Photo: Bruce Jenkins / TGR NZ

Zack Scoular will switch to sportscar racing after reaching a new high in his single-seater career, winning the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Last year the 18-year-old Kiwi was Formula Regional Oceania runner-up with MTEC Motorsport, then went points-free in Eurocup-3 and its winter series with Palou Motorsport.

He began 2026 by returning to home soil and MTEC’s line-up in FRegional Oceania, and while he was only seventh in the standings he did win three races including his landmark season-ending triumph.

“I can’t believe it. Oh my days,” was his reaction following victory after getting out of the cockpit. “We’ve had such a tough year. The pace we’ve showed all year was really good, just so many unlucky moments, but to top it off like that – probably the last race I’ll have in single-seaters for the time, for the future. I can’t thank the team at MTEC enough, my family, everyone else involved. It means so much.”

On the grand prix’s safety car finish, he added: “I didn’t really have that much words. Towards the end of the race we started pulling out a bit of a gap, starting getting my head down a bit after managing the tyre. But then as soon as I saw that safety car, I sort of knew, and I was like ‘we just have to get it around for one more lap’.”

For a second successive season, Scoular was backed by the Tony Quinn Foundation. He won its shootout in 2024, and “to be able to still carry the TQF on my racesuit means so much”.

Scoular’s comment on his career future relates to him swapping junior single-seaters for junior sportscars. He will join R-ace GP (best known for its junior single-seater exploits) in the Le Mans Cup later this year to drive an LMP3 prototype.

In the Asian and European Le Mans Series the team is runnning Hugo Schwarze, with fellow GB3 race-winner Lucas Fluxa, Eurocup-3 drivers Luciano Morano and Lenny Ried, and FIA Formula 3 podium-finisher Callum Voisin also on the ALMS grid in LMP3 cars.

USF2000 midfielder Lucas Fecury and Formula 4 graduate Alexander Jacoby will be in the Le Mans Cup’s LMP3 entry list.

Scoular won the New Zealand GP by passing Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura through the race’s first corner then managing his pace at the front. Nakamura was visibly upset when speaking to media post-race, despite it being his fifth runner-up finish of the season and his birthday.

“I’m a bit disappointed for this [result]. I had a bad start again. Yep, that’s it,” he said. “I’m happy to be here [fourth in the points table].”

After claiming his and Hitech’s first FRegional Oceania win earlier in the day, Kanato Le finished third. He praised the two drivers ahead was “really happy”, calling it “a massive honour and a really nice end” to the season by finishing on the podium.

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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)

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Photo: TGR NZ

Kanato Le delivered his and Hitech GP’s first Formula Regional Oceania win in the penultimate race of the season at Highlands Motorsport Park.

From reversed-grid pole, Le controlled the 18-lap race from the front and avoided being attacked after a safety car period.

A great launch meant he was far ahead of the battle for second on lap one. HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed team-mates Liam Sceats and James Wharton started second and third, and ran side-by-side through the first corner.

Wharton had the inside line into the bus stop chicane and got ahead, and just behind them MTEC Motorsport team-mates Louis Sharp and Ryan Wood clashed. Wood was sent off, then bounched high over the kerbs as he rejoined. M2 Competition’s points leader Ugo Ugochukwu had to take evasive action, but still gained a place on the opening lap.

Le had a 0.869-second gap heading into lap two, and behind Sharp were M2’s Freddie Slater, Wood, Ugochukwu and Hitech’s Jin Nakamura.

Wood attacked Slater after crossing the bridge on lap seven, and two laps later MTEC’s Yuanpu Cui went spinning off exiting the turn 14 hairpin and got beached, prompting the safety car to come out for five laps.

Four laps remained when racing resumed, and Le continued where he left off up front. Wood forced Slater into defending at the hairpin on lap 15, then a lap later was in defensive mode himself against Ugochukwu. Racing was neutralised once more on lap 17 as HMD’s Ricardo Baptista crashed out.

Behind the top eight at the finish was Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David, who had held off MTEC’s Zack Scoular.

The race results meant Sharp and Nakamura were eliminated from title contention, leaving Ugochukwu and Slater to contend for the crown in the season-ending New Zealand Grand Prix.

