With champions from multiple racing disciplines set to do battle over five rounds, the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship is shaping up to be the best NZ single seater series since 2020.
It’s likely to be firmly under the international spotlight when the action gets underway at Taupo International Motorsport Park this weekend.
2020 was a landmark year for the championship. Still running as the Castrol Toyota Racing Series it was the first championship to utilise the new Toyota FT60 chassis and it was a championship that ultimately produced three of Formula One’s current stars in Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto.
Four teams run the cars this season, with solid driver representation in each. M2 Competition, Kiwi Motorsport, Giles Motorsport and MTEC Motorsport – with a strong US contingent – will all be eyeing success in New Zealand.
The quality of the 2025 field is comparable – at least – to that stellar 2020 year at least. Red Bull Junior Arvid Lindbad is another on the right trajectory to F1 and will compete in New Zealand to gather Super License points ahead of a possible appearance in practice at a Grand Prix later this year. Lindbad, on paper at least, starts as one of the favourites this weekend at the Taupo International Motorsport Park in his M2 Competition-run car.
There will also be plenty of interest in another Red Bull-supported driver in V8 Supercars champion Will Brown, who will fulfil a long-held desire to compete in a world class international single seater championship. Strong in Formula Ford and Formula 4, the Giles Motorsport-run driver should also be right on the pace, particularly as he has experience at the three tracks on which he will compete.
Home interest this season centres around series returnees Alex Crosbie for Giles Motorsport, Seb Manson for M2 Competition and MTEC Motorsport’s Zack Scoular, the Dubai-based Kiwi who has been turning heads with some impressive performances in the UK. All three should be contenders.
Other drivers returning for a second shot at the Castrol Toyota FR Oceania title include Michael Shin for M2 Competition and Jett Bowling for Kiwi Motorsport. Both start their 2025 racing years after solid 2024 seasons and Shin in particular will be under the spotlight after a win and a strong campaign in the 2024 championship.
Impressive representation from the United States junior formula racing scene includes several other notable contenders in addition to Bowling. Josh Pierson (MTEC), Nikita Johnson (MTEC) and Barrett Wolfe (Giles) will all be hoping to be at the sharp end of the grid after proven campaigns in the USA while Shawn Rashid (MTEC) will be another interesting racer in the series as he steps up to a new higher category after learning the ropes in the United Kingdom in junior formulae there.
Johnson is the only driver to have won at all three levels of the USF Pro Championships (USF Juniors, USF2000, and USF Pro 2000) and is likely to be a frontrunner.
As well as Brown, Australia is well-represented in this year’s FR Oceania battle with Patrick Heuzenroeder (MTEC) and Nicolas Stati (Kiwi motorsport) both potential podium finishers or race winners. Tommy Smith is back for the two rounds Will Brown misses and is another likely to be pushing hard inside the top five.
In an excellent international field, Taiwan’s Enzo Yeh is a race winner in Chinese F4 and will race for M2 Competition while Peruvian team mate Mattias Zagazeta could be a dark horse for overall honours bringing experience on FIA F3 with DAMS to his NZ campaign.
Canadian James Lawley has plenty of experience ion Formula Regional in the United States and is another who could find form quickly for Kiwi Motorsport. Brazil is also represented by Nicholas Monteiro who brings plenty of junior formula and Formula Regional racing to his championship effort with MTEC Motorsport.
Thursday testing and familiarisation will be followed on Friday with three official practice sessions before th championship action gets underway on Saturday.
Header Image: Bruce Jenkins
