American Ugo Ugochukwu put in a mighty lap around Hampton Downs to secure pole position for the first race of the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.
The six-foot-plus M2 Competition driver had been quick throughout the two-day collective testing and practice build-up, but unleashed even more pace in qualifying to secure an impressive pole position.
Home hero Louis Sharp will join him on the front row for the first race, with Brit Freddie Slater and Japan’s Kanato Le on the second row. Friday practice star Ryan Wood heads row three in fifth.
“It was good fun, and I just kept chipping away and trying to go faster and faster,” said Ugo afterwards.
“I’ve had to learn everything about the track and get to grips with the car, but it’s great to take pole position.”
Typically, in Castrol Toyota FR Oceania, the 15-minute sessions see drivers build speed throughout, with perhaps a single visit to the pit lane to adjust tyre pressures before a major effort all the way to the session close.
The Pirelli tyres last well, and the times come down as the fuel load lightens. Ugochukwu set out how he meant to continue and was the first to clock a fast time after five minutes.
He was then the first to go under the 1 minute 30 second bracket, but was quickly followed by mtec Motorsport’s Sharp.
M2’s Freddie Slater, James Wharton for TJ Speed with HMD and mtec’s Wood were all within four tenths.
Next time around it was Wood who clocked fastest time of the weekend t with a 1 minute 29.612 to sit ahead of Hitech driver Jin Nakamura and Slater.
Ugochukwu then fired in a blistering 1 minute 29.282 to go three-tenths of a second quicker than Wood with five minutes remaining of the session.
That would prove unbeatable as the session’s top time. Slater nudged ahead of Wood with a 1 minute 29.409, still a tenth and a half away from Ugochukwu.
Then, in the final minute, the order changed again, with Sharp moving up to second and Kanato Le and Nakamura moving ahead of Wood.
As the cars crossed the line for the last time, Wood’s last lap was enough to grab fifth.
Nakamura took the outside of the third row with sixth, while a late effort by 2025 Rookie champion Zack Scoular pushed him up to seventh in his mtec entry.
Wharton was eighth fastest, with Sri Lankan Yevan David ninth, and Mexican Red Bull Junior Ernesto Rivera rounding out the top ten.
Next up was China’s Yuanpu Cui, Australian Jack Taylor, and then American Nolan Allaer, the latter having held a top ten spot for much of the session before the final laps.
Two-time 2025 race winner Seb Manson was 14th fastest with the second Red Bull Junior, Fionn McLaughlin, in 15th. Next up was two-time world rally champion Kalle Rovanperä, with his best time of the weekend so far.
Just a second off the pole position time, it was good for 16th in his first junior formula qualifying session.
US Formula 4 champion Cooper Shipman was next, with Ricardo Baptista and Trevor LaTourette completing the grid in 18th and 19th.
All of the weekend’s remaining action will be livestreamed on TGRNZ’s YouTube channel, and all races will be live on Sky Sport NZ.
Tickets to come along to the race weekend are still available at https://nextgennz.flicket.co.nz
Header Image: Joel Hanks
