Liam Sceats wins Lady Wigram Trophy

New Zealand’s Liam Sceats has claimed his maiden Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship victory to win the Lady Wigram Trophy at Ruapuna.

With 26 starts to his name and an impressive record featuring eight podiums, the Kiwi finally climbs to the top step, earning a result that has been a long time in the making.

It would always take something special to upstage runaway championship leader Roman Bilinski, and that was exactly the performance the 18-year-old from Auckland would deliver.

The duo had earlier qualified on the front row for the race, as they had for Saturday’s sole outing.

In that instance, the Polish driver was better away off the line to take the win from his rival.

Sceats ensured that would not be the case the second time, taking the lead off the line and withstanding the pressure to hold the position for the full 25 laps.

An excellent launch from the outside allowed the Kiwi to cut across in front of the pole-sitter, and he ran clear through Turn 1 and into Turn 2.

Behind, Canadian star Patrick Woods-Toth was away quickly from fourth, jumping Andretti Global’s Bryce Aron to fall into third.

Further back, Hampton Downs race winner Kaleb Ngatoa was run wide early, dropping from his starting position of 10th towards the rear of the field.

Sceats controlled the pace well over the early stages, managing the gap to pull clear of any imminent threat from Bilinski while managing his tyres well.

The advantage remained about one-second mid-race, with the duo pulling away from Woods-Toth to establish a two-horse battle at the front.

The pace went up on Lap 18, with Sceats putting the hammer down in a manner the Formula Regional European Championship competitor had no answer for.

At times, Bilinski did pull close to his rear, but he was never presented with an opportunity to pass.

Sceats would cross the line with a 1.1-second advantage, with Woods-Toth crossing the line six seconds behind the pair in third.

Aron retained fourth, fending off compatriot Jacob Abel, while Race 2 runner-up Gerrard Xie headed home Race 2 winner Michael Shin for sixth.

Southland’s Alex Crosbie was eighth home, ahead of the ever-improve Jett Bowling, while Ngatoa recovered two places to return to the top ten.

Having only made his debut earlier in the afternoon, Sebastian Manson finished 12th, behind Titus Sherlock and ahead of Landan Matriano Lim and Jake Bonilla.

Sceats’s victory reduces Bilinski’s championship lead to 56 points, with a maximum of 90 up for grabs in the final round of the New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands next weekend.

Lady Wigram Trophy results