Matias Zagazeta walked back into the winner’s circle at Teretonga this afternoon after defeating championship leader Arvid Lindblad in a straight fight in the first race of the penultimate round of the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
The 21-year-old rising Peruvian star made a perfect getaway to lead the Red Bull F1 Junior into the first turn by a few car lengths and he never looked back, keeping his rival in his mirrors until a puncture and trip into the gravel trap for Michael Shin brought out the Safety car and a premature end to the 25 lap race after 19 laps.
“It was a fantastic race and we made a great start. The pace was super strong compared to everyone else apart from Arvid who was staying quite close behind,” he said on the podium afterwards.
“So really it was a question of not making any mistakes. It was unfortunate it finished under the Safety Car but we’re still very happy to win again,
“We had really tough races at Hampton Downs and Manfeild so to come back here, refresh and win is really good and I am very happy with the job we have done on and off the track. It’s fantastic to have a driver like Arvid in the championship as it pushes everyone to a higher level.”
Lindblad didn’t make a poor start, it was simply that Zagazeta’s was better. Lindblad did what he could and when the Safety Car came out on lap he was really beginning to pour pressure on the leader, clocking his fastest time on lap 14 – also the race’s fastest lap – and getting to within a couple of car lengths before proceedings were brought to a close.
Shin’s off came as a result of a puncture on the penultimate corner after some kerbing on the outside of the circuit worked itself loose. There was little damage to the car and the amiable Korean was fine, but race director made driver safety a priority and called the race at that point.
Nikita Johnson had a lonely race in third and was perhaps most affected bv the early stoppage given his outstanding ability to make the most of his tyres for a full race distance. He was nevertheless satisfied with another really strong race on his New Zealand campaign.
Patrick Heuzenroeder moved to fourth in the championship points after another strong drive to the same finishing place in the race. He was the best of the rest after M2 Competitions 1-2-3 result. Zack Scoular made a fantastic start to take fifth place and he maintained it until the end.
Having strengthened his position in the Rookie points table relative to nearest rival Enzo Yeh, the Kiwi find could – at least mathematically – wrap up the Rookie title this weekend though it is more likely to go down to the final weekend at Highlands.
Rounding out the top ten were Josh Pierson in sixth on his final weekend in the Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship this season, M2’s Sebastian Manson in seventh, Yeh in eighth, Tommy Smith first of the Giles Motorsport cars in ninth and team mate Alex Crosbie in tenth.
2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship – Round 4 – Race 1
| 1 | Matias Zagazeta |
| 2 | Arvid Lindblad |
| 3 | Nikita Johnson |
| 4 | Patrick Heuzenroeder |
| 5 | Zack Scoular |
| 6 | Josh Pierson |
| 7 | Sebastian Manson |
| 8 | Enzo Yeh |
| 9 | Tommy Smith |
| 10 | Alex Crosbie |
| 11 | Nicholas Monteiro |
| 12 | Nicolas Stati |
| 13 | Jett Bowling |
| 14 | Shawn Rashid |
| 15 | Barrett Wolfe |
| 16 | James Lawley |
| DNF | Michael Shin |
