Photo: FRJC

Toyota junior Yuzuki Miura narrowly missed out on a clean sweep of victories in the Formula Regional Japanese Championship’s season opening weekend at Suzuka.

Races one and three were dominated by Miura but the TOM’S driver was edged out by Ponos Racing driver Ryota Horachi in race two.

Miura started strongly from third, leapfrogging Horachi and polesitter Hibiki Komatsu to lead into the first turn.

Horachi however quickly dispatched Masan Muto, who had jumped him at the start, and began to pile the pressure on Miura.

Despite sitting within half a second of the leader for almost the second half of the race, Horachi’s attempts proved futile as Miura held him off by just 0.083 seconds to secure victory. Muto rounded out the podium finishers with Komatsu nine tenths adrift of him at the chequered flag.

Race two proved to be a redemption race for Horachi as he converted pole position into victory, having edged out Miura by 0.064s in the faster second qualifying session.

He fended off the similarly liveried car of Miura into the first turn after the lights went out and resolutely held the lead for the remainder of the race.

Miura finished seven tenths adrift of his teammate at the chequered flag with Komatsu rounding out the podium having started third on the grid.

In race three Miura returned to the top step, converting his pole position while Horachi fought his way up from sixth on the grid to fourth.

This was a more comfortable race for Miura, as he led the field away at lights out to finish a second and a half clear of the field.

Muto narrowly avoided a dramatic crash at lights out as the Toyota-based TOM’S driver failed to move away from his second-place grid slot at lights out. The field narrowly avoided the 16-year-old who managed to recover to fifth.

Having failed to match the pace of his team-mate Horachi up to this point, Ponos Racing driver Kento Omiya came home 1.426s behind Miura in second and 1.651s clear of Lin Chenghua, who profited from Muto’s stall at the start to claim third.

That meant Miura finished the opening weekend with an early series lead of 13 points ahead of the championship’s return to Suzuka for round two in May.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Yuzuki Miura TOM’S 23m07.248s
2 Ryota Horachi Ponos Racing +0.083s
3 Masana Muto TOM’S +5.450s
4 Hibiki Komatsu Rn-sports +6.387s
5 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +7.214s
6 Lin Chenghua Ragno Motor Sports +11.552s
7 Li Xuanyu Team LeMans +21.473s
8 Rio Shimono Dr Dry Racing Team +24.534s
9 Makato Akita Abbey Racing +33.321s
10 Yutaka Toriba AiWin +34.489s
Pole: Komatsu, 1m54.909s
Fastest lap: Horachi, 1m54.401s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Horachi 23m06.640s
2 Miura +0.706s
3 Komatsu +5.103s
4 Muto +8.678s
5 Omiya +8.982s
6 Chenghua +10.515s
7 Akita +19.390s
8 Shimono +23.866s
9 Xuanyu +28.212s
10 Masayuki Ueda Rn-sports +46.155s
P: Horachi, 1m54.389s
FL: Miura, 1m54.904s

Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Miura 23m10.928s
2 Omiya +1.426s
3 Chenghua +3.077s
4 Horachi +3.907s
5 Muto +10.843s
6 Komatsu +12.304s
7 Shimono +17.936s
8 Xuanyu +19.821s
9 Akita +26.204s
10 Toriba +32.694s
P: Miura, 1m55.882s
FL: Muto, 1m55.015s

Championship standings
1 Miura 68   2 Horachi 55   3 Omiya 38   4 Muto 37   5 Komatsu 35   6 Chenghua 31   7 Shimono 14   8 Xuanyu 12   9 Akita 10   10 Toriba 2

The post Toyota junior Miura wins twice at Suzuka to claim early FRJC lead appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula

Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced its motorsport programmes for 2026, including which drivers it will be backing and powering in single-seaters.

At the top of the pyramid in Japan’s Super Formula championship, three Toyota-powered teams have signed rookies.

World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera will join KCMG, Rikuto Kobayashi will race for TGM Grand Prix after contesting an event with Team Impul this year, and Charlie Wurz will drive the sole car of the returning Team Goh.

Kobayashi finished 16th on his SF debut at Twin Ring Motegi in April, with his main programme this year having been the third-tier Super Formula Lights championship where he was third in the standings after being runner-up in 2024.

He also raced in sportscar series Super GT’s GT300 class in 2025, coming third in the standings, and will be promoted to the top GT500 class next year with Cerumo.

Wurz, son of ex-Formula 1 driver Alexander, was Formula Regional Oceania champion in 2023 then was a race-winner in Euroformula before spending two seasons in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and coming 13th this year with two podiums.

He has some sportscar experience too, and will join the Super GT grid with the Toyota-powered Apr team in the GT300 class. Kazuhisa Urabe, who was 10th in SF Lights and third in the FRegional Japanese Championship this year, will joining Inging in Super GT300.

Wurz and his younger brother Oscar, who was 2024 Formula 4 Central European Zone champion and 18th in Eurocup-3 this year, will become Toyota juniors for 2026.

Their father was a World Endurance Championship race-winner with Toyota, and Oscar will race for TOM’S in SF Lights next year as team-mate to fellow Toyota juniors Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuki. The pair came one-two in this year’s FRegional Japanese Championship, while in Japanese F4 the title was won by Suzuki and Umegaki was seventh in the standings.

Vacating his SF Lights at TOM’S is Yuki Sano, who was 2025 championship runner-up and finished ninth in the FIA FRegional World Cup-awarding Macau Grand Prix.

Next year the Toyota junior will step back down to FRegional, having won all four of the FRJC races he contested in 2024, full-time as he joins R-ace GP in the European and Middle East championships.

Toyota’s racing school runs a team in Japanese F4, and its line-up next year will consist of Masaki Hamabe, Buntaro Igarashi, Yuzuki Miura, Masana Muto, Ryo Sakai and Tomoki Terashima.

Of those six, only Miura and Muto will be Toyota juniors. They came 12th and 15th in the standings this year, each with one podium, and will have double programmes as they will also race for TOM’S in FRJC.

2026 TGR Driver Challenge Programme members (single-seaters)

The post Rikuto Kobayashi and Charlie Wurz land Super Formula seats for 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kiyoshi Umegaki wrapped up the Formula Regional Japanese Championship title in last weekend’s season finale at Suzuka.

His rival and TOM’S team-mate Tokiya Suzuki started the weekend ahead as he pipped Umegaki to race one pole by 0.087 seconds. B-MAX Racing’s Kazuhisa Urabe was third, 0.109s behind, and 0.011s split Kento Omiya (Ponos Racing) and Hibiki Komatsu (Rn-sports) in fourth and fifth.

A 1m55.160s in Q2 earned Urabe race two pole by 0.165s over Umegaki, with Suzuki a further 0.116s back. Omiya and Komatsu were fourth and fifth again.

Drivers’ second-best laptimes set race three’s grid, and Komatsu claimed his maiden pole by 0.137s. Just 0.039s then split Urabe, Suzuki, Umegaki and Omiya in the top five.

