2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship

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The 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship was the inaugural season of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship. It was originally planned to be the eighteenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand, before the series was rebranded to become a fully FIA-certified Formula Regional championship.[1] It was held over five consecutive weekends in January and February 2023.

Charlie Wurz, driving for M2 Competition, claimed the drivers' championship title in the final race of the season.

Entry list[edit]

All drivers competed with identical Tatuus FT-60 chassis cars powered by 2.0L turbocharged Toyota engines. After the 2021 season was run without any officially recognized teams, the series returned to a team-based format.[2]

Team No. Driver Status Rounds
Hamilton Motorsport 4 New Zealand Billy Frazer[3] 3–4
84 New Zealand Chris van der Drift[4] G 4
Kiwi Motorsport 5 Brazil Lucas Fecury[5] R All
8 Australia Tom McLennan[6][7] R All
21 United Kingdom Josh Mason[8] All
51 United States Jacob Abel[9] All
86 New Zealand Brendon Leitch[10] 4
98 New Zealand James Penrose[11] R All
M2 Competition 7 Austria Charlie Wurz[12] R All
17 New Zealand Callum Hedge[13] R All
18 Netherlands Laurens van Hoepen[14] 4–5
23 New Zealand Liam Sceats[15] R All
77 United States David Morales[16] R All
101 Australia Ryder Quinn[17] R All
Giles Motorsport 15 New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa[18] 4–5
26 United Kingdom Louis Foster[19] 3–5
36 Republic of Ireland Adam Fitzgerald[20] R 3–5
55 New Zealand Breanna Morris[21] R All
66 United States Ryan Shehan[22] R All
88 United States Chloe Chambers[23] All
Icon Status
R Rookie
G Guest driver
  • mtec Motorsport planned to field multiple cars, but later confirmed to have withdrawn their entry.[24]

Race calendar[edit]

Two years in a row, the championship was heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic: the 2021 season had a heavily shortened calendar compared to previous seasons and the 2022 season was cancelled entirely.[25][26]

As New Zealand's border restrictions were eased in late 2022, the 2023 season saw the return of a pre-pandemic calendar, with rounds on both the North and the South Island.[27] On 30 May 2022, a five-round calendar was announced.[28] The round at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park was later confirmed to become the 67th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix.[29]

Round Circuit Date Support bill Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Highlands Motorsport Park
(Cromwell, Otago) 		14 January Toyota Finance 86 Championship
Pirelli Porsche Race Series
GT New Zealand Championship
R2 15 January
R3
2 R1 Teretonga Park Raceway
(Invercargill, Southland) 		21 January Toyota Finance 86 Championship
Motorsport NZ Southern Sprint
R2 22 January
R3
3 R1 Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon
(Feilding, Manawatū District) 		28 January MCC Saloons
HVRA Historic Saloons
MX5 Racing NZ Summer Series
R2 29 January
R3
4 R1 Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
(Hampton Downs, North Waikato) 		4 February New Zealand Grand Prix
Toyota Finance 86 Championship
New Zealand Formula First Championship
New Zealand Formula Ford Championship
GT New Zealand Championship
D1NZ National Drifting Championship
Central Muscle Cars
GT Racing New Zealand
R2 5 February
R3
5 R1 Taupo Motorsport Park
(Taupō, Waikato) 		11 February BMW Races Series
New Zealand Formula Ford Championship
New Zealand Formula First Championship
NZ V8 Utes
Mazda Racing NZ Championship
R2 12 February
R3

Results[edit]

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1 Highlands Motorsport Park New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge M2 Competition
R2 New Zealand James Penrose New Zealand James Penrose Kiwi Motorsport
R3 New Zealand Callum Hedge Austria Charlie Wurz United States David Morales M2 Competition
2 R1 Teretonga Park Raceway New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge Austria Charlie Wurz M2 Competition
R2 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge M2 Competition
R3 Austria Charlie Wurz United Kingdom Josh Mason Austria Charlie Wurz M2 Competition
3 R1 Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon Austria Charlie Wurz United Kingdom Louis Foster United Kingdom Louis Foster Giles Motorsport
R2 United Kingdom Louis Foster United Kingdom Josh Mason Kiwi Motorsport
R3 Austria Charlie Wurz United Kingdom Louis Foster New Zealand James Penrose Kiwi Motorsport
4 R1 Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Netherlands Laurens van Hoepen New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa Giles Motorsport
R2 United Kingdom Louis Foster Austria Charlie Wurz M2 Competition
R3 Netherlands Laurens van Hoepen Netherlands Laurens van Hoepen Netherlands Laurens van Hoepen M2 Competition
5 R1 Taupo International Motorsport Park New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Liam Sceats New Zealand Callum Hedge M2 Competition
R2 United States Chloe Chambers United States Chloe Chambers Giles Motorsport
R3 Austria Charlie Wurz United States David Morales Austria Charlie Wurz M2 Competition