Race results (18 laps)

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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)

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Photo: TGR NZ

Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura claimed pole for the 2026 New Zealand Grand Prix by topping the final stage of qualifying at Highlands Motorsport Park.

The session was split into three segments, with the top 14 progressing from Q1 to Q2, then the top eight during the second period of track action making it to Q3. That group then fought for pole in the grand prix, the last race of Formula Regional Oceania’s season.

Liam Sceats, returning to the grid after winning the grand prix in 2024, was fastest at first in Q1 ahead of HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed team-mate James Wharton and Nakamura.

Louis Sharp moved to the top six minutes into the 15-minute session, a 1m29.577s putting him ahead of team-mate Ryan Wood by just 0.005 seconds. Zack Scoular made it an MTEC Motorsport 1-2-3, 0.222s behind, and Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David was fourth until Nakamura lowered the pace to 1m29.06s.

At that point his Hitech team-mate Kanato Le jumped to second, 0.192s off Nakamura’s pace, HMD’s returnee James Wharton improved to fifth and David was shuffled down to eighth. M2 Competition’s title contenders Ugo Ugochukwu and Freddie Slater were faring very badly, sitting 15th and 16th.

But approaching the halfway mark of the 15-minute session, Slater posted a 1m28.945s to go fastest and Wood set a 1m29.077s to sit third ahead of Le and M2’s Ernesto Rivera. Ugochukwu was now down in 19th, which was last place as Hitech GP’s Kalle Rovanpera was absent due to illness that manifested that followed pre-event testing.

Sharp returned to first place by 0.119s, but Nakamura shaved 0.07s off that benchmark and Le improved to 1m29.135s in fifth. A pace gain of almost 0.7s lifted Ugochukwu from last to first eight-and-a-half minutes in, a 1m28.735s getting him ahead of Nakamura by 0.021s.

With four-and-a-half minutes to go, Scoular and Wood moved into third and fourth with a 0.003s gap between them, and on the next lap there were marginal gains. Ugochukwu lowered the pace by 0.017s, Nakamura improved by 0.001s and Wood found 0.014s in improvements to rise to third.

Nakamura usurped Ugochukwu in the final 30s, edging ahead by 0.013s as Sharp matched Ugochukwu’s pace. Scoular made a gain in fourth, and there were no post-chequered flag improvements. Among the eliminated was Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin.

Q2 was 10 minutes, and Nakamura was first to the top. He had a huge 1.447s gap to Le five-and-a-half minutes in, then Sceats slashed it to 0.781s, and Sharp also got within a second of him. At this point Slater was seventh and Ugochukwu had only done an outlap.

When Nakamura brought the pace down to 1m28.944s with three minutes to go, Slater became his closest rival 0.111s behind and the top nine all lapped sub-1m30s. Ugochukwu was still without a flying lap.

Slater went fastest with one minute left on the clock, setting a 1m28.486s to lead Wood by 0.276s and Sceats by 0.278s. Everyone improved including Ugochukwu, who was now 13th. He moved up to 10th with his next effort, then was demoted to 11th as Wharton went 10th quickest at the chequered flag. With his own final lap, Ugochukwu leapt up to fifth to secured his Q3 spot.

Le got within 0.153s of Slater after that, and Scoular lapped 0.215s off him to demote Wood to fourth.

Nakamura ended Q2 in seventh, but returned to the fore in the 12-minute Q3. He was on top until Sceats set a 1m29.388s six minutes in, then the next laps were in the 1m28s for most. Nakamura posted a 1m28.339s to lead Slater by 0.279s and Sceats by 0.307s, then Wood got within 0.205s of the provisional poleman.

Ugochukwu reduced that gap to the top down to 0.148s on his next lap, and Le demoted Slater to fifth.

Wood improved again in the final two minutes, but remained 0.1s from pole, and Scoular edged ahead of Le. The only change after that was Sharp beating Sceats to seventh after the chequered flag, and grand prix pole went to Nakamura.

Qualifying results

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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

Jin Nakamura was fastest in Formula Regional Oceania free practice at Highlands Motorsport Park, as Liam Sceats returned to the grid.

Sceats was championship runner-up in 2024 and won the New Zealand Grand Prix, and the 20-year-old Kiwi is aiming to repeat the latter feat this weekend as that race wraps up the season.