It was sunny for race one on Saturday afternoon, and Suzuki swept to the inside at the start to cover off Umegaki. That left the outside line free for Urabe to pass the points leader for second, and he spent the rest of the race holding him off while Suzuki built a 4.08s lead to close to within 13.5 points of Umegaki.

Komatsu lost out to Rn-sports’ Yu Oda on lap one, but got back past on lap two and was just 0.351s behind Omiya at race-end.

Ragno Motor Sport’s Chenghua Lin was seventh until striking trouble mid-race and ending his day in the pits.

Race two was early the next morning, and this time Lin’s troubles struck before the start and ruled him out.

Omiya and Suzuki got either side of Umegaki off the line, with Suzuki taking second on the outside then weaving his way to turn one to prevent Omiya from maximising the inside line. It was side-by-side for third through the first two corners, and Umegaki managed to nose back ahead.

Suzuki challenged poleman Urabe into turn one on lap two, and was on his gearbox on lap three as Urabe weaved down the pit straight. At the final chicane there was an attempted dive by Suzuki, and when they reached turn one on lap four he went to the outside. They banged wheels, Suzuki went off and into the barriers at high speed, and the safety car was summoned.

Urabe immediately built a one-second gap on the restart, then gradually added to that gap while trading fastest laps with the trio behind. Umegaki clinched title by finishing second, ahead of Omiya and Kamatsu.

Race three began with Urabe taking the lead on the inside, but Komatsu’s pace meant he was all over Urabe on several laps. He tried the outside at turn one on lap four, forced Urabe into defending on lap six, and on the last lap almost touched the rear of the leader’s car into the chicane.

Suzuki kept them in sight initially, before being gapped significantly in the last few laps. Umegaki was fourth, inherited after Omiya stopped on-track as lap two began.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 25m27.655s
2 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +4.088s
3 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +4.834s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +7.103s
5 Hibiki Komatsu Rn-sports +7.454s
6 Yu Oda Rn-sports +22.978s
7 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +30.088s
8 “Akita” Abbey Racing +40.537s
9 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +44.038s
10 Shoichiro Akamatsu Eagle Sport +46.799s
Pole: Suzuki, 1m55.928s
Fastest lap: Suzuki, 1m56.949s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Urabe 27m22.925s
2 Umegaki +1.573s
3 Omiya +2.192s
4 Komatsu +2.597s
5 Oda +17.353s
6 Inotsume +22.023s
7 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +26.732s
8 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +26.732s
9 Irie +28.945s
10 “Yugo” N-Speed +1m18.301s
P: Urabe, 1m55.160s
FL: Komatsu, 1m57.282s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Urabe 25m41.282s
2 Komatsu +0.674s
3 Suzuki +4.380s
4 Umegaki +6.026s
5 Oda +17.710s
6 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +18.361s
7 Toriba +28.715s
8 Inotsume +30.931s
9 Jia +34.546s
10 “Akita” +35.862s
P: Komatsu, 1m56.195s
FL: Komatsu, 1m58.172s

Championship standings
1 Umegaki 280   2 Suzuki 251.5   3 Urabe 187   4 Omiya 184.5   5 Oda 101.5   6 Inotsume 75   7 Lin 70   8 Toriba 70   9 Jia 65   10 Irie 49

The post Umegaki wins FRJC title in Suzuka finale after rival Suzuki crashes appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kiyoshi Umegaki grew his Formula Regional Japanese Championship lead by winning both races at Fuji Speedway on September 27.

His title rival Tokiya Suzuki topped practice, setting a 1m37.505s to lead Kento Omiya by 0.071 seconds and Umegaki by 0.095s.

The gap between them grew in qualifying, with Suzuki posting a 1m37.316s in Q1 to beat Umegaki to race one pole by 0.181s. Kazuhisa Urabe was 0.548s behind, and Omiya 0.726s off pole in fourth.

Umegaki responded in Q2, improving to 1m36.470s to pip Suzuki to race two pole by 0.083s. Urabe and Ai Miura, the 2021 FRJC runner-up, were 0.682s and 0.94s behind.

The top two were messy off the line in race one, and two drivers stalled at the back. Suzuki led into the opening corner, and would never concede first place. However his lead never grew further than 1.56s, and was 0.647s at the finish when a five-second penalty for track limits abuse meant he lost victory to Umegaki anyway.

Urabe lost third to Omiya on lap one, but reclaimed it around the outside of turn one on lap 12 of 15. Miura was on their tail thereon, but could not attempt any moves.

Chenghua Lin starting chasing Yu Oda for sixth on lap five, and got the move done into turn one next time by, and further back Anna Inotsume was busy attacking Hideaki Irie for ninth. They finally got by on lap 11 under braking for turn one.

The race’s most dramatic moment was on lap two, when “Akita” pitted with a broken front wing.

Suzuki had a slow start to race two and came under attack from Urabe through the first two corners. Soon he shook him off and filled Umegaki’s mirrors until lap 12 of 15 when he spun and dropped behind Urabe.

Starting the final lap, Urabe weaved to defend from Suzuki. He did not actually attempt an overtake until far later into the lap, then again at the finish thanks to the slipstream. He finished just 0.06s behind, with Umegaki 11.563s up the road.

Omiya lost fourth on lap eight when his rear-right wheel came off, promoting Miura into the position. Lin was fifth, having passed Oda into turn one on lap two, and “Akita” was seventh.

Zhanbin Jia overtook Shoichiro Akamatsu on lap five after forcing an error out of them through lots of pressure, then was in a four-car group. He got ahead of Irie after going side-by-side into turn one on lap eight, then Irie attacked him in return two laps later. Irie did so again at the end, but Jia held on by 0.05s.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S 24m28.449s
2 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S +4.353s
3 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +10.497s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +12.046s
5 Ai Miura Aiwin +12.781s
6 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +21.722s
7 Yu Oda Rn-sports +24.342s
8 Shoichiro Akamatsu Eagle Sport +33.998s
9 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +41.035s
10 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +42.520s
Pole: Suzuki, 1m37.316s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 1m37.372s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Umegaki 24m24.543s
2 Urabe +11.563s
3 Suzuki +11.623s
4 Miura +15.497s
5 Lin +22.630s
6 Oda +24.576s
7 “Akita” Abbey Racing +34.136s
8 Inotsume +38.479s
9 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +45.291s
10 Irie +45.341s
P: Umegaki, 1m36.470s
FL: Suzuki, 1m37.136s

Championship standings
1 Umegaki 235   2 Suzuki 211.5   3 Omiya 157.5   4 Urabe 119   5 Oda 73.5   6 Lin 62   7 Yutaka Toriba 60   8 Jia 57   9 Inotsume 57   10 Irie 45

The post Umegaki pulls away from Suzuki in FRJC title fight with Fuji double appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kiyoshi Umegaki took the Formula Regional Japanese Championship lead by winning twice at Sportsland Sugo last weekend.

Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya was quickest in practice, leading TOM’S title contenders Tokiya Suzuki and Umegaki by 0.1 and 0.189 seconds respectively.

