50. Jan Przyrowski

New entry • Raised his game to feature in two F4 title fights

Photo: Campos Racing

Photo: Campos Racing

Spanish Formula 4 sophomore Przyrowski made big strides in 2025, boosted by the continuity of remaining in Campos Racing’s line-up, having strong team-mates and a winter series to gain extra mileage in.

Last year he came 10th in Spanish F4, with two podiums and three fastest laps, and he was able to double his points and podium tally in a campaign by this March as he went on a roll in the inaugural Spanish F4 Winter Championship.

Przyrowski took both poles in round one, converting each into a win, and also won in rounds two and three to be runner-up in the standings. He was beaten to the title by team-mate Thomas Strauven, and their friendly on-track rivalry helped both to raise their game.

That continued into the main championship, where Przyrowski won three of the first four races. He was on the podium at all but one track, his run of seven successive poles incorporated three rounds, and he scored over 200 points in a field which was very competitive at the front. In every race he showed major improvements on the level he had performed at in 2024.

49. Salim Hanna

New entry • Top rookie in Europe’s most competitive F4 field

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Photo: ACI Sport

The seven-race Formula Trophy season in the United Arab Emirates a year ago was Hanna’s sole single-seater experience before embarking on a four-pronged Formula 4 attack in 2025.

F4 Middle East was the first championship he raced in, driving a Mumbai Falcons-branded car run by Prema, and he took a maiden podium en route to sixth in the standings. He remained with Prema for Italian F4 and its sister championship E4, and Hanna – under the guidance of countrymen Juan Pablo and Sebastian Montoya – continued to grow as a driver.

The Italian F4 season begin with Hanna starting on pole, and he converted it into a second place finish. There were five further podiums across the campaign, putting him fourth in the standings and topping the rookie classification.

In E4 he was seventh, adding one podium to his 2025 tally, and his busy schedule was completed by joining Virtuosi Racing in British F4 for two weekends. His first time in the paddock at Thruxton delivered his first victory, then in the Formula 1-supporting non-championship round at Silverstone he won both races.

48. Pepe Marti

Re-entry • Earned FE seat after matching F1-bound team-mate

Photo: Red Bull

Photo: Red Bull

Marti came 10th in Formula Scout’s end-of-year ranking in 2023 after winning three races en route to fifth in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. That was his sophomore F3 season and his third year with Campos.

This year was his fifth as a Campos driver, his second racing in Formula 2, and also featured three victories.

Missing the last two rounds, having began pre-season preparations for his recent step up to Formula E, meant Marti came eighth in the standings. But at the point when he dropped off the grid, he was ahead of F1-bound team-mate Arvid Lindblad.

Marti was only 15th fastest in the F2 field for single-lap pace, but across the season he was fourth best on race pace and he finished higher than where he started in 13 out of 23 races. There were four occasions where he gained nine or more places, the first being the Bahrain sprint race where he climbed from 11th place to victory.

He also won the sprint races at the Red Bull Ring and Hungaroring, and his sole feature race podium was at Monza.

47. Liam McNeilly

New entry • Visa issues prevented a likely USF2000 title

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

The 2024 USF Juniors runner-up began 2025 by winning both races and coming 0.0566 seconds shy of a double pole in USF2000’s St. Petersburg season opener. Next time out at NOLA Motorsports Park it was three poles and three victories, then McNeilly headed home to England.

Following that, US state officials deemed his visa invalid. It prevented him from re-entering the country and continuing his season. They did not believe he was a racing driver, despite proof of that fact as multiple parties sought to get his visa approved again, and McNeilly sank to 14th in the standings after missing almost three quarters of the campaign.

There was an opportunity to contest the Canadian event in Toronto a few months later, yet with little to gain now from returning to USF2000, he instead stepped up to USF Pro 2000 for the weekend. He started and finished fifth on his debut, and qualified fourth for race two. That position was kept through the race, and his points-per-race average was the sixth best in the 2025 field.

Even later in the year he made his GB3 debut at Donington Park, with his cameo resulting in a podium.

46. Salvador de Alba

New entry • The fastest junior single-seater driver on ovals in 2025

Photo: Penske Entertainment / Travis Hinkle

Photo: Joe Skibinski

The switch from NASCAR Mexico, where he was champion, to open-wheel racing in 2022 has proven fruitful for Mexican de Alba who has maximised his oval experience in USF Pro 2000 and now Indy Nxt.