Season report[edit]

First half[edit]

The first weekend of the freshly rebranded Formula Regional Oceania Championship was held at Highlands Motorsport Park. Callum Hedge claimed pole for the first race and kept the lead at the race start, as Charlie Wurz rose from fourth to second behind him. Hedge kept Wurz at bay for the whole race, just as Wurz did with David Morales behind him. A safety car was then called when Ryan Shehan crashed out, and the race finished under caution. The reversed-grid race two saw James Penrose dominate the race in similar fashion, putting on a lights-to-flag display undeterred by a safety car intervention for a retiring Liam Sceats. Behind Penrose, Jacob Abel took second from Ryder Quinn at the start. Wurz was next to get past Quinn, setting off after Abel, before a failed move for second place by Wurz put Quinn back on the podium. Hedge was on pole again for the third race, but this time it was Morales alongside him who got straight past him at the start. The pair pulled away from the field as they fought for victory, before Hedge had to pit for damage. This promoted Wurz to second, with Sceats coming home third. Two second places in the big points-paying races meant Wurz left Otago as the points leader, albeit only two points ahead of Morales.[30][31][32]

One week later, Teretonga Park saw the same driver top the first qualifying session. Again it was the driver in second, this time Wurz, who had the better start and claimed the lead. Hedge followed Wurz all race, but was unable to muster an attack, so Wurz claimed his first Formula Regional win. Third was Abel, over fifteen seconds behind the pair. Race two was held on a damp track, and Quinn overtook polesitter Shehan for the lead at the start. The leading pair swapped back around later on, before heavy rain began to fall. In these conditions, Hedge was the class of the field, rising from seventh to the lead in just one lap to take a sudden and unexpected win. Wurz claimed pole for the final race of the weekend and never looked back to claim a lights-to-flag victory. Behind him, Hedge was never close enough to threaten Wurz's lead, but also never under attack from Sceats in third. Wurz's two wins grew his championship advantage to 25 points. Hedge's two second places and reversed-grid win promoted him to second in the standings, with Abel now in third.[33][34][35]

The grid grew to 16 cars for the third round at Manfeild. One of the new arrivals, reigning Indy Pro 2000 champion Louis Foster, made his mark straightaway: He qualified second, kept behind polesitter Wurz at the start of a wet first race, used a safety car restart to get past Wurz into the lead and won the race. Championship protagonists Wurz and Hedge had no choice but to fight over second behind him. Wurz initially won that battle, before a penalty dropped him to fifth and promoted Sceats to the podium. Foster was then once again the fastest car on track for the second race, starting seventh and quickly climbing up the grid. Only Josh Mason, who had started second and passed poleman Shehan right at the start, was able to keep Foster behind and hold on to win. The front row for the third race was the same as in race one, with Wurz again able to hold Foster off at the start. This would all be for nothing, however, when Foster crashed into Wurz in lap 19, spinning Wurz around and getting himself stuck in the runoff area. Penrose inherited the lead and held Hedge and Sceats at bay to win. The stricken Wurz came home sixth, now only six points ahead of Hedge in the standings.[36][37]

Second half[edit]

20 cars took part in the New Zealand Grand Prix weekend in Hampton Downs. The front row of race one was shared by debutant Laurens van Hoepen and returnee Kaleb Ngatoa, with the former on pole, but the latter ahead by turn one. Ngatoa comfortably led the field until a slight mistake on the final lap almost allowed van Hoepen back through, but Ngatoa was able to hold on to win the race. Hedge had an uneventful race to come home third in race one, but was hit by an electrical issue on the formation lap of race two. Wurz won that race from pole after holding off Abel at the start and resisting multiple attacks by the American all throughout the race. Brendon Leitch and Chris van der Drift had a similar scrap over third, but a chasing van Hoepen overtook both of them to take another podium. The Dutchman then started from pole for the Grand Prix, but was initially overtaken by Foster. Van Hoepen was able to regain the lead later on lap one and began to gradually pull away from his opposition. Foster reduced his lead in the closing stages of the race, but van Hoepen held on to win the New Zealand Grand Prix. Hedge was able to keep van der Drift and Ngatoa behind him to come third. The championship lead had changed hands between Wurz and Hedge two times that weekend, with Wurz now ten points ahead.[38][39][40]

