sixth.

Kanato Le (Hitech) and Taylor were promoted from seventh and eighth to fifth and sixth, with Allaer demoted from fifth to seventh and sharing row four with Kiwi’s Cooper Shipman.

MTEC’s Ryan Wood qualified ninth after all penalties were applied, and Ugochukwu was 4.383s off Nakamura’s benchmark down in 12th place.

Title outsider Sharp fared worse, not getting a flying lap in at all due to his pitlane position and qualifying 17th out of 18.

Qualifying 1 results

The post Nakamura fastest, Rivera takes pole in wet FRegional Oceania qualifying appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Joel Hanks / TGR NZ

Ugo Ugochukwu won Formula Regional Oceania’s feature race at Hampton Downs – the Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup – to increase his early series lead.

Ugochukwu managed to do what no other polesitter had done in the weekend’s previous three races and retain the lead at the start, even though Jin Nakamura tried to hang on around his outside in Turn 1.

An incident in the middle of the pack on the run out of Turn 1 then led to the race being interrupted.

After qualifying an impressive ninth in his second single-seater qualifying session, Kalle Rovanpera got squeezed by Sebastian Manson as they looked to benefit from the tow down the long straight to Turn 2. Contact between them sent Rovanpera off to the right of track, making contact with the tyre barrier, while Manson’s spinning car was collected by Ryan Wood and Yevan David.

Wood was seen sarcastically applauding Manson for what he felt was an “unnecessary” squeeze, and the race was red-flagged to allow all four cars to be recovered.

At the restart, Nakamura stayed with Ugochukwu and used the push-to-pass a lap later to mount an attack towards Turn 2, but Ugochukwu also deployed the extra 25 horsepower to remain ahead and then gradually pulled away.

Hitech’s Toyota protege Nakamura did set the fastest lap on lap 20 of 23 to bring the deficit back under a second, only for M2 Competition driver Ugochukwu to respond on the following tour and finish up 1.254s clear.

Kanato Le beat Louis Sharp off the line to claim third and clinch his third podium from the weekend’s four races, as well as a double podium for Hitech on its debut in New Zealand.

Sharp did try to apply pressure to Le in the first half of the race but then fell into the clutches of Freddie Slater, who had been typically aggressive on the restart to dispatch of both Zack Scoular and Nolan Allaer.

Slater finally made a dive to Sharp’s inside in Turn 7 with five laps to go. Sharp managed to hold on, only to run wide through Turn 1 at the start of the next lap, allowing Slater to get up his inside into Turn 2. Slater ran wide and Sharp tried to take the cutback, but Slater sealed fourth place into Turn 3.

Race results (23 laps)

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Photo: Joel Hanks / TGR NZ

Ugo Ugochukwu claimed his first Formula Regional Oceania win from fourth on the grid in race three at Hampton Downs.

Ernesto Rivera started from pole position courtesy of his fastest lap in race two, but the Red Bull junior seemed slow to react when the lights went out. Kanato Le claimed the lead from the outside of the front row, followed by Ugochukwu then took a look to the outside of the leader into Turn 2.

After biding his time early on, it was in the same place on lap eight that Ugochukwu made his move for the lead, challenging Le on the outside into Turn 2 and then claiming the inside line into Turn 3 to move ahead.

Ugochukwu was just under a second clear of Le when the safety car was deployed on lap 13 of 18 after Trevor LaTourrette became beached in the gravel trap, but wasn’t troubled by the subsequent restart and took victory by 1.122 seconds.

Le picked up his second podium from three races ahead of Rivera, who managed to keep Jin Nakamura at bay, while James Wharton beat Louis Sharp to fifth.

Sharp spent most of the race battling for position with Freddie Slater after they shared the fourth row of the grid. Slater had got back in front on lap three, and then tried to attack Wharton at the restart with three laps remaining. However, he found himself being repassed by Sharp, and then being shuffled out wide onto the marbles and tumbling down the order to 12th.

Kalle Rovanpera finished three places further back in 15th after a strong early display of single-seater racecraft with a double move on Cadi Baptista and Jack Taylor through Turns 2 and 3.

Race results (18 laps)

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Photo: Joel Hanks / TGR NZ

Ugo Ugochukwu scored a dominant second pole position of the opening Formula Regional Oceania round at Hampton Downs in Sunday qualifying.

The M2 Competition driver wasted no time in hitting the top of the timing screens and was never toppled as he worked his way down to his best time of 1m29.224s, which he set with two minutes of the session remaining.

He finished up over a quarter of a second clear of his nearest challenger, Toyota junior Jin Nakamura of Hitech GP.

Nakamura’s team-mate Kanato Le had been holding second place into the closing minutes of the session, but ended up fourth behind race one winner Louis Sharp of MTEC Motorsport.

Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera had a more competitive showing than on Saturday and finished up fifth overall.