Erstwhile points leader Suzuki topped qualifying, beating Umegaki to race one pole by 0.189s and race three pole by 0.139s (with his second-best laptime) in Q1. In Q2 he became the only driver to break into the 1m16s, with Umegaki 0.272s behind and securing second by just 0.004s over Omiya.

B-MAX Racing’s Zhanbin Jia qualified fourth for all three races, and “Yugo” was a non-qualifier due to being over 7.7s off the pace but still raced.

Suzuki built a lead so quickly in race one that he was able to spend a considerable portion of the first two laps weaving to warm his tyres.

Omiya passed Umegaki, and on lap four the trio bunched up as Yu Oda got beached in a gravel trap and the safety car appeared.

Suzuki weaved again after racing resumed on lap seven, and Omiya went deep at turn one and almost conceded second.

The next moment of drama was on lap 11, as Yutaka Toriba went slightly off at turn one and dropped from fifth to seventh before spinning at turn three as he tried reclaiming a position. He spun again on the penultimate lap.

Suzuki won by 7.62s, while Umegaki stuck with Omiya who had a slight off on lap 15 but was still able to finish the 22-lap race 0.563s ahead.

Suzuki was late to launch in race two, and Umegaki was alongside him on the inside before the opening corner. He got fully ahead by turn two.

Umegaki had to defend down the pit straight as lap two began, and Suzuki had a look down the inside at turn one. He could not do the same next time by due to Omiya being close behind, and he then made a mistake at turn two.

The top two began gapping Omiya on lap seven, and Suzuki remained in Umegaki’s slipstream. On lap 11 he dived past at Horseback corner, but went too deep and Umegaki immediately reclaimed the lead.

Umegaki was defensive as lap 12 began, and into Horseback on lap 16 but locked up. Suzuki made a failed turn one lunge on lap 18, and did not attack again.

Omiya finished 3.6s behind, and Jia soaked up pressure from Toriba before he had to defend from Oda late on.

Umegaki earned his fifth win and the points lead in race three. Suzuki had a big gap on the formation lap so his tyres had cooled by the time the other drivers lined up for the start, and with an awful start he dropped behind Umegaki and Omiya.

They ran as a trio until Umegaki pulled away slightly in the race’s second half, while Oda passed Inotsume into turn one on lap four then hunted down Jia before taking fourth from him at turn one on lap 14.

Inotsume held off Irie from lap nine until the final lap when he got past despite going off before turn three.

Results round-up
Race 1 (22 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 30m52.645s
2 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +7.620s
3 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +8.183s
4 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +26.455s
5 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +27.065s
6 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +32.516s
7 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +1m26.174s
8 “Yugo” N-Speed +1 lap
Ret Yu Oda Rn-sports
Pole: Suzuki, 1m17.231s
Fastest lap: Suzuki, 1m17.693s

Race 2 (22 laps)
1 Umegaki 28m42.983s
2 Suzuki +1.191s
3 Omiya +3.648s
4 Jia +30.948s
5 Toriba +31.666s
6 Oda +32.024s
7 Irie +36.518s
9 Inotsume +52.976s
9 “Yugo” +1 lap
P: Suzuki, 1m16.802s
FL: Suzuki, 1m17.677s

Race 3 (22 laps)
1 Umegaki 28m37.706s
2 Omiya +1.769s
3 Suzuki +2.224s
4 Oda +27.599s
5 Jia +38.070s
6 Irie +42.571s
7 Inotsume +43.017s
8 Toriba +43.261s
9 “Yugo” +1 lap
P: Suzuki, 1m17.439s
FL: Suzuki, 1m17.574s

Championship standings
1 Umegaki 185   2 Suzuki 178.5   3 Omiya 145.5   4 Kazuhisa Urabe 86   5 Toriba 60   6 Oda 59.5   7 Jia 55   8 Inotsume 51   9 Chenghua Lin 44   10 Irie 43

The post Umegaki takes FRegional Japan points lead by winning twice at Sugo appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Kazuhisa Urabe and Kiyoshi Umegaki were the winners in round three of the Formula Regional Japanese Championship season at Suzuka.

Umegaki topped both qualifying sessions, setting a 1m57.47s in Q1 to lead Urabe by 0.232 seconds and Kento Omiya by 0.628s. Points leader Tokiya Suzuki was also within a second of pole, 0.825s back.

In Q2 the pace was lowered to 1m57.009s, and Umegaki had a sizeable 0.541s advantage over Suzuki. Urabe and Omiya were split by 0.024s in third and fourth.

Race one began with Urabe and Umegaki going side-by-side into the opening corner. Umegaki conceded the lead and went off exiting turn two, dropping to fourth, then dived down the inside of Omiya into the chicane to gain back one spot.

The top three stayed close together, with Umegaki looking to make a move into the chicane on lap six. The safety car then came out, and on the lap nine restart a spinner led to racing being neutralised again.

There were two laps remaining when the next restart took place, and Suzuki attacked the leader into turn one. There was drama at the hairpin as Anna Inotsume was spun around while running in fifth, and Yuyaka Toriba began the final lap by crashing out.

Umegaki did a switchback move on Suzuki to get ahead through Spoon Curve, but Suzuki got past by staying committed on the outside through turn 15 despite almost going off.

In desperation, Umegaki lunged at the chicane and rode over the top of Suzuki’s car. While he finished third on-the-road behind Omiya, a 40s penalty dropped him to seventh. Suzuki was even less lucky, being classified eighth after failing to see the chequred flag. Yu Oda was a surprise beneficiary as they were promoted to the podium.

Race two was far blander. Umegaki covered the inside line at the start then had Suzuki and Urabe in his mirrors for a few laps. In the race’s second half he pulled away from both, winning by 3.81s to end the weekend half a point behind Suzuki. Omiya was a lonely fourth.

Results round-up  oran
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing 31m22.380s
2 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +2.517s
3 Yu Oda Rn-sports +7.003s
4 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +11.357s
5 “Yuki” Nilzz Racing +19.485s
6 Anna Initsume Hitotsuyama Racing +21.050s
7 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +44.671s
8 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S +1 lap
9 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +1 lap
Ret Zhabin Jia B-MAX Racing
Pole: Umegaki, 1m57.470s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 1m58.551s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Umegaki 25m51.885s
2 Suzuki +3.810s
3 Urabe +9.872s
4 Omiya +15.940s
5 Lin +23.758s
6 Oda +24.755s
7 Toriba +32.113s
8 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +38.753s
9 Jia +40.118s
10 Inotsume +1m08.945s
P: Umegaki, 1m57.009s
FL: Umegaki, 1m58.869s

Championship standings
1 Suzuki 120.5   2 Umegaki 120   3 Omiya 94.5   4 Urabe 86   5 Lin 44   6 Toriba 40   7 Oda 39.5   8 Inotsume 31   9 Jia 21   10 Irie 21

The post Umegaki and Urabe share FRegional Japan wins at Suzuka appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Tokiya Suzuki and Kiyoshi Umegaki shared the Formula Regional Japanese Championship wins in round two at Fuji Speedway.

