Lindblad ‘sends it’ to fourth straight feature win in New Zealand

Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship leader Arvid Lindblad has one hand on the 2025 title after a sensational win in the Spirit of a Nation Cup feature race at Teretonga Park.

Lindblad took his fourth straight feature win in the New Zealand championship, with only the 69^th NZ Grand Prix standing between him and an unprecedented clean sweep of the country’s five top single seater races.

“I really wanted to win today,” he said after receiving the race trophy from its first winner 20 years ago, Kiwi Chris Pither. “The weekend has been decent but not to the standard of the previous weekends and I really wanted to win this race. The start was always going to be crucial and I made a decent one but not a mega one.

“I knew I had to send it and make it stick. A lot depended on Matias but he gave me the room.”

Matias Zagazeta – his M2 Competition teammate – on pole position and on the inside could do nothing to counter Lindblad’s commitment at the start. The Red Bull F1 Junior told TV on the grid before the start he intended to ‘send it’ and send it he did. He surged around the outside with a breath-taking pass to take the lead. Lindblad had tried the move in earlier races, but this one was the most impressive.

Unfortunately, although he took the lead, another off at turn one for Kiwi Motorsport’s Jett Bowling left the American in the wall and his mechanics with another big repair job having only just finished the car after its Race 2 off earlier in the day. And that meant the race was stopped after two further laps under the Safety Car.

After a short break to recover Bowling’s stricken car the field headed off for another attempt at the Spirit of a Nation Cup feature race and this time the racing got underway without drama on the fifth lap. Lindblad went very early and it was the right call, as he stole a few car lengths from Zagazeta as they crossed the line to get the action underway again.

Everyone made it through the first lap unscathed, though Tommy Smith struggled for pace and was passed by Zack Scoular before getting back into his rhythm.

At the front Lindblad was absolutely flying – several tenths per lap faster than nearest challenger Zagazeta and already 1,2 seconds ahead after three laps. Michael Shin was going well in third holding off Patrick Heuzenroeder while a little further back Johnson and Pierson were engaged in their private battle for fifth and sixth.

At the end of lap ten it was Lindblad from Zagazeta, Shin, Heuzenroeder, Johnson, Pierson, race 2 winner Sebastian Manson, Scoular, Smith and Shawn Rashid filling out the leading ten.

Shin, going very well, made a great pass on Zagazeta on lap 12 as the Peruvian also fell into the clutches of the Heuzenroeder, Johnson and Pierson battle. It was all good news for Lindblad, who hit the halfway mark four seconds ahead and still the fastest car on the track.

With Lindblad disappearing up the road and Shin in a lonely second, attention turned to the battle for third which remained tight – but unchanged – for the remaining laps of the race. Zagazeta recovered after his mistake and built a one second advantage over Heuzenroeder, giving M2 Competition another impressive 1-2-3 result.

Heuzenroeder had to be satisfied with fourth while Nikita Johnson held on for fifth after Pierson – in his final race in New Zealand before heading home for IndyNxt testing – fell away in the second half. Manson was solid enough in seventh and the top Kiwi, beating Scoular by just 0.4 seconds at the flag. Scoular’s eighth was enough to seal him the 2025 Rookie title. Smith came home ninth and Alex Crosbie just pipped Shawn Rashid for tenth.

Attention now not only turns to the final round – the 69^th New Zealand Grand prix meeting – next weekend at Highlands Motorsport Park in scenic Cromwell, but also on young Lindblad, a driver who repeatedly says he’s only interested in winning races.

If he can do it again in the Grand Prix next Sunday, he’ll have achieved something not even F1 drivers Lando Norris, Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll achieved when they took the title.

2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship – Round 4 – Spirit of a Nation Trophy

Header Image: Bruce Jenkins (TGRNZ)