He has joined HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’s line-up in a deal that was only struck last weekend, and he knows both teams in the joint entry well. In 2024 he came fifth in USF Pro 2000 with TJ Speed, and last year he stepped up to Indy Nxt with HMD for a part-time campaign and had a best finish of sixth place en route to 18th in the standings.

Sceats got back in the FRegional cockpit during pre-event testing on Thursday, which was split into two sessions. M2 Competition’s Ugo Ugochukwu was quickest with a 1m29.206s lap, and he had gaps of 0.125 seconds and 0.163s to MTEC Motorsport’s Ryan Wood and Louis Sharp in second and third.

HMD with TJ Speed’s James Wharton, returning to the paddock after missing a round, was fourth fastest and Sceats was 1.317s off the pace in 16th after six months out of action.

Practice followed on Friday, and in FP1 it was Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura who set the pace. His final-lap 1m28.279s effort earned him top spot by just 0.043s over Wharton, with Ugochukwu also within 0.1s of him. Kanato Le (Hitech), Yuanpu Cui (MTEC) and Freddie Slater (M2) all trailed by less than a quarter of a second, Sceats was seventh and a second split the top 17.

FP2 was a slightly slower session, as a 1m28.567s was enough to put Zack Scoular (MTEC) on top and lift him from 17th to seventh overall in the combined classifications of the two sessions. He edged Ugochukwu by 0.095s, Sceats by 0.13s and Nakamura by 0.153s. Scoular was the sole driver in the 19-car field to improve on their FP1 pace.

In FP3, Wood was fastest. He set a 1m28.791s late on, improving on another sub-1m29s laptime that had been deleted, and led Wharton by 0.069s. Sceats was 0.258s back in third, and Sharp was 0.598s off in fourth. Nobody set personal bests, and Scoular was absent.

Free practice results

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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: TGR NZ

Ugo Ugochukwu kept the Formula Regional Oceania points lead in round two at Taupo as Ryan Wood won the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy.

Wood and James Wharton had won the first two races two weekends ago, and drivers’ combined fastest laps from those two encounters set the grid for race three on Sunday.

That put MTEC Motorsport’s Zack Scoular on pole, ahead of Freddie Slater (M2 Competition), Wood (MTEC), Wharton (HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed), points leader Ugo Ugochukwu (M2), Fionn McLaughlin (Hitech GP) and Louis Sharp (MTEC).

Scoular initially moved to the outside then swept back to the inside on the run to the race’s opening corner, and while he was under attack then he had a gap by turn four as Wood fought with Slater. Further back, McLaughlin lost out in a battle with fellow Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera that sent him down to 12th place.

There was a 2.42s gap between the top two by lap three, which Slater gradually reduced to 1.7s before Scoular pulled away again to be 8.4s clear by the finish. Wood kept with Slater but was never close enough to attack him after lap one, and Ugochukwu got into fourth before trouble at turn 11 on lap five cast him to 16th and he had to work his way back up to 11th.

Sharp inherited fourth, having overtaken Wharton on lap three, and kept the position for the rest of the 18-lap race.

The battle for sixth was full of drama. Kanato Le overtook Hitech team-mate Jin Nakamura down the back straight using push-to-pass on lap three, then got by Rivera on lap four after he had a big lock-up at the turn 11 hairpin. However Rivera got back past before the chicane, and they had contact at turn one on lap five. Le was sent off briefly on the outside, and he lost several places including falling behind McLaughlin at turn nine.

Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David was next to attack Rivera, but he had his own major lock-up into the chicane on lap six to avoid contact with him. That left him then defending against M2’s Sebastian Manson, until he got tipped into a spin by McLaughlin when they reached turn one.

McLaughlin passed Cui into the chicane on lap eight then joined David in the train of cars behind Rivera. David had another off at the chicane on lap 12, leaving McLaughlin, Le and Cui as Rivera’s chasers. Rivera was overtaken down the back straight on lap 14 by McLaughlin, and Le was nosing into the rear of his car on the next lap but Rivera stayed ahead after locking up into the chicane.

Next time by Le and Cui cleared him in one move, and the second group of cars had closed back in. David snuck down Rivera’s inside into turn one on lap 17, then gained another spot as Cui picked up damage that sent him into retirement.

After McLaughlin and Rivera were handed time penalties post-race, it led to Nolan Allaer (Giles Motorsport) and Cooper Shipman (Kiwi) completing the top 10.