Umegaki started the weekend on top, setting a 1m37.2s in practice to lead Kento Omiya by 0.036 seconds and Suzuki by 0.091s.

In qualifying one, Umegaki he posted a 1m37.811s to pip Suzuki to pole by 0.067s, as Omiya trailed by 0.561s. Kazuhisa Urabe was 0.805s behind in fourth.

A 1m37.421s earned Umegaki another pole in Q2, edging Suzuki by 0.094s. There was a gap of 0.462s to Omiya and 0.767s to Urabe.

Umegaki made a very slow start to race one and was quickly down to fourth. Suzuki led Urabe into the opening corner, and Umegaki gained back one place on lap one.

He went around the outside of Urabe down the pit straight on lap two, but went too deep into turn one and was back behind. Umegaki attacked Urabe there again on lap three, before the safety car appeared due to Anna Inotsume and Zhongwei Wang crashing at the Dunlop chicane.

Racing resumed on lap seven and Umegaki immediately attacked. He had nosed ahead on the outside by turn one but locked up so was in third once he turned in.

The inside line was chosen on lap eight, but his lunge sent him too deep and Urabe got back past by cutting the inside of turn two. When they fought again at turn three, Urabe went off to stay ahead and now Omiya was involved.

Umegaki had to defend for the rest of the lap, but the slipstream effect as they began lap nine helped him overtake Urabe before the braking zone for turn one.

Omiya pressured Urabe on lap 10, and attempt a diving move at the Dunlop chicane. That failed, and for the remainder of the race he sat behind while Umegaki halved Suzuki’s lead from 2.9s to 1.3s.

Umegaki made a better start in race two, while Omiya was slow off the line. The poleman swept to the inside to defend, as Urabe ran alongside Omiya.

There was drama at turn three and Suzuki took the lead, with Umegaki reclaiming second through a diving move at the Dunlop chicane. Urabe went off at turn 14 and fell down the order, with Chenghua Lin now fourth.

The gap between the top two was down to 0.5s on lap 15 when something went wrong for Umegaki and he dropped to 1.8s back. He responded by setting the fastest lap, and when Suzuki encountered taffic on lap 12 the double slipstream brought Umegaki back into play.

Suzuki defended on the run to turn one on lap 14, and on the final lap went deep into turn 14 and and Umegaki drove past. But Suzuki’s superior exit speed meant he led out of turn 15.

Umegaki took a deeper line into the final corner to set him up for better speed down the pit straight, and although Suzuki defended the inside there was enough space for Umegaki to get alongside and win by 0.038s.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 29m14.085s
2 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +1.308s
3 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +8.006s
4 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +8.530s
5 Chenghua Lin Ragno Motor Sport +14.578s
6 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +18.774s
7 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +27.543s
8 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +27.963s
9 “Akita” Abbey Racing +28.758s
10 Shoichiro Akamatsu Eagle Sports +31.923s
Pole: Umegaki, 1m37.811s
Fastest lap: Umegaki, 1m37.256s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Umegaki 24m29.133s
2 Suzuki +0.038s
3 Omiya +13.431s
4 Lin +22.424s
5 Toriba +25.866s
6 “Akita” +26.636s
7 Jia +41.115s
8 Akamatsu +41.975s
9 Irie +42.439s
10 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +43.143s
P: Umegaki, 1m37.421s
FL: Umegaki, 1m37.385s

Championship standings
1 Suzuki 98.5   2 Umegaki 89   3 Omiya 64.5   4 Urabe 46   5 Toriba 32   6 Lin 22   7 Inotsume 22   8 Jia 19   9 “Akita” 18   10 Irie 17

The post Umegaki denies Suzuki a FRegional Japan double at Fuji in photo finish appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: TGR NZ

Pirelli has won the tender to supply tyres to all FIA-recognised Formula Regional championships that will use the category’s second-generation chassis being introduced next year.

The FIA issued the invitiation to tender last October, and interested parties had little over a month before the deadline for submitting interest in suppling tyres for the 2026 to 2028 period.

At the time, the FIA said it would make its decision on who would win the contract no later than January 2025.

It announced its decision last Sunday (June 8), and at the same time confirmed that Pirelli would be providing tyres to all entries in the FIA FRegional World Cup-awarding 2025 Macau Grand Prix and the supporting FIA Formula 4 World Cup races.

Pirelli will develop 15-inch tyres for FRegional’s Gen2 cars, which so far means making them suit the chassis designs from Ligier and Tatuus.

“We are delighted to have been appointed sole tyre supplier for the FIA-certified FRegional championships,” said Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola.

“It is a significant endorsement of the worth of our technology, and the quality and reliability of our tyres, but above all, it recognises our ability to deliver specific products for every level of driver development, meeting the targets set by the FIA and the various promoters.”

Hankook is the current tyre supplier for FRegional Americas, Pirelli has the contract for Europe and New Zealand, Dunlop supplies in Japan and Giti Tyres is the tyre partner of FRegional Middle East and Australia’s planned AU3 championship.

“With Pirelli on board as exclusive tyre partner, FRegional is set to thrive and deliver incredible racing and greater sporting parity across our different championships so that we offer young drivers an equal opportunity to show their skill,” said the FIA’s president Mohammed ben Sulayem.

FRegional was launched as a category in 2018, and its second-generation chassis was intially set for introduction this year. However that was postponed by a year, as learned by Formula Scout in May 2024.

FRegional tyre suppliers

The post Pirelli to supply tyres for all FIA championships in FRegional Gen2 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRJC

Tokiya Suzuki left the Formula Regional Japanese Championship season opener at Okayama as points leader.

There were two practice sessions on Friday, and Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya was fastest. He set a 1m25.722s to lead TOM’S drivers Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuki by 0.179 seconds and 0.208s.

There were two qualifying sessions on Saturday, and a wet Q1 was red flagged twice due to drivers stopping on track. Suzuki earned race one pole by 2.265s over B-MAX Racing’s Kazuhisa Urabe, Omiya was a further 0.06s behind and Umegaki was also within three seconds of the pace.

Q2 was stopped early on for the same reason, but once drivers got into their runs Suzuki was able to set a 1m43.463s for race two pole. Umegaki trailed him by 0.311s, and Omiya was 1.834s slower than Suzuki in third.

Drivers’ second-best Q1 laps set race three’s grid, and Suzuki completed the triple. He claimed pole by 2.581s over Omiya.

Rain delayed the start of race one and meant it had to start behind the safety car. After completing five laps behind it, race-ending red flags waved and the results were taken from the end of lap four. Suzuki therefore took a victory that counted for half-points.

Race two on Sunday also had a delayed start and was shortened by a lap, caused by “Akita” spinning off the damp track on the formation lap. A second formation laps was added, at the end of which Suzuki and Omiya lined up in the wrong grid spots and copped five-second penalties.

A third formation lap then occurred, before Suzuki finally led the field away. Omiya started slowly and slid at turn one, then later in the lap collided with Urabe and the safety car was summoned.

