Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu was back in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy winner’s circle with a dominant victory in the second race of the rain-affected weekend at Teretonga Raceway.
Vastly superior race pace in the wet saw him race away from second-placed Ryan Wood early on and take a comfortable chequered flag, despite two Safety Car periods and a single-lap dash right at the end on a drying track.
Wood held on for second, a good job considering the superb scrap that went on behind him for third place. That eventually went to an inspired Cooper Shipman. But the race win was one of the most significant so far for Ugochukwu in this season’s Trophy as he raced to win number three of 2026.
“I was very comfortable in the lead, and the pace was strong,” said Ugo afterwards.
“I had to manage those restarts, but I was pushing hard, and I wanted the fastest lap as well. Overall, I’m really happy to get this win, and we’ve put ourselves in a great position.”
The wet conditions that had blighted the two days of competition at the world’s most Southerly circuit continued, and all cars lined up – once more – on full wet-weather tyres for the 24-lap race.
The second race of each Trophy weekend features a grid made up of the top eight finishers from race one, reversed, which puts championship leader Ugochukwu on pole alongside Wood.
Young guns Shipman and Jack Taylor, both of whom had performed exceptionally well in the challenging Teretonga conditions, lined up on row two. With light rain persisting, the field would do two formation laps before the start to try to disperse any standing water.
Ugochukwu made the best start to lead into turn one. Wood had made no secret of the fact that he and his Mtec Motorsport car had been struggling for that last bit of pace over the Teretonga race weekend, but also made a strong start to slot in behind the M2 Competition driver.
Ugochukwu was clearly in no mood for a close race and swept away in dominant fashion over the opening lap. Behind in the pack, however, there was contact between Kanato Le and Freddie Slater, which sent the pair spinning off into the grass.
It had enormous significance for the championship with Le in second place behind Ugochukwu before the race, and Slater had started to gather real momentum. Both of their races were effectively over from a points perspective, with Slater one lap down.
Safety car driver Callum Crawley went out again in the GR Supra to pick up the leader, and it was another five laps of the short track before he turned out the lights and the race went green again.
As they swept over the line with six laps completed and 18 to run, Ugochukwu stayed well in control and led Wood away comfortably.
Jack Taylor had Wood in his sights and almost made the pass for second but couldn’t quite make it stick. Behind the top three, Cooper Shipman had his mirrors full of Kalle Rovanperä in fourth and fifth, while Jin Nakamura and Seb Manson weren’t too far adrift either.
The battle for third quickly became the main focal point, with a big pack forming behind Taylor.
Rovanperä was fired up and driving the wheels off his Hitech car as he looked for a way around Jack, the inside of turn one on lap nine, and then the outside on lap ten, as the young Aussie gave it absolutely everything in defence. It was excellent racing by the pair of them.
Up front, Ugochukwu had checked out leading by more than five seconds. And Wood looked safe in second with a four-second advantage over the battle for third.
The second Safety Car came out on lap 15 after American Trevor LaTourette went off and got stranded in the gravel again – certainly not the first time the rookie had done that in the incredibly challenging Teretonga conditions.
Trevor’s off, however, did mean the field would bunch up again for the second restart and a final dash to the line over the remaining five racing laps.
The race, however, only made it a few hundred metres before another championship contender – Nakamura – went off on the final corner before the restart. It was a huge blow to the hitherto consistent Hitech driver.
On the flip side, it was the best news possible for the race leader, who was left with a third restart and a one-lap dash in drying conditions – which he delivered to perfection – to take his third win of the season.
All of the drama would also prove to be great news for Wood, whose second-place finish vaulted him up the points table to second in the championship.
So, it was Ugochukwu who took the win, ahead of Wood, Shipman, who had made a great second restart to go third ahead of Taylor, Rovanperä, Manson, then Fionn McLaughlin after a very decent drive by the Irish youngster. Sharp, Yuanpu Cui and Yevan David completed the top ten after a frustrating race.
Header Image: Joel Hanks