The season finale was held at Taupō. Hedge made short work of Wurz's slim points lead: He picked up pole for race one, kept calm during a disrupted race red-flagged for a three-car crash and held Foster behind him to win. Van Hoepen completed the podium, and Wurz in fifth was now three points behind Hedge. The reversed-grid race two saw Chloe Chambers lead the field lights-to-flag to become the first female driver to win in the history of New Zealand's premier open-wheel motorsport category. Ngatoa was the only one close to Chambers, with the rest of the field ten seconds back. Crucially, Wurz was in third and Hedge could only manage sixth, so the championship advantage was back in Wurz's favour by four points. In a winner-takes-all final race, Wurz started from pole position. Alongside him, Sceats made a mistake off the line, so Wurz was unchallenged during the opening lap. Van Hoepen inherited second place, with Ngatoa and Hedge behind them. This order stood until Adam Fitzgerald and Quinn crashed and caused a safety car. Making the most out of the restart was Penrose, moving into third place. Further ahead, Wurz held on to win the race and the championship, as Hedge only managed to come home fourth.[41][42][43]

After two years of uncertainty and cancellations, the category made a strong restart in 2023. While Wurz and Hedge showed good, consistent pace all throughout the season, the championship would clearly have looked very different if van Hoepen and Foster had contested the entire season. Both came to New Zealand with little preparation, but were often faster than the two main championship protagonists. Foster took four podiums in nine races, and van Hoepen only finished off the podium once in his six starts. Still, Wurz and Hedge had to beat each other, often facing off directly against one another and delivering a close, unpredictable championship fight until the last race.

Championship standings[edit]

Scoring system[edit]

Race (starting grid from qualifying)
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th
Points 35 31 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Reversed grid race
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th
Points 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Drivers' championship[edit]

Pos. Driver HIG TER MAN HMP TAU Points
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 Austria Charlie Wurz 2 4 2 1 4 1 5 6 6 8 1 7 5 3 1 343
2 New Zealand Callum Hedge 1 6 13 2 1 2 2 7 2 3 18 3 1 6 4 329
3 United States Jacob Abel 6 2 6 3 6 5 3 4 4 7 2 8 Ret 9 6 265
4 New Zealand Liam Sceats 5 Ret 3 6 5 3 Ret 8 3 11 7 6 4 5 5 245
5 New Zealand James Penrose 8 1 8 5 7 12 6 5 1 15 11 13 Ret 10 3 214
6 United States David Morales 3 5 1 9 Ret Ret 4 9 5 10 10 9 14 13 10 200
7 Australia Ryder Quinn 7 3 4 7 3 7 13 13 7 9 17 10 9 8 13 199
8 United Kingdom Josh Mason 4 9 11 4 8 4 7 1 Ret 13 9 12 7 15 16 186
9 United States Chloe Chambers 9 7 5 10 9 8 9 14 9 16 14 17 8 1 8 176
10 United States Ryan Shehan Ret 8 7 8 2 6 8 3 10 12 12 11 10 16 11 173
11 Netherlands Laurens van Hoepen 2 3 1 3 4 2 154
12 United Kingdom Louis Foster 1 2 13 Ret 8 2 2 7 15 147
13 Australia Tom McLennan 11 10 9 11 12 9 10 10 11 WD WD WD 12 12 7 117
14 New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa 1 13 5 6 2 9 115
15 Brazil Lucas Fecury 10 11 10 12 10 10 12 15 14 18 15 19 13 17 14 97
16 New Zealand Breanna Morris 12 12 12 13 11 11 11 16 12 17 16 18 Ret 14 12 85
17 Republic of Ireland Adam Fitzgerald Ret 12 8 4 6 16 11 11 17 81
18 New Zealand Brendon Leitch 6 4 14 44
19 New Zealand Billy Frazer 14 11 15 14 Ret 15 33
guest drivers ineligible to score points
— New Zealand Chris van der Drift 5 5 4 —
Pos. Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Points
HIG TER MAN HMP TAU
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap

† — Did not finish, but classified

Rookie

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "TRS to become Formula Regional Oceania". autosport.motorsport.com. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Homologation for FT-60s W Series stand in completed". Toyota NZ. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Frazer locked in for Manfeild and NZ Grand Prix". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Van Der Drift gets wild card for NZ GP". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  5. ^ Wood, Ida (1 September 2022). "Lucas Fecury the first driver to sign up for 2023 Toyota Racing Series". Formula Scout. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Aussie Porsche racer McLennan returns to single seaters for 2023 TRS". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  7. ^ "More drivers confirmed for the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand". Twitter. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Mason signs up with Kiwi Motorsport for 2023 New Zealand campaign". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Indy Nxt racer more than Abel to succeed in Formula Regional Oceania". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Brendon Leitch excited to be joining the NZ Grand Prix grid this weekend". Talk Motorsport. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Penrose finally gets his chance to shine". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  12. ^ "New Zealand campaign will start Wurz's 2023 season". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Hedge back in single seaters for TRS championship challenge". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Van Hoepen joins Castrol Toyota FR Oceania for final two rounds". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Sceats joins race to inaugural Castrol Toyota Formula Regional title". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 29 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Morales adds more US flavour to 2023 Castrol TRS Championship". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Quinn to take on 2023 Castrol TRS with M2 Competition". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Twenty cars to start 67th New Zealand Grand Prix". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Indy Pro 2000 champ joins title chase in NZ". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Fitzgerald in for last three rounds of Formula Regional Oceania". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Morris confirmed for Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  22. ^ Wood, Ida (19 October 2022). "US F4 race-winner Ryan Shehan signs up for Toyota Racing Series". Formula Scout. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  23. ^ "Chambers to build on W Series experience with NZ's Castrol TRS Championship". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  24. ^ "mtec motorsport on Instagram: "It's with great regret that due to drivers pulling out of our 2023 @tgr_nz. #trs program we have had to make the difficult decision to withdraw from the series for 2023. We thank everyone who has worked hard to try and make this happen. Eyes forward for 2024."". Instagram. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  25. ^ Allen, Peter (17 November 2020). "Toyota Racing Series season to run over three rounds in 2021". Formula Scout. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  26. ^ Gascoigne, Roger (11 January 2022). "New Zealand Grand Prix called off for first time since 2001". Formula Scout. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  27. ^ "Toyota Racing Series set to return to normal in 2023". VelocityNews. 18 February 2022. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  28. ^ "Castrol TRS confirms full 2023 calendar dates". Toyota NZ. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  29. ^ Wood, Ida (15 November 2022). "TRS finally confirms Hampton Downs as venue of 2023 New Zealand GP". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  30. ^ Wood, Ida (14 January 2023). "Hedge wins FRegional Oceania opener which finishes behind safety car". Formula Scout. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  31. ^ Wood, Ida (15 January 2023). "James Penrose dominates second FRegional Oceania race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  32. ^ Wood, Ida (15 January 2023). "David Morales gets first open-wheel win in Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup". Formula Scout. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  33. ^ Wood, Ida (21 January 2023). "Wurz extends points lead with his first FRegional Oceania win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  34. ^ Wood, Ida (22 January 2023). "Hedge comes from seventh to win wet FRegional Oceania race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  35. ^ Wood, Ida (22 January 2023). "Wurz wins again in FRegional Oceania's Teretonga feature race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  36. ^ Wood, Ida (28 January 2023). "Foster wins in wet on FRegional Oceania debut". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  37. ^ Wood, Ida (29 January 2023). "Mason and Penrose win following Manfeild drama in FRegional Oceania". Formula Scout. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  38. ^ Allen, Peter (4 February 2023). "Ngatoa wins his first race back in Formula Regional Oceania". Formula Scout. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  39. ^ Waring, Bethonie (5 February 2023). "Wurz reclaims FRegional Oceania lead as Hedge hits electrical issues". Formula Scout. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  40. ^ Waring, Bethonie (5 February 2023). "Laurens van Hoepen wins New Zealand Grand Prix". Formula Scout. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  41. ^ Wood, Ida (11 February 2023). "Hedge moves into FRegional Oceania points lead with Taupo win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  42. ^ Wood, Ida (12 February 2023). "Chloe Chambers becomes first woman to win in FRegional Oceania". Formula Scout. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  43. ^ Wood, Ida (12 February 2023). "Wurz wins Taupo finale to be crowned FRegional Oceania champion". Formula Scout. Retrieved 17 February 2023.

External links[edit]

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