His rookie campaign in IndyCar’s primary feeder series last year featured two podiums, both on ovals, and he finished in each of the top four places across this year’s four oval races. There was also pole for the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway, a different kind of challenge compared to other ovals, and it was a result that he came close to achieving earlier in the year.

De Alba was the quickest on absolute pace around ovals, and fourth on race pace, with one victory at the Milwaukee Mile. On road and street courses, he had five top-five finishes and that put him fifth in the standings for a second season in a row.

The 26-year-old was more competitive at every track compared to 2024, showing he’s not stagnated yet in his fourth year of single-seater racing.

45. Roman Bilinski

New entry • Led Rodin to its best ever year in FIA F3

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

The FIA F3 Championship has three-car teams, yet Bilinski scored over half of Rodin Motorsport’s points in 2025.

After three years in Formula Regional, which included a title in New Zealand but only two podiums in Europe and never coming higher than 15th in the championship, Bilinski stepped up to F3 with a point to prove.

Making the podium on his debut and also scoring in the feature race in Melbourne was a strong start, and two rounds later at Imola he netted two top-eight finishes. In the following round in Monaco he topped his qualifying group, which translated into starting and finishing second in the feature race.

At Silverstone he also claimed a double points finish, from row eight of the grid both times. In the feature race he was an impressive fourth, having climbed nine spots on lap one.

Bilinski’s season ended at Monza with a maiden victory in the sprint race, and further points the next day that contributed to 2025 being Rodin’s best ever in FIA F3. It was the most impressive year of his own career, in the first season after a serious injury had threatened to derail it.

44. Alessandro Giusti

Down 17 • Williams junior’s lengthy scoring run was unmatched in F3

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Giusti’s second place finish in the FIA F3 sprint race at the Red Bull Ring was not only the best result of his rookie season, but marked the end of a remarkable nine-race scoring run. It was a feat nobody else achieved this year.

That podium in Austria followed his third place in the Barcelona feature race, which he started from sixth and marked his best Friday and Sunday results by some margin. But on Saturdays, only three drivers scored more sprint race points in 2025 than Giusti.

When MP had top-10 potential, Giusti tended to do a good job of ensuring that translated into results and when he struggled for pace it mirrored what was happening to more experienced team-mate Tim Tramnitz. The team became less competitive over the course of the year, and in the season’s second half he fell from fifth to 10th in the standings.

43. Ariel Elkin

New entry • Made big leap up ladder and with his performances

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Elkin was buried in Italian F4’s midfield two years ago, then made a sideways step to USF Juniors in 2024 and was fourth in the standings with three wins. He moved two rungs higher on the road to Indy for 2025, racing in USF Pro 2000.

His debut weekend started well by qualifying seventh in St. Petersburg, but he retired in race one after finding a wall and then missed race two.

Following that he was routinely one of the most competitive drivers, winning twice on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and then on his oval racing debut in assured style in the Freedom 90 around Lucas Oil Raceway.

Although there were only two podiums in the second half of Elkin’s maiden campaign in the third tier of single-seaters, he finished six of those nine races in the top five and that consistency was enough to make him championship runner-up while rivals had more retirements and finishes outside of the top 10.

Later in the year he did two Eurocup-3 rounds, and then made a winning cameo in SMP F4’s winter series in Russia.

42. Jack Jeffers

New entry • Third title from four years on the US single-seater scene

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

There were four drivers with the potential to win the USF2000 title this year, and after McNeilly’s enforced early exit it was sophomore Thomas Schrage who then became the leading driver after taking seven podiums in a row.

After that, rookie Jeffers went on an even more impressive run of eight successive podiums in the last three rounds. That included five victories and three poles, and sent him to what ended up being a comfortably claimed title. He was crowned with a race to spare at Portland, and in the first race there got to have a straight fight with Schrage.

Jeffers finished second in the first three races of the season in St. Petersburg and at NOLA, and took his first win and a third place on IMS’s road course. His sole non-finish was in race one at Road America, which marked the first time he started from pole. The incident that ended his race involved his car going airborne and then into a wall.

Race two the next day was also a low point full of learning, as he started from pole again but lost out in battles, had a wide moment and finished seventh. His only other bad result was on his oval racing debut, as he came ninth in the Freedom 75.

41. Tuukka Taponen

Down 27 • Ferrari junior was ART GP’s top scorer in FIA F3

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

ART Grand Prix’s highest-scoring driver in FIA F3 this year navigated his rookie season well while his team wasn’t always on the pace, and made the top 10 in the standings as a result.

