Three Winners From Three Races Make It Wide Open At Hampton

Three races and three different winners points to a very competitive 2025 Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship as the drivers head to the second round at Hampton Downs this weekend.

A big crowd at Taupo for promoter NextGen’s Historic GP meeting saw Kiwi Zack Scoular, Matias Zagazeta and Arvid Lindblad take the race wins, with Lindblad taking the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy in style to end the weekend at the top of the first points table.

Hampton Downs will see the drivers competing for the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy and the top three drivers and a few more besides are sure to be in contention around the longer – 3.8km - international layout at the North Waikato circuit.

Lindblad should be the pick of the crop having improved all weekend to get himself and his M2 Competition car at the front of the pack. He’ll also now know just how competitive the NZ-based championship is and why so many of its graduates have competed or taken part in F1. Taupo was no pushover for the Red Bull junior and Hampton Downs will be no different.

Peruvian M2 team mate Matias Zagazeta and mtec Motorsport’s Scoular look to be the closest of challengers but Supercars champion Will Brown showed plenty of pace at Taupo, as did rising US stars Josh Pierson and Nikita Johnson. Any of those three could win at Hampton Downs this weekend and – at worst – should be in the mix for podiums too.

Brown particularly will be looking to make the most of the second of his three opportunities in this year’s championship. Now with a little more time in the car, he could be the man to beat at Hampton.

Korean Michael Shin also showed plenty of pace – and nerves of steel in his feature race spin – at Taupo and will be up to speed quickly at a track he has experience of from last season’s championship. Patrick Heuzenroeder is also likely to make a big step up and showed he has plenty of pace to tap into with some strong moments for mtec at Taupo – most notably a scintillating drive through the field on Saturday after six great overtakes.

Kiwi’s Sebastian Manson and Alex Crosbie can be expected to pick up the pace at a track they know well after their first race weekends of 2025 left them in tenth and 13th in the points table respectively. Chinese F4 champion Enzo Yeh had a strong weekend at Taupo too, unlucky to leave no higher than ninth in the points for M2 Competition. Expect a step up from him at Hampton Downs too. Brazil’s Nicholas Monteiro, American’s Shawn Rashid and Jett Bowling will also be looking to up their games at Hampton Downs after improving race pace in each of the three races over the Taupo weekend.

Unofficial testing begins on Thursday with official testing Friday, qualifying for Race 1 and Race 1 on Saturday, Feature race qualifying and Race 2 on Sunday morning, then the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy race on Sunday afternoon.

2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship – Points after Round 1

2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship

Round 01: 10 – 12 January 2025, Taupo International Motorsport Park

Round 02: 17 – 19 January 2025, Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park

Round 03: 24 – 26 January 2025, Manfeild, Circuit Chris Amon

Round 04: 31 January – 2 February 2025, Teretonga Park, Invercargill

Round 05: 7 – 9 February 2025, Highlands Motorsport Park, 69th New Zealand Grand Prix

For more information on the NextGen NZ Championship, NZ’s Premier Motorsport Summer Series - go to www.nextgennz.co.nz.

Broadcast Coverage – Globally, fans can follow the NextGen Championship and the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship here: www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/speedhub

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