There was a second qualifying session that set the grid for the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy-awarding race four, and on a soaked track Giles’ Jack Taylor claimed a surprise pole position.

Red flags were triggered by Trevor LaTourrette (HMD) spinning off, and Sharp was fastest at that point. He led Wood by 0.048 seconds at the session’s halfway point, with Taylor 0.82s off in third. Wood went fastest by 0.201s with six-and-a-half minutes to go, and Wharton shuffled Taylor down to fourth.

Sharp and Wood swapped top spot twice with five minutes remaining, and Slater moved into third as Taylor dropped to 10th. Next to lead the way was David, and Sharp reclaimed provisional pole by 0.008s in the final two minutes. Track evolution meant laptimes continued to drop, and 20s later Taylor leapt from 11th to first with a 1m32.687s.

Ugochukwu bettered that by 0.16s, then Wood went quickest by 1.139s over Sharp with 20s left on the clock. Taylor and Ugochukwu were down to sixth and 10th respectively as David jumped to second when the chequered flag waved, but with a rapid final effort Taylor stole pole from Wood by 0.274s.

Le and Sharp completed a top five that all lapped sub-1m32s, with Ugochukwu, McLaughlin and Scoular outside of the top 10.

The track was dry at the end of the day, and Australian Supercars star Wood passed Taylor off the line then rarely had to look in his mirrors as he drove to victory.

Le got around the outside of Taylor into the opening corner but the poleman did not concede second place until turn three, and Sharp got past on the inside into the hairpin despite locking up.

Slater got into fifth past the battling David and Wharton, and once Wharton went off at the hairpin on lap three he had less to worry about until two of his own offs there meant he joined Wharton near the back of the pack.

Ugochukwu had already passed Slater for fifth before his first off, and Nakamura (who started 10th) went past David for sixth on lap 10 of 23. Their progress was halted on lap 13 as the safety car was summoned. Rivera and Scoular had clashed the chicane, sending Scoular a safe distance off track but leaving him stranded due to damage.

Racing resumed on lap 17, and Wood pulled away from Le and Sharp. Ugochukwu attacked Taylor on lap 18, nosing ahead exiting turn two before they went side-by-side again through to turn seven where Nakamura snatched fifth. However his own mistake when trying to pass Taylor at the end of lap 19 meant Ugochukwu got back past him, and the points leader finally cleared Taylor down the back straight on lap 21.

Nakamura had a second attempt a lap later without luck, but gained the position anyway as Taylor and David were penalised five seconds for weaving behind the safety car. It dropped Taylor to 11th, and meant World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera (Hitech) claimed the best result of his single-seater career in ninth.

Wharton and Slater finished 16th and 17th, hurting their title ambitions as Ugochukwu concluded the event with a 33-point lead over Le.

Results round-up
Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Zack Scoular MTEC Motorsport 25m10.289s
2 Freddie Slater M2 Competition +8.454s
3 Ryan Wood MTEC Motorsport +9.602s
4 Louis Sharp MTEC Motorsport +12.654s
5 James Wharton HMD w/ TJ Speed +13.931s
6 Jin Nakamura Hitech GP +26.203s
7 Kanato Le Hitech GP +32.035s
8 Yevan David Kiwi Motorsport +35.642s
9 Nolan Allaer Giles Motorsport +36.695s
10 Cooper Shipman Kiwi Motorsport +37.487s
Fastest lap: Scoular, 1m23.261s

Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy (23 laps)
1 Wood 35m55.008s
2 Le +1.595s
3 Sharp +1.996s
4 Ugo Ugochukwu M2 Competition +7.908s
5 Nakamura +9.063s
6 Yuanpu Cui MTEC Motorsport +11.504s
7 Ernesto Rivera M2 Competition +11.636s
8 Allaer +13.337s
9 Kalle Rovanpera Hitech GP +13.641s
10 Sebastian Manson M2 Copmetition +14.069s
Pole: Jack Taylor, 1m31.340s
FL: Wood, 1m23.258s

Championship standings
1 Ugochukwu 194   2 Le 161   3 Sharp 159   4 Nakamura 153   5 Wood 150   6 Slater 144   7 Scoular 120   8 Rivera 118   9 Wharton 113   10 Allaer 86

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