Racing resumed on lap five with Omiya in second ahead of Umegaki, Rn-sports’ Yu Oda and Hitotsuyama Racing’s Anna Inotsume.

Inotsume overtook Oda, as Suzuki pulled away up front. He built a four-second lead, but in the final three laps he was way off the pace and met the chequered flag just 0.398s ahead of Omiya. Their penalties meant Umegaki won by 2.891s, with Suzuki and Oda completing the podium.

There was a rain shower before race three, but it did not prove disruptive. Suzuki led the way from pole, as Inotsume started slowly from fourth and lost positions.

A 4.5s lead was built by Suzuki before the safety car appeared as lap 10 began due to B-MAX’s Zhanbin Jia stopping at the final corner. Omiya had also gapped himself from the battling Umegaki and Urabe, who had swapped places on lap six.

Three laps of racing remained when green flags waved again, and Suzuki held off Omiya and Umegaki to win. Oda, who had started last, passed Urabe for fourth on the restart but then threw away the result by crashing on the final lap.

Results round-up
Race 1 (4 laps)
1 Tokiya Suzuki TOM’S 11m23.010s
2 Kazuhisa Urabe B-MAX Racing +0.916s
3 Kento Omiya Ponos Racing +1.288s
4 Kiyoshi Umegaki TOM’S +1.926s
5 Anna Inotsume Hitotsuyama Racing +2.646s
6 Yutaka Toriba Aiwin +3.160s
7 Hideaki Irie Fujita Pharmacy Racing +4.353s
8 “Akita” Abbey Racing +5.789s
9 Zhanbin Jia B-MAX Racing +6.564s
10 Yu Oda Rn-sports +7.629s
Pole: Suzuki, 1m44.057s
Fastest lap: Jia, 2m41.267s

Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Umegaki 30m02.239s
2 Suzuki +2.891s
3 Oda +6.974s
4 Omiya +8.289s
5 Urabe +8.430s
6 Inotsume +37.989s
7 Jia +47.602s
8 Irie +53.619s
Ret Toriba
Ret Yuki Tanaka Eagle Sports
P: Suzuki, 1m43.643s
FL: Suzuki, 1m26.810s

Race 3 (17 laps)
1 Suzuki 30m20.201s
2 Omiya +0.295s
3 Umegaki +1.186s
4 Urabe +3.717s
5 Toriba +6.361s
6 Inotsume +8.664s
7 “Akita” +11.519s
8 Irie +15.716s
9 Tanaka +16.373s
10 Oda +1 lap
P: Suzuki, 1m44.821s
FL: Suzuki, 1m26.315s

Championship standings
1 Suzuki 55.5   2 Umegaki 46   3 Omiya 37.5   4 Urabe 31   5 Inotsume 21   6 Oda 16.5   7 Toriba 14   8 Irie 11   9 “Akita” 8   10 Jia 7

The post Tokiya Suzuki starts FRegional Japan season at Okayama with two wins appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: TGR NZ

FRegional was launched as a category in 2018, and its first-generation cars put on a show again this year

This year was due to be the last for Formula Regional as we know it before second-generation cars are introduced but, as Formula Scout was first to report, that plan was pushed back to 2026 with the approval of teams in various championships.

Currently Dome, Ligier and Tatuus supply chassis for the category, which is in its seventh year of competition, and Tatuus was the dominant brand on the market not only in how many of its cars are racing but also the fact that the base design for the T-318 has been modified for different series and for different engine suppliers. But in North America it’s Ligier that rules.

United States

FRegional Americas may have had three half-point races and an odd non-championship encounter in 2024, but the season did start with 15 cars. The only other times the championship has surpassed 14 cars on track were the first two rounds of 2020. Impressively a grid of 15 was also achieved for the season finale, although the top two in the standings were absent.

Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport fielded nine of the entries in round one at NOLA Motorsports Park, and Patrick Woods-Toth comfortably claimed pole. His team-mate Ryan Shehan snuck to the inside of him at the start of race one, but Cole Kleck got even tighter to the inside and took third. By turn six he was in the lead.

Shehan was down to fourth when the pace car appeared on lap three, and after a second caution period the race was red flagged and restarted. DD Autosport’s Kleck won as the action died down entirely.

Race two turned up the chaos again, with the pace car needed on lap one. Crosslink/Kiwi’s Titus Sherlock led at that point, but after racing resumed he had two huge lock-ups and dropped to 11th before another caution period. Kleck was in front when red flags then waved, and a move by Velox USA’s Nicolas Ambiado on Kleck at turn two in the restarted race sent both deep and put Woods-Toth in the lead. Red flags waved again the lap after, and Woods-Toth was declared victor ahead of Kleck.

Photo: FR Americas

There was similar action in race three, and Shehan won by avoiding it all. Woods-Toth and Kleck completed the podium, albeit meeting the chequered flag behind the pace car.

The non-championship Laguna Seca event followed, and there were four drivers, two qualifying sessions but only one race due to worsening weather. That was race two, confusingly, meaning Crosslink/Kiwi’s Jett Bowling started on pole. However he immediately lost that advantage to Sherlock, who didn’t look back en route to victory.

That form continued into round two at Road America, where he took two wins and a second place. Woods-Toth topped qualifying and should’ve finished far ahead of Sherlock in race one if not for the pace car, and in race two there were mistakes by the pair and Shehan that led to an odd finishing order. Sherlock led home Shehan by eight seconds, and Woods-Toth was a lapped 12th. Race three, again, was similar. Sherlock won, Shehan had an off but finished second and took the points lead, and Woods-Toth was third before spinning out and causing a caution period that the race ended under.

A first ever visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway was next up, and Woods-Toth pipped Shehan to pole on the circuit’s road course, and reclaimed the points lead by beating him to race one victory. The calmness disappeared for the other races, again.

In race two there was an early caution period, after which Sherlock took the lead as Shehan sent Woods-Toth into a half-spin. Shehan soon led, as Sherlock suddenly slowed then stopped with a race-ending problem. Bowling inherited second before another caution period, which eradicated the big gaps that had appeared. Nicola Havrda (another Crosslink/Kiwi driver) was third until the final lap when Ambiado passed her. He then spun, and his engine set on fire, so she returned to the podium. Shehan also returned to the points lead by winning, and Woods-Toth recovered to sixth and clinched race three pole by setting the fastest lap. He converted that into victory in a chaotic red-flagged encounter.

The bedlam started early at Mid-Ohio, as Sherlock had a brake failure in practice that led to a high-speed crash, a hopital trip and having to withdraw. Shehan made early moves in both of the event’s races to win twice.

Photo: FR Americas

Sherlock returned at New Jersey Motorsports Park, but the grid shank to nine cars. Woods-Toth had his own heavy crash before racing began, which led to his fastest qualifying lap being deleted. He still took race one pole, but once Sherlock got ahead of him early in the race he had enough in hand to keep the lead, and Ambiado took second on the last lap.

