2026 Formula Regional Oceania Trophy

2026 Formula Regional Oceania Trophy

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The 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy is scheduled to be the inaugural Formula Regional Oceania Trophy and the twenty-first running of the premier open-wheel motorsport category formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series. Known since 2023 as the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, the series was rebranded under the Trophy guise after the FIA introduced a new concept for single-seater championships held over shorter, constrained timeframes. ^{[1] [2]} The championship is scheduled to be held in New Zealand over four consecutive weekends in January and February of 2026.

The highest placed Australian or Kiwi driver at the end of the season will be awarded the Tasman Cup.

Entry list

All drivers will compete with identical Tatuus FT-60 chassis cars powered by 2.0L turbocharged Toyota engines running on 100% fossil-free fuel. ^{[3] [4]} The 2026 season is scheduled to see the introduction of a push-to-pass feature designed to create more on-track battles and overtakes. ^[5]

Team No. Driver Status Rounds mtec Motorsport 3 Zack Scoular [6] TBC 5 Yuanpu Cui [7] TBC 11 Louis Sharp [8] TBC 40 Ryan Wood [9] [10] R TBC M2 Competition 4 Ugo Ugochukwu [11] TBC 22 Sebastian Manson [12] TBC 24 Ernesto Rivera [13] TBC 27 Freddie Slater [14] TBC Hitech TGR [15] 12 Jin Nakamura [16] TBC 19 Kanato Le [17] TBC 33 Fionn McLaughlin [18] R TBC 69 Kalle Rovanperä [19] TBC HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed [20] 13 James Wharton [21] TBC 41 Ricardo Baptista [22] TBC TBA Trevor LaTourrette [23] R TBC Kiwi Motorsport 14 Cooper Shipman [24] R TBC 21 Yevan David [25] TBC TBA TBA TBC Giles Motorsport 50 Jack Taylor [26] R TBC 52 Nolan Allaer [27] TBC TBA TBA TBC

Icon Status R Rookie G Guest driver

Race calendar

The 2026 race calendar was announced in July 2025. ^[28] The adoption of the Formula Regional Trophy format saw the number of race weekends reduced to four, with the race tally staying at 15 races. ^[29] To achieve this, the weekend format of the opening three rounds was changed, with each round holding four races. ^[5] The reduction in venues saw Circuit Chris Amon leave the calendar for the first time since 2022.

Round		Circuit	Date	Feature race	Support bill	Map of circuit locations
1	R1	Hampton Downs Motorsport Park (Hampton Downs, North Waikato)	10 January	Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup	GT Racing New Zealand Bridgestone GR86 Championship New Zealand Porsche Series Championship	Taupo Hampton Downs Highlands Teretonga
	R2
	R3		11 January
	R4
2	R1	Taupo International Motorsport Park (Taupō, Waikato)	16–18 January	Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy	Historic Saloons, Sports, and GTs NZ Historic Sports Sedans Heritage Touring Cars New Zealand Formula Atlantic NZ Historic Historic & Vintage Racing Association NZ
	R2
	R3
	R4
3	R1	Teretonga Park (Invercargill, Southland District)	23–25 January	Spirit of a Nation Cup	Bridgestone GR86 Championship NZ Mazda Pro7 Racing New Zealand Super GT New Zealand Race Series TA2 NZ Championship NZ Formula Ford Championship
	R2
	R3
	R4
4	R1	Highlands Motorsport Park (Cromwell, Otago)	30 January – 1 February	New Zealand Grand Prix	Bridgestone GR86 Championship TA2 NZ Championship Super GT New Zealand Race Series Formula Atlantic NZ Historic
	R2
	R3

Race results

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1	R1	Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
	R2
	R3
	R4
2	R1	Taupo International Motorsport Park
	R2
	R3
	R4
3	R1	Teretonga Park
	R2
	R3
	R4
4	R1	Highlands Motorsport Park
	R2
	R3

Championship standings

Scoring system

The adoption of the Formula Regional Trophy format that saw a fourth race added to the first three rounds of the season prompted a change in the weekend format of these three rounds. Two qualifying sessions will now be held at each weekend, with the first session forming the grid for the first race and the second the grid for the fourth race. The grid for the second race will be formed by reversing the top eight finishers of race one, while the grid for the third race will be formed by taking the fastest lap of each drivers set during the first two races.

