Australian Tommy Smith will make a third return to New Zealand shores when he competes in two rounds of the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
He will join Giles Motorsport for the cameo appearance, taking the wheel of the car Supercars champions Will Brown will use in the other three rounds of the championship.
Smith, 22, is no stranger to the championship having competed in the full series in 2019 and taken part in three rounds last season, which included a podium finish at Manfeild.
His strong run of results netted eighth overall in the final championship points table despite missing the last two rounds due to FIA F3 testing commitments.
One of the most experienced single seater drivers in the championship, Smith has raced in Formula Ford, in the Asian F3 Championship, GB3, Australian S5000, Formula Regional Europe, FIA F3 and, of course, the Castrol Toyota Racing Series and the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Despite only competing on the Manfeild and Teretonga legs of the five-round championship, Smith is confident that with a good knowledge of the circuits and the Toyota FT60 car, he can go well – and that he can out the experience to good use when he heads stateside later in 2025 to drive in the IndyNXT series,
“I’m really excited to kick off my 2025 season by competing in rounds three and four of the CTFROC,” he explained.
“Competing in selected rounds at the beginning of 2024 are some of my most enjoyable racing memories and it is always a great way to prepare for an upcoming season. The ability to go through the whole race weekend process on back-to-back weekends before heading to the US is invaluable. I am also really pleased the opportunity came up with Giles Motorsport who I’ve previously worked with, it will be great to connect with Stephen and his team again.”
Team manager Stephen Giles believes Tommy’s extensive experience will be useful to the team as well as helping him get up to speed quickly, adding: “I’m looking forward to working with Tommy again this season albeit for a reduced number of rounds. As always, we’ll be aiming for the best results possible while he’s here and hope the extra mileage and racing experience will help set him up for his next challenge in IndyNXT.”
Smith will be part of a full field of 20 cars that races in the championship – being heavily promoted in 2025 as part of the new NextGen motorsport series.
The first round takes place next month at the Taupo International Motorsport Park and the fifth and final round in February will be the 69th NZ Grand Prix at the Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand’s South Island.
Header Image: Bruce Jenkins