Ambiado dominated race two, then Woods-Toth soaked up pressure from him to win race three and reclaim the points lead as Shehan had already ended his campaign. His absence made Woods-Toth’s job considerably easier on home soil at Mosport, FRegional Americas’ first ever races in Canada, and a triple win delivered him the title.

That meant he could skip the finale at Circuit of the Americas, where Sherlock won from pole in race one and debuting USF Juniors graduates Bruno Ribeiro (IGY6) and Brady Golan (Toney Driver Development) evaded the usual chaos to finish one-two. Bowling retired and Sherlock was sixth, meaning both just missed out on demoting Shehan from second in the points.

Four of the series’ racers also appeared in FRegional Western, which never surpassed four cars. Crosslink/Kiwi’s Landan Matriano Lim, eighth in the FRegional Americas standings, took the title with eight wins from the nine races he started, with Bowling the only driver who was able to beat him and doing so at Thunderhill Raceway Park.

At Sonoma Raceway there was no Lim, and Jensen Global Advisors’s Jake Pollack appeared to beat World Speed Motorsports’ Jay Horak to victory in both races. Those were two of Horak’s six runner-up finishes, and he was third in every other race. Lim became champion with a race to spare so skipped the finale, which Atlantic Racing Team’s James Lawley won to come fourth in the standings behind fellow part-timer Larry Schnur (World Speed). The planned winter series didn’t go ahead.

Europe

Photo: Eurocup-3

Created last year as a series for drivers and teams from Spanish F4 to step up into, Eurocup-3 took the Tatuus’s T-318 and put a tuned-up engine in it as well adding a new Tatuus-designed bodykit to improve performance.

It began 2024 with a non-championship event at Motorland Aragon, and the pole positions went to Campos Racing’s Christian Ho and MP Motorsport’s Valerio Rinicella. It was windy in race one and Ho succumbed to pressure from MP’s Javier Sagrera and Rinicella. The latter passed his team-mate two laps from the end for the win.

Ho passed Rinicella straight away in race two, but once the pair started battling it brought Sagrera into play too and he managed to get past both. Rinicella got back ahead of him to lead, then second place went to Ho when Sagrera retired with a car issue. He was already far behind Rinicella though, so couldn’t stop him from winning.

That proved to be a pretty accurate preview of what was to come, as Ho and Sagrera fought for the title and ended the season just two points apart. What wasn’t representative was the utterly chaotic opening round at Spa-Francorchamps.

Live timing was not available, and heavy rain led to practice and qualifying being cancelled. Race one took place on a wet track, with the first three laps running behind the safety car and with MP’s pre-event testing pacesetter Owen Tangavelou on pole. Except he didn’t make it to the grid, so Sagrera led the field into green flag action. The safety car was back out by lap five, and conditions had worsended considerably when the next restart occurred on lap eight.

Sainteloc Racing’s Alexander Abkhazava tried passing Sagrera around the outside at Les Combes but ran out of room, cut the next corner and rejoined ahead. By slowing to let Sagrera back past he obstructed Palou Motorsport’s Kirill Smal, who then went off. Several drivers ran out of grip at the Bruxelles hairpin and went off, and the track became ever more treacherous.

Palou’s Luciano Morano crashed heading up Eau Rouge then was hit at high speed by Drivex School’s Gaspard Le Gallais, who had lost control of his car when he spun at Raidillon. A wheel was ripped off in the collision and it rolled further up the track. Red flags waved, and the race results were taken from the end of lap seven. That meant Sagrera won by 0.9s.

Photo: Eurocup-3

Race two didn’t go ahead, so an additional race was added to the Algarve round. The paddock headed to the Red Bull Ring first, and Tangavelou took a lights-to-flag win in race one. Ho took pole for race two but started slowly and MP’s Bruno del Pino got past him. He then managed the pace to win, as a track limits penalty dropped Ho behind Sagrera and Tangavelou.

Ho was finally able to turn a pole into a win in race one at Algarve, and in race two he had to pass pole-sitting team-mate Valentin Kluss then nail a safety car restart to take another victory. Tangavelou got through a messy race in fifth and with the points lead. Abkhazava, del Pino and Ho disputed the lead in race three, but Ho then retired his car and failed weaving by del Pino led to Abkhazava taking his first win ahead of Sagrera and Kluss.

At Paul Ricard the points lead went to Ho as he took two poles and converted them into a second place and a win. Once again a bad opening lap was his undoing in race one, with del Pino taking the lead and going on to win. Del Pino started race two from the pits and recovered to 10th.

After a run of three podiums in a row but no wins, Sagrera raised him game at Zandvoort by obliterating the opposition in qualifying and then winning twice. Safety car interruptions, red flags and rain made his race one success particularly difficult, then in race two he survived a clash with del Pino to beat him to victory and demote Ho to second in the standings.

Campos’s mid-season signing Jesse Carrasquedo Jr pipped Sagrera to race one pole at Aragon by 0.01 seconds. Sagrera was slow off the line, battling Tangavelou as Ho took second. Tangavelou found a gap between the pit wall and Sagrera approaching the first corner, but as they turned in contact was made that sent Sagrera spinning into retirement. Tangavelou later retired too. The safety car came out, and when racing resumed Carrasquedo resisted multiple attacks from Ho to win.

The retirees bounced back the next day, with Tangavelou taking pole and Sagrera winning race two. A formation lap crash delayed the start, and del Pino went side-by-side with Tangavelou through lap one. That went wrong when they tried to continue it into lap two, del Pino going off and Sagrera moving past into a lead he wouldn’t give up. Del Pino did boost his title hopes though, drawing level with Ho on points after he finished ninth.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Ho reduced Sagrera’s lead by two points at Jerez, starting the weekend off by pipping del Pino and Sagrera to race one pole. Showing he was not under pressure, he then dominated the race as del Pino went points-free after stalling.

It was a different story the next day. Del Pino converted his first pole into a third win, Sagrera was second and Ho was fifth.

Seven guest drivers joined the grid for the Barcelona season finale, and outshining the title contenders at first was MP’s Emmo Fittipaldi. He took pole then fended off Ho in a dicey battle to win race one, with Drivex’s guesting Nikita Bedrin losing third to a penalty. Del Pino moved onto the podium, 11.5s behind the winner, and Sagrera got the points for fifth – the position Bedrin was classified in.

It was now a two-way fight, and Ho put in pole for the decider while Sagrera qualified fifth after Tangavelou was penalised. Ho did all he could up front, taking the point for fastest lap and distancing himself from Fittipaldi in second, and Bedrin was third. Global Racing Service’s Mari Boya, another guest driver, tried taking fifth from Sagrera but it meant little since he got the points for fourth place and with it the title.

The Ultimate Cup Series split its Formula Cup for FRegional cars into two classes this year as teams could choose whether to enter on 13 or 17-inch tyres. Initially the latter option was more popular, with seven of the nine drivers choosing the larger tyres for the season opener at Paul Ricard. But teenaged sophomore Marius Mezard (Sports Promotion) took pole by 1.879s on 13-inch rubber and converted it into a 10.968s victory over French Formula 4 graduate Enzo Richer (Formula Motorsport) in race one. Sportscar regular Milane Petelet (Krafft Racing) was just behind in third.

