Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu was firing on all cylinders today when the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy field took to the iconic Teretonga Park in Invercargill with two test sessions today ahead of the third round.
With a lap time well under 60 seconds, the circuit still offers a challenging sequence of corners and the longest straight on the calendar, making the series’ new push-to-pass system even more important.
Ugochukwu was quick to adapt to the track – very different from the first two tracks on the calendar, Hampton Downs and Taupo – and finished second in the first session and topped the second in his M2 Competition entry. He was pipped in the first session by Louis Sharp, but had set the pace early on.
It was a decent first day for M2 Competition overall too, with Freddie Slater showing plenty of pace and Red Bull Junior Ernesto Rivera fourth in the second session. Taupo sensation Ryan Wood played himself in gently with eighth and fifth fastest times in the two sessions for mtec Motorsport, while Sharp was solid throughout and backed his fastest time in session one with another top ten in the second.
Hitech duo Kanato Le and Jin Nakamura were quick in both sessions – as usual – and will be hoping for a breakthrough win this weekend at one of the most southerly race tracks in the world.
The second Red Bull Junior in this year’s championship, Irish young gun Fionn McLaughlin, had a decent day, consistently in the top ten, and ended the day ninth fastest in the first session and sixth on the second.
There are three official practice sessions around the 2.57km track on Friday before the real action gets underway on Saturday morning with qualifying. Friday will see significant new tyre runs and will reveal likely pacesetters for the weekend.
Header Image: Bruce Jenkins