He finished fourth in two of the first three feature races of 2025, and netted a maiden podium in a sprint race during that time, then in Monaco he took his best result of the season by finishing second in the sprint race.

Only one point followed in the next four rounds, meaning Taponen fell from fifth to ninth in the points table, but he bounced back at the Hungaroring with his first feature race podium.

Having qualified 24th then finished 14th and 20th in the season-opening races in Melbourne, Taponen felt ART made a “good step up” for round two at Bahrain where he had his highest-scoring weekend. There were eight races in total which he scored in, fewer than sophomore team-mate Laurens van Hoepen but leading to a greater haul of points.

His results were also far better than his pace metrics for the season, indicating he maximised what he had, having been the 16th best for single-lap pace and 12th best for race pace across the year but with a 46-point feature race haul that was the seventh best in the field.

Written by Ida Wood

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2025: 50-41 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

DAMS has completed its 2026 Formula 2 line-up by signing rookie Roman Bilinski to partner the returning Dino Beganovic.

Anglo-Polish driver Bilinski steps up from the FIA Formula 3 Championship, in which he came 11th this year as a rookie with Rodin Motorsport. He started his season on the podium, returned to it in Monaco’s feature race and won Monza’s sprint race.

Prior to that he did three Formula Regional European Championship seasons with Trident, two podiums being the highlights of that spell, and was the 2024 FRegional Oceania champion. In 2021 he won three races in GB3, having stepped up mid-season from British Formula 4 where he failed to net a victory.

“Joining such a historic team as DAMS is a real honour,” said Bilinski. “F2 is an incredible challenge, and I’m ready to give everything to represent the team at the highest level.

“I’ve learned a lot over the past few years and can’t wait to turn that experience into results on track. I’d like to thank DAMS for giving me this opportunity and for their trust.”

He partners Beganovic, who made his F2 debut with DAMS in late 2024, has raced for Hitech GP this season and was announced last month as returning to his former team.

“Roman brings a very balanced profile, quick, smart, and consistent,” DAMS’ owner Charles Pic commented.

“His success in Oceania confirmed both his potential and his professional approach. He joins DAMS with great energy and a strong desire to progress. We’re looking forward to supporting him as he takes this important step in his career.”

The post DAMS completes 2026 F2 line-up by by signing Roman Bilinski appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Roman Bilinski has been awarded his maiden FIA Formula 3 win after Tim Tramnitz was penalised.

Tramnitz won the race on the road but was summoned to see the stewards over an alleged failure to engage the start set-up procedure at the start of the formation lap.

As outlined by the stewards’ report, “a defined set-up procedure activation is mandatory for the start of the formation lap and start of the race.

“As usual, Race Control checked all cars regarding the engagement of the start set-up procedure at the start of the formation lap and found that only car 17 [Tramnitz] had not engaged it.”

This was a breach of Article 1.6.1 of the technical regulations and Article 11.15 of the F3 user manual, and Tramnitz was given a 10-second time penalty.

This demoted him to 18th in the results and dents his hopes of improving upon his fourth place in the drivers’ standings ahead of Sunday’s season-ending sprint race.

Noel Leon and Rafael Camara were also penalised after the race. Leon was given a five-second penalty for the contact with Charlie Wurz that also impacted Brando Badoer as they tried to go three-wide into the first corner late in the race.

The stewards explained that they considered “the highly dynamic and confusion situation to be a mitigating circumstance, with Leon surprised to hear that they were three-wide into the corner” and thus penalised him only 5s rather than the usual 10s. Leon drops from eighth to 19th in the results.

Camara was given a 10s penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while defending against fellow Ferrari junior Tuukka Taponen. This demoted the champion from 12th to 25th after he had worked his way up from 30th and last on the grid.

The post Bilinski handed first F3 win after Tramnitz penalty appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rodin Motorsport has found its feet in FIA Formula 3 in 2025, as evidenced by the results achieved by all three of its drivers across the first three rounds of the season.

The team raced in GP3 from 2010 to ’15 under Carlin name, and won both titles in 2014. It returned to the paddock in 2019 when the championship rebranded to FIA F3, but only took four podiums across five seasons.

It began competing as Rodin last year, and after 12 races, it had only scored eight points. However, it ended 2024 with 85 points and a win, and six races into 2025 with FIA F3’s new car it already has 54 points and two podiums.