The fourth round of the year retained the format previously used for the New Zealand Grand Prix: One qualifying session will be held, divided into three parts, with the slowest cars eliminated after the end of each segment. The results of this session will form the grid for the Grand Prix, while the results of Q1 will form the grid for the first race and the grid for the second race will be formed by reversing the top eight finishers of race one. ^[30]

Points awarded for races 1, 3 and 4 of the weekend:

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

Points awarded for race 2 of the weekend:

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

Pos. Driver HMP TAU TER HIG Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2 R3 Zack Scoular Yuanpu Cui Louis Sharp Ryan Wood Ugo Ugochukwu Sebastian Manson Ernesto Rivera Freddie Slater Jin Nakamura Kanato Le Fionn McLaughlin Kalle Rovanperä James Wharton Ricardo Baptista Trevor LaTourrette Cooper Shipman Yevan David Jack Taylor Nolan Allaer Pos. Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2 R3 Points HMP TAU TER HIG

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (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

Teams' Championship

Each team counted its two best results of every race.

Pos.	Team	HMP				TAU				TER				HIG			Points
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R1	R2	R3	R4	R1	R2	R3	R4	R1	R2	R3
	mtec Motorsport
	M2 Competition
	Hitech TGR
	HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed
	Kiwi Motorsport
	Giles Motorsport
Pos.	Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R1	R2	R3	R4	R1	R2	R3	R4	R1	R2	R3	Points
		HMP				TAU				TER				HIG

References

1. "Milestones set at World Motor Sport Council in Macau". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile . 10 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
2. "FIA backs changes to Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy". Toyota NZ. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
3. "The Car". Toyota New Zealand . Retrieved 26 June 2025.
4. "NZ leads the way as Oceania series is first FIA Formula Regional championship to use fossil free fuel". Toyota New Zealand . 19 December 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
5. "Format changes set to rev up Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy". Toyota New Zealand . 30 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
6. "Scoular hoping to go one better in 2026". Toyota New Zealand . 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
7. "mtec Motorsport confirms Yuanpu Cui for NZ Championship". Toyota New Zealand . 18 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
8. "Sharp to make Formula Regional debut at home in NZ". Toyota New Zealand . 16 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
9. Leeuwen, Andrew van (1 November 2025). "Ryan Wood to race Formula Regional Oceania". Speedcafe . Retrieved 1 November 2025.
10. "Wood takes mtec seat for Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy". Toyota New Zealand . 22 December 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
11. "Macau GP winner latest big single seater name confirmed for New Zealand". Toyota New Zealand . 17 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
12. "Race winner Manson first Kiwi on Castrol Toyota FR grid". Toyota New Zealand . 21 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
13. "Red Bull's Rivera brings Mexican flare to talent filled NZ grid". Toyota NZ. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
14. "FRECA champion joins M2 Competition for NZ title challenge". Toyota New Zealand . 6 November 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
15. "Hitech confirm team for New Zealand". Toyota New Zealand . 29 July 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
16. "Upcoming Japanese talent starting big 2026 season in NZ". Toyota New Zealand . 20 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
17. "Le to bring unrivalled Formula Regional experience to NZ campaign". Toyota New Zealand . 28 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
18. "McLaughlin set for championship challenge with Hitech". Toyota New Zealand . 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
19. "Rovanperä to begin single seater journey in New Zealand". Toyota New Zealand . 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
20. Chapman, Simon (10 July 2025). "US racing powerhouses joins Formula Regional Oceania". Speedcafe . Retrieved 10 July 2025.
21. "Wharton will follow up F2 debut with championship challenge in NZ". Toyota New Zealand . 17 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
22. "TJ Speed seat for F4 race winner in New Zealand". Toyota NZ. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
23. "Skip Barber star a late addition for TJ Speed in New Zealand". Toyota NZ. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
24. "Formula 4 United States champ eager to take on the best in NZ". Toyota New Zealand . 11 December 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
25. "David heads to NZ to make history for Sri Lankan motorsport". Toyota New Zealand . 27 November 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
26. "Aussie Taylor starts 2026 close to home". Toyota New Zealand . 13 November 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
27. "IndyNXT racer joins exodus of talent to 2026 FR Oceania". Toyota New Zealand . 8 December 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
28. "Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy dates confirmed". Toyota NZ. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
29. Wood, Ida (11 June 2025). "FIA proposes introducing regional calendar format to FRegional and F4". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
30. "FIA CASTROL TOYOTA FORMULA REGIONAL OCEANIA TROPHY - 2026 SPORTING REGULATIONS" (PDF). MotorSport New Zealand . 24 December 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.

External links

• Official website of Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship certified by FIA