Mezard had an even bigger gap up front in race two, with Petelet far ahead of Richer in second and third, and it was a similar story in race three with Richer runner-up once more.

Photo: Alexandre Rodrigues

There were 14 entries for round two at Algarve, and all but three were now using 13-inch tyres. Adrien Closmenil, a rival of Richer in French F4 last year, beat him to pole by 0.371s and then drove his Winfield Racing School-supported car (with the company preparing to run its own cars in 2025) to race one victory by 7.903s as Richer had to work his way past Petelet for second after falling behind on lap one.

Richer took the lead on lap one of race two then profited from Mezard and Closmenil squabbling behind to have an assured drive to victory. Closmenil secured second place on the penultimate lap and was 0.237s behind Richer at the finish, but then got a 30s penalty which dropped him to 11th.

Race three was a thriller, with Closmenil, Mezard, Petelet, Richer and ArtLine Engineering’s Francisco Soldavini (who raced in FRegional Europe last year) fighting each other almost non-stop for the win. There were officially four different leaders, and Soldavini’s last-lap pass after going four-wide at turn five earned him victory. He beat Closmenil by 0.104s in a photo finish, and Richer was third.

The grid shrank to seven entries at Hockenheim, all on 13-inch tyres, and Soldavini claimed a double pole after going fastest by 0.805s over Richer. He maintained that pace advantage in race one, winning by 8.556s. Rain hit the next day, and the top two had to be careful throughout race two. In slippy conditions there was only two attempts at the lead by Richer, and Soldavini held on by 0.3s.

The track had dried in time for race three, but there was more drama as a mechanical problem forced Soldavini into retirement after a lap and Richer had a 30s penalty for crossing the pit exit line. He went on a charging drive and easily overcame his penalty as he was victorious by 17.675s over team-mate and gentleman driver Aubin Robert-Prince.

Photo: Davy Delien

Mugello also had no cars shod with 17-inch tyres competing, and the grid grew to 10 cars. Soldavini went off twice in qualifying, causing red flag interruptions, but still claimed another pole. A third of a second behind him in second place was Eurocup-3 star Abkhazava, driving for his family’s Artline team. Richer qualified third and held his position for five laps in race one before crashing out at turn five, leaving Abkhazava unchallenged in second.

Soldavini built a gap on lap one of race two to set up another win, as Richer held off the faster Abkhazava for second, and in race three Abkhazava had a go at his team-mate before settling in behind. Richer was a distant third, and left Mugello chasing rather than leading Soldavini in the title fight.

The pair had another new rival at Magny-Cours, as French F4 race-winner Dylan Estre stepped up to UCS to be team-mate to Richer. Soldavini was 0.4s up on both in qualifying, but on second-best laptimes he was behind Richer and Estre.

It got worse for him in race one as he stalled and immediately lost his pole advantage to Richer. He managed to get back ahead on lap two, only for Estre to misjudge an attempted pass on Richer and instead knock Soldavini out of the race as he locked up. Estre was handed a drive-through penalty but recovered to second as Richer had an easy route to victory.

Rain hit halfway through race two, and the safety car appeared once a backmarker crashed out. Soldavini used the opportunity to pit for grooved tyres, dropping from third to sixth by doing so, but the lack of green flag action after that meant he was locked into the position while Richer won again.

It was soaking wet for race three, and a Formula Renault 2.0 car driven by Nano Lopez took the overall win by 20s. Estre was the FRegional victor by 3.221s over Richer, who grew his points lead over Soldavini in third.

There were 15 cars for the Paul Ricard finale, and the returning Closmenil set the pole position time by 0.473s over Estre.

Photo: Davy Delien

Richer was almost a second off pole in third, but had the title all but secured as Soldavini was absent. He jumped up to second at the start of race one, but remained unable to match Closmenil’s pace as he pulled away for his second win. At least Richer knew he only needed half a point from the remaining two races to get the title in the bag.

Closmenil was set to win race two until a technical issue put him out with two laps to go, and Estre inherited victory by 1.01s. Richer was second, beating Lopez (now in a FRegional car) in a photo finish.

The champion started the final race from pole, but a car problem dropped him to third. Estre was again the chief beneficiary, but he was tracked down and passed by Closmenil who won by 1.105s.

Japan

Michael Sauter had two podium-free ADAC F4 seasons and came third in the 2023 F4 Central European Zone standings with his family’s team, so his switch to FRegional Japanese Championship late last year was a surprise in itself. But it was a place where podiums were likely given historically small grid sizes, and in the second of two outings he took a win and two poles. It turned out he could maintain that sort of form over a whole season in 2024, winning six races out of 14.

Boosting this year’s grid size was a new driver development programme set up by G Force Engineering, which put Sauter and Formula Ford star Sebastian Manson at the Birth Racing Project team and F4 race-winner Jesse Lacey at Bionic Jack Racing.

Sutekina Racing Team’s cameoing Jiei Okuzumi started the season on top by winning a slippy opening race at Suzuka as Manson and Sauter crashed out. Multiple formation laps and safety car errors were the big stories of the next two races, both won by Sauter. Fuma Horio replaced Okuzumi at Sportsland SUGO, and dominated his debut race. He passed Manson to win race two, as Sauter took the points lead.

Photo: FRJC

His gap at the top of the standings grew with two wins at Okayama, and it would’ve been three if not for a penalty in race two. He had jumped the start, but his pace advantage meant Lacey was the only driver to benefit from his 10s penalty.

Sauter did the double at Twin Ring Motegi, but only after Manson threw away race one victory at the final corner of race one. Horio crossed the line 0.187s behind Manson, then drove into the back of his car and flew over the top of it. Their destroyed chassis skated towards turn one before coming to a stop, and Manson was handed a one-lap penalty which dropped him to sixth. Race two was dominated by Sauter, and he now had one hand on the title with two rounds to go.

Horio was absent thereon, but Toyota entered its junior and F4 regular Yuki Sano at Fuji Speedway and he distracted from the title fight by winning all four of the races he contested and therefore coming fifth in the standings. Sauter meanwhile had a three-race podium-free run, with a crash and a clutch issue in the first Fuji round and then finishing fourth in race one of the season finale. In race two he was third, and Manson became championship runner-up by coming home eighth.

Middle East

FRegional Middle East actually only took place in the United Arab Emirates, and was used as a winter warm-up by drivers whose primary programmes for 2024 included Formula 2 and Formula 3. There were 35 drivers who took part over the five rounds, but only six race-winners.

PHM Racing’s F2-bound Taylor Barnard kicked things off on Yas Marina Circuit’s Corkscrew layout with a double pole, and he turned the first of those into a dominant win ahead of R-ace GP’s Tuukka Taponen and Martinius Stenshorne.

Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad, driving one of Prema’s Mumbai Falcons-branded cars, won from reversed-grid pole in race two as Stenshorne took the points lead. He added to that by winning race three, but his move for the lead on Barnard was deemed to be illegal and a five-second penalty therefore handed victory and first place in the standings to Barnard.