“It’s been a good weekend, it’s been due,” Louis Sharp told Formula Scout in the Imola paddock after scoring his first points in the series. “The first two rounds have been pretty tough. The pace has been really good, but we’ve just not really had the luck or had the opportunity to put it all together. So to finally get a good qualifying in P5 and then to get a good sprint race, making up a few places to finish P4, it’s definitely been a good weekend so far and a good points haul.”

He added: “The progress the team’s made over the last year or so has been amazing. Not very long ago they were probably the worst team in F3. With the new car, they’ve definitely done a good job of stepping things up. Towards the end of last year they started to find some success. So they’re definitely a very hard-working group of people and they do a good job.

“There’s still more we can all find, compared to the Tridents or MP or some other teams. There’s still a little bit more we can do. But we’re all working really hard and we’re all trying our best to close the gap.”

Roman Bilinski finished third in the season-opening sprint race in Melbourne and was in the points in both Imola races. He highlighted that “we’re always there or thereabouts [in every session] as being Rodin’s “strongest bit”.  He also says that having strong drivers and technicians has been a crucial element.

“[My team-mates are] both champions and then also I was a champion last year, so having experience in the team was great. And we have a great engineering line-up. It’s changed a little bit since last year and we’ve put so much work in this post-season that it would have been a shame if we weren’t performing, with how much hard work we’ve done.

“Excellent work by the team!” Bilinski exclaimed. 

Having finished second in the Bahrain feature race, Callum Voisin expressed to Formula Scout his disappointment at not fighting at the front at Imola, where a mistake in qualifying left him down in 22nd place for the races.

Nevertheless, having admitted that he had been hesitant about returning with Rodin for 2025, he is now glad that decision is paying off.

The post Rodin drivers praise team’s efforts to become an F3 force again appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Roman Bilinski has secured a step up to FIA Formula 3 for 2025, signing with Rodin Motorsport.

The 20-year-old has had a difficult 2024 as he broke his back in a road accident and was ruled out of racing action for several months as he embarked on an extensive discovery including learning how to walk again.

Either side of that period, Bilinski was one of the stars of the Formula Regional European Championship. His performances following his return particularly caught attention due to his prolonged absence and the physical challenge of his return.

Driving for Trident, Bilinski had taken a second place finish and a pole position from the first two rounds, then when he returned to contest the final four he scored six times in eight races and had a best finish of fourth from that run. It put him 14th in the standings, but his scoring rate would have comfortably put him in the top 10 had he done the full campaign.

“This is really a great opportunity for me and I am looking forward to starting the new season,” said Bilinski.

“Rodin has shown that it is an excellent platform for a young driver to be and I intend to make the most of this opportunity, while doing the best possible job for the team. I want to thank everyone in the team for giving me the chance to prove myself at the maximum level and my sponsors and my family for supporting me again.”

Bilinski, now 20 years old, has been racing cars since 2019. The British-Polish driver started off in Ginetta Junior, then in 2020 came eighth in British Formula 4 with three podiums. In 2021 he did a half-season in British F4 with Carlin, the team Rodin took over, before stepping up to GB3 for the rest of the year and winning three times to come seventh in the standings.

He has been part of Trident’s FREC line-up since 2022, coming 18th in his rookie season with one podium, improving his points tally in 2023 but dropping to 21st in the standings and then having a breakthrough 2024. This year he also raced in FRegional Oceania, where he took the title with six victories.

“We are pleased to welcome Roman to the Rodin Motorsport team and look forward to working with him next season,” commented Rodin’s F3 team manager Sam Waple.

“He’s already been testing with us in Jerez and Barcelona and has been not only fantastic to work with, but a driver who has really impressed us since he stepped in the car – I can’t wait to hit the ground running next season with him on board.”

The post Roman Bilinski heads to FIA F3 with Rodin Motorsport appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sebastian Rozendaal / DPPA

Trident’s Formula Regional European Championship driver Roman Bilinski has revealed that he has broken his back, and therefore will be out of the cockpit for the forseeable future.

The 20-year-old Pole missed last weekend’s FREC round at Zandvoort due to being involved in a road accident earlier in the week. He offered no further information at the time, beyond a photo he posted to Intagram showing him in hospital.

Bilinski fell from ninth to 11th in the standings by missing two races, but his season start is still impressive as he is one of three drivers to have started on pole this year and one of six to claim a top-two finish so far.

“Hey everyone I can finally come out with the truth… last week I have broken two vertebrae in my back,” said Bilinski in an Instagram post this Tuesday.

“I’ve had an operation and now I have six screws holding everything in place. I’m now undergoing recovery and soon rehab. Unfortunately I will not be able to get back in the car and do what I love for some time! Thank you for all the messages and support. I hope to see you all soon.”