Double World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera made a strong stride forward in just his second single-seater qualifying session.

He got up into the top 10 in the closing stages and then leapt up to sixth when he took the chequered flag. He was pushed back to ninth as Nolan Allaer, Zack Scoular and FRegional European champion Freddie Slater crossed the line, but was just over half a second away from Ugochukwu’s pole time having been a second adrift in first qualifying.

Slater spent the session on the back foot after having a snap and running off track on his first flying lap.

Qualifying results

The post Ugochukwu claims dominant second FRegional Oceania pole appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Red Bull

Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera will start 2026 racing in Formula Regional Oceania as part of M2 Competition’s line-up.

The 17-year-old Mexican heads to New Zealand before stepping up to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Campos Racing.

Rivera has two years of single-seater experience under his belt, most of it with Campos. He debuted in the 2024 Formula Winter Series, coming 15th with one podium, then was fifth in Spanish Formula 4 with one win and one other podium.

A points-scoring British F4 cameo with Hitech GP completed his 2024 schedule, and Rivera’s 2025 began with Pinnacle Motorsport in FRegional Middle East. He made the podium once en route to ninth in the standings, then returned to Campos for the finale of Eurocup-3’s winter series.

That preceded a campaign in the main Eurocup-3 championship, in which he scored three wins, four other podiums, two poles and came fourth in the standings. Rivera had been championship leader at the season’s halfway point, but only scored twice in the last four rounds.

Also joining FRegional Oceania are Cadi Baptista (HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed) and Ryan Wood (MTEC Motorsport).

Baptista, 18, came 10th in his home country Brazil’s F4 championship this year and the highlight was a win at Autodromo Velo Citta.

“I am really looking forward to driving in New Zealand and to experience racing outside of Brazil and Europe for the first time,” he said. “I want to score points in the races and learn as much as I can, it’s going to be a great experience and hopefully will set me up for a strong 2026 season in the northern hemisphere.”

Wood will be making his single-seater debut in FRegional Oceania, just like Hitech’s Kalle Rovanpera.

The 22-year-old Kiwi started off in sportscars, then progressed into tin-tops two years ago via Australia’s second-tier Super2 Series. He took five wins, four poles and ended up third in the points table. He was driving for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team, who promoted him to its Australian Supercars line-up for 2024.

Two fourth places were the best results of his rookie campaign, while in 2025 he got through the title fight’s first cutoff stage to come 10th in the points table. He won one race, finished third six times, and started on pole on three occasions.

“I’m super excited to make my open-wheel racing debut, for me it’s always been something I’ve wanted to do and especially with Toyota and in FRegional Oceania,” Wood revealed. “I’ve watched the championship since I was in karts so to be doing it now and on home soil is very exciting.

“For me the four weeks of racing is all about learning and preparing for the 2026 season. I’m delighted to join MTEC and learn off my team-mates and develop as a driver. It’s a real full circle moment racing Toyotas in NZ again after starting in 86s so I can’t wait to get into it!”

The post Eurocup-3 race-winner Rivera to race for M2 in FRegional Oceania appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Ugo Ugochuckwu will race in Formula Regional Oceania at the start of 2026 with the M2 Competition team.

The 18-year-old American will head down under before he embarks on his sophomore FIA Formula 3 Championship campaign with Campos Racing, after coming 16th in the standings with two podiums this year as one of Prema’s drivers.

When Ugochukwu starts his FRegional Oceania season, it will be his first time racing without the support of the McLaren Formula 1 team in almost five years as he leaves the McLaren Driver Development Programme at the end of 2025.

“I am thrilled to be able to compete in the 2026 FRegional Oceania Trophy,” said Ugochukwu.

“I’ve been following the championship for many seasons now and I always wanted to be part of it. For that to be 2026, which looks like it is going to be one of the best ever, is even more exciting.”

in FRegional, Ugochukwu has won the FIA World Cup, come third in the Middle East championship and 11th in the European championship.

“I am sure it’s going to be a lot of fun learning the local tracks and in general to compete outside of Europe is always something that brings new challenges as well as new experiences.”

Ugochukwu got experience of another series outside of Europe last week as he tasted top-tier single-seaters in Super Formula’s post-season test at Suzuka.

He went fastest overall, setting the pace by 0.296 seconds and being 0.473s faster than the next driver who was a ‘rookie test’ entrant.

Japanese Formula 4 champion and FRegional Japanese Championship runner-up Tokiya Suzuki and the SF-experienced 2024 Super Formula Lights runner-up Rikuto Kobayashi completed the top three in the ‘rookie test’ classification.

FRegional Europe champion Freddie Slater was fourth in that group and 11th overall, being a total newcomer to the track like Ugochukwu was, and Williams junior Luke Browning was 13th fastest after heading over to the test from the Formula 2 finale as he eyes a step up to SF for 2026.

Super Formula test results [young drivers only]

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