Photo: FRME

Round two took place at the same track, but on the full layout, and Taponen beat Barnard to two poles in qualifying. However it was Stenshorne and Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael he had to fight for race one victory, with three-wide and off-track moments before Taponen established himself in the lead and pulled away. Stenshorne reclaimed the points lead.

Nael was penalised for contact with Barnard (who was suffering from engine issues), which lifted him to third on race two’s grid. A strong start meant he led before turn one, and went on to win. Taponen led Nael in race three, and moved to the top of the points table as a result.

Dubai Autodrome hosted round three. Barnard beat Mumbai Falcons’ Rafael Camara to race one pole by 0.047s, and Camara edged Taponen and Barnard to race three pole by 0.01s and 0.074s respectively. Taponen was all over Barnard through the opening lap of race one, then settled for second behind him until lap 11 when he attacked again.

Barnard again kept him at bay, and soaked up the continuing pressure for his third win. MP’s Nikhil Bohra controlled race two, then Camara won race three but had to pass Taponen twice for it after falling behind on each of the first two laps. Brando Badoer beat team-mate Taylor Barnard to third after their own back-and-forth battle.

The paddock returned to Abu Dhabi for round four, although Stenshorne and Lindblad were no longer racing so it effectively became a two-way title fight. Both topped a qualifying session, and Barnard saw off engine concerns and then Taponen to win race one. Safety car periods filled the reversed-grid race, and the first undid del Pino’s early work to make a gap up front.

His front-right wheel then broke and he crashed out, leading to the safety car’s return and putting Camara in the lead. He went unchallenged at the next restart, then met the chequred flag behind the safety car as more drivers retired. Taponen finished fifth and grew his points lead as a penalty left Barnard in 14th.

Barnard’s weekend got even worse in race three, immediately losing ground and being unable to recover it. Although this time he finished fifth, Taponen’s drive from pole to victory meant the title was all but decided.

Photo: FRME

Qualifying at the Dubai finale only further cementedthat, as Taponen clinched two poles over Badoer and Barnard struggled to 12th in Q1 then was fifth in Q2. He recovered to eighth in race one, and Taponen cruised to a win that made him champion. Barnard repeated his 2023 placing of seond in the standings by winning race two. He was in fifth after an early safety car period, but after a later restart it became a six-way lead fight and he got the lead after Pinnacle Motorsport’s Boya went off.

The season ended with another controlling drive from Taponen, and Camara secured third in the standings by beating Barnard to eighth place in the race.

New Zealand

There was wet-weather action that helped spice up the FRegional Oceania action at the start of 2024, which pitted local talents against international names who were looking for a warm and dry way to begin their year.

Red flags meant the first qualifying session at Taupo switched from wet to dry, and F3 racer Christian Mansell set the pace. He lost the lead of race one at the start to Roman Bilinski though, and the M2 Competition driver flew away to win by a huge margin. Giles Motorsport driver Mansell responded by topping the next qualifying session, but before he could have another go at starting from pole there was the reversed-grid race. Giles’ Alex Crosbie led at first, but safety car interruptions left him susceptible to attacks at the end and M2’s Gerrard Xie and Bilinski drove by him.

An incident in that race meant Mansell didn’t start race three from pole, but he went from fifth to second on the opening lap, swept past M2’s Liam Sceats on lap four then led the way until Bilinski went by him a few laps from the end.

Bilinski bettered Mansell again in Q1 at Manfeild, and led lights-to-flag in race one. Mansell should’ve been second, but he stopped with an electrical problem and then had to climb back up to fifth from 10th place. That at least gave him a decent starting position for the wet reversed-grid race, which he won and Bilinski finished off the lead lap of due to a rain light issue.

In Q2 it was Bilinski though who had the edge on pace, and in a red-flagged race three which was shortened after being hit by intense rain he was victorious yet again. Mansell was again his closest rival, but left the championship after that.

Sceats now became Bilinski’s closest title rival, but at Hampton Downs both were off the pace in Q1 and Xie took pole on a damp track. Bilinski was 14th fastest, and Sceats was the only driver within a second of Xie so actually earned a front row spot.

The changing weather continued into race one, and Bilinski stormed through the order before a storm hit and red flags waved. Some drivers had opted for wet-weather tyres prior to that due to rain earlier in the day, but Bilinski and Sceats made the right choice on slicks and had gone side-by-side several times before the safety car and then the red flags ended their battle and decided the race in Bilinski’s favour.

Bilinski denied Xie another pole by 0.034s in Q2, and in race two Niko Lacorte led Michael Shin in an M2 one-two. Xie spent most of the race in a battle for third with Kiwi’s Woods-Toth, which eventually allowed Bilinski to go past both, and the race was ended early when Xie drove over the back of Woods-Toth and then into the barriers. He was classified fifth, behind Woods-Toth, and Sceats was sixth.

Xie had to miss race three, putting Giles’ Kaleb Ngatoa on the front row. He profited from Bilinski locking up to take the lead early on, then held off the points leader to win.

The margins in qualifying were close again in Q1 at Ruapuna, as Bilinski edged Sceats by 0.061s. After a lap one incident caused a lengthy red flag stoppage, Bilinski resisted race-long pressure from Sceats to win and Indy Nxt racer Jacob Abel finished third on his comeback to the championship.

There was another lap one clash in race two, between Shin and Woods-Toth, but both emerged unscathed. Shin won by a dominant 12.7s, and Woods-Toth held back Bilinski to be third. Bilinski claimed pole for race three, the Lady Wigram Trophy, but lost the lead to Sceats on lap one and couldn’t get it back. Abel was a distant third.

Photo: TGR NZ

The final round at Highlands Motorsport Park had an altered qualifying format, and a big title twist. Q1 set race one’s grid, then only the top 13 progressed to Q2. The top eight in that segment progressed to Q3, where it was decided who would start on pole for the season-ending New Zealand Grand Prix.

Bilinski was topping the times in Q1 before crashing out and putting his participation in race one – let alone the rest of qualifying – at risk. He progressed to Q2 due to his pace, but couldn’t take part, so lined up a penalised fourth for race one and 12th for the grand prix after Ngatoa withdrew. MTEC Motorsport’s cameoing Callum Hedge (the reigning FRegional Americas champion and FRegional Oceania runner-up) was fastest in Q2, and in Q3 it was initially Abel who was quickest before Sceats squeaked onto pole by 0.036s over Hedge.

A faultless drive from Sceats to win race one kept the title fight going, and Hedge defended perfectly to keep Bilinski in third. M2’s Bryce Aron led all the way in race two, although at one point he was under pressure from Bilinski. He had spent a long time to get past Woods-Toth, and his attempts to clear Aron led to him dropping back to third, where he remained to the finish. Regardless, the result won him the title.

The grand prix, won convincingly by Sceats, was clean until the race’s final corner. Aron hit the wall and Bilinski had no time to avoid, going into the back of him but still passing him for fifth. Crosbie met the chequered flag just 0.001s behind Aron.

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