The next FREC round is on June 21-23 and takes place at the Hungaroring, then three weeks on from that the paddock heads to Mugello. Paul Ricard hosts round six the week after that, then there is a big gap in the schedule before an intense September when FREC races at Imola, the Red Bull Ring and Barcelona. There is then a month-long break before the season finale at Monza.

The post Bilinski reveals broken back diagnosis forcing him out of FREC action appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ

Roman Bilinski will miss this weekend’s Formula Regional European Championship races at Zandvoort, having been hospitalised after a road accident.

On Thursday afternoon, Bilinski took to his Instagram to say: “Hello everyone I am very sorry to miss the Zandvoort race this weekend due to a road accident. Thanks to all the medical staff #OspedaleNuovoLegnano for their great support ”

The post was accompanied by a photo of him in a hospital bed, two days before track action at Zandvoort begins. He did not specify when or where the road accident took place, the extent of his injuries or the expected length of his recovery period. Many of his rivals were quick to wish him well by leaving comments on the post.

Since no replacement driver has been announced, it means the Trident team will only run Niko Lacorte and Ruiqi Liu this weekend.

Bilinski sits ninth in the standings with 20 points after the first four races, starting the season with a ninth place at Hockenheim then taking a pole position and a second place finish last time out at Spa-Francorchamps.

Two weeks after Zandvoort is round four of the season, which takes place at the Hungaroring, then the championship heads to Mugello a further three weeks on from that. Bilinski only needs to score four points upon his return to the cockpit to exceed his tally from last season, and expectations of the 20-year-old Pole have been raised this year as he won the 2024 FRegional Oceania title.

The post Road accident rules Bilinski out of FREC’s Zandvoort round appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Trident’s Roman Bilinski took pole for Formula Regional European Championship race one at Spa-Francorchamps.

Qualifying ran in the wet, but the second group had the advantage of a drier line that formed from the first group’s session.

Everyone in Group A headed out immediately, and Sainteloc Racing’s drivers were towards the front of the queue. Despite hypothetically facing a wetter track than those behind they set the pace, with Enzo Peugeot posting a 2m33.429s. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues was the only driver within a second of him at first.

Trident meanwhile did not have fun, with Ruiqi Liu having his first lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Eau Rouge – a troublesome corner for many on that front – and Niko Lacorte spinning at Les Combes.

Peugeot lowered the pace to 2m32.526s with his second effort, leading team-mate Theophile Nael by 0.095 seconds and MP Motorsport’s Nikhil Bohra by 0.387s. ART Grand Prix’s Alessandro Giusti completed a top four spread by 0.499s, with Le 1.147s behind in fifth.

Next time around Peugeot set a 2m30.955s, with his advantage growing to 0.326s as R-ace GP’s Tuukka Taponen and Enzo Deligny rose to second and third. Nael dropped to sixth behind Giusti and Domingues.

Giusti was first to complete a fourth flying lap, and usurped Peugeot by 0.258s with a 2m30.130s. Prema’s Rafael Camara then demoted Peugeot to third as he got within 0.098s of Giusti’s pace, with Domingues and Nael improving in fourth and fifth.

There was time for one more lap, and Peugeot set a 2m29.587s to reclaim top spot by 0.319s. Giusti was second, Camara and Domingues failed to improve, Bohra went fifth fastest and Nael, Taponen and Deligny also not improving as they rounded out the top eight.

Group B featured some differing strategies, with VAR’s Brando Badoer leaving it late to exit the pits while Prema’s James Wharton and ART GP’s Lena Buhler pitted before setting a flying lap.

Buhler’s team-mate Evan Giltaire was fastest at first, a 2m29.598s putting him 0.544s ahead of R-ace’s Zachary David and 0.586s up on Race Performance Motorsport’s Noah Stromsted.

Pema’s Ugo Ugochukwu was quickest through sector one, but pitted rather than joining the six drivers who completed a lap at a representative pace.

David took over top spot on the next laps with a 2m28.285s, leading VAR’s Pedro Clerot by 0.048s and Giltaire by 0.097s until Badoer crossed the line and went third fastest.

Clerot lowered the pace to 2m27.723s on his third flyer, and Sainteloc’s Matteo De Palo was 0.249s behind in second. There were several non-improvers including David, who had an off, and Wharton’s first flying lap put him 13th.

That then got deleted when he caused a 15-minute red flag period by crashing on the Kemmel Straight. Thankfully he managed to exit his car unaided.

There was time for one flying lap after the restart, and Bilinski set a 2m22.533s to take pole by 0.198s over Stromsted, who will start third behind Peugeot.

David and De Palo were 0.9s behind, and Badoer again left it late to go fifth fastest, demoting Clerot and Giltaire.

Qualifying results

The post Bilinski takes pole, Wharton escapes crash in FREC’s wet Spa qualifying appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ

Roman Bilinski and Liam Sceats had plenty to celebrate on the Formula Regional Oceania season’s final day, as Bilinski became champion and Sceats won the New Zealand Grand Prix.

The M2 Competition team-mates were the top two drivers in the standings, split by 43 points, and at Highlands Motorsport Park last weekend Bilinski took two podiums and won the title with a race to spare, while Sceats turned pole into victory in race one then did the same in the grand prix-awarding and season-ending third race.

“I don’t know what to say. What a crazy race, crazy season,” Bilinski said after he secured the crown by finishing third in race two. “It’s been amazing. I didn’t think it would go this well, but we’ve all worked so hard.”

He added: “I hope I put a good show on for everyone watching, I really gave it everything, but these guys were just so fast today. I wanted to do my second-last race here just giving absolutely everything.

“Massive thank you to M2, my parents, my dad’s crying now, you can see him. He does that sometimes. I’m absolutely over the moon. So massive than you to M2, Jonathan, Mark, Elise [the team’s co-owners], everyone back there. And Victor [Cortes Abad], my engineer, they’ve just done an incredible job. My mechanics as well. Without them, I couldn’t do this.”

Bilinski, who is now in his third year of racing in FRegional and only had one podium prior to the Oceania season, called the title “massively” important for his career.

“You know the drivers that have come through this championship. The superlicence points as well, there’s so much to come with it. It’s huge. Also I hope the donuts were a nice show if they were on TV. An incredible feeling.”

FRegional sophomore Sceats came fourth in the Oceania championship last year with three podiums, and was runner-up in the Japanese championship with three wins. This year his three FRegional Oceania wins came in the last four races.

“It’s unbeliebable, I’m speechless. I can’t even think right now. I can’t believe it, to be honest. I have to give credit to M2 Competition. The car they gave me, it made it so easy almost to drive,” was Sceats’ reaction to winning the grand prix.

“This back end of the season has been very strong. I mean it wasn’t strong enough for [beating] Roman, I have to give credit to him, he drove an awesome championship. And I loved going wheel-to-wheel with him all season, so I’m really stoked. At the start of the season I thought we were a little but unlucky not to get some better results, but to come on strong at the end of the season it makes it feel very sweet.”

He added: “It’s been a long journey, I feel like all the lows I’ve experienced in motorsport makes up for this very moment. It’s unbelievable.”

The post FRegional Oceania title “huge” for Bilinski, Sceats savours “very sweet” GP win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ

Bryce Aron won the reversed-grid Formula Regional Oceania race at Highlands Motorsport Park, as Roman Bilinski claimed the title with a race to spare by finishing third.

Despite only needing to beat Liam Sceats to take the title, Bilinski spent the race battling with the top two and was briefly challenging for the victory before falling back to third.

Bilinski started fifth, two places ahead of Sceats after a difficult opening race of the weekend. He was one of the best off the line, jumping up to fourth behind Jacob Abel who was forced to defend hard in the opening laps but could not keep Bilinski at bay.

The champion-elect set the fastest lap of the race as he closed in on Patrick Woods-Toth in second. The majority of the race was spent trying to find a way past him. Bilinski attempted the same move a few times, only for Woods-Toth to hold on, allowing Aron to pull away up front.

Aron was roughly two seconds clear when Bilinski finally got into second place. It took little time for him to close onto the back of Aron, and the two were soon side-by-side. Despite a small mistake from Aron, he managed to hold on to the lead and Woods-Toth rejoined the battle. Once he did, he quickly found a way back through to second.

The battle behind Aron [pictured top] resumed and he again pulled away to finish 1.2s clear for his first win. Bilinski continued to attack Woods-Toth though to the final lap, but the latter held him at bay and took his best result of the season.

Abel finished fourth, ahead of Callum Hedge and Gerrard Xie. Sceats had a poor getaway, dropping down the order. He spent the race in a close battle with Michael Shin and Sebastian Manson for seventh, but finished ninth behind the duo.

Race results (18 laps)

The post Bilinski takes FRegional Oceania title as Aron wins Highlands race two appeared first on Formula Scout.