2026 Formula Regional Oceania Trophy

The 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy was 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 was held in New Zealand over four consecutive weekends in January and February of 2026.

M2 Competition's Ugo Ugochukwu won the Drivers' Championship title at the final race of the season while his team defended their Teams' Championship title for the fourth year running. Mtec Motorsport's Louis Sharp ended the season as the highest-placed Australian or Kiwi driver, thereby winning the Tasman Cup, as his teammate Ryan Wood claimed the Rookie Championship title with three races to spare.

All drivers competed 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 saw the introduction of a push-to-pass feature designed to create more on-track battles and overtakes.^[5]

The 2026 race calendar was announced in July 2025.^[29] 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.^[30] 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. The third race of the penultimate round was postponed to the final race weekend.

The 2026 season began at Hampton Downs with M2's Ugo Ugochukwu on pole position for the season opener.^[31] Mtec Motorsport's Louis Sharp started alongside him and took the lead right away at the start, while Hitech TGR's Kanato Le slotted into third. Ugochukwu kept within one second of the leader throughout the race, but was unable to mount an attack.^[32] Kiwi Motorsport’s Yevan David started race two from reversed-grid pole position, but the second grid spot proved to be better once again as mtec's Zack Scoular moved past him off the line. After a short safety car, David was attacked by Hitech's Jin Nakamura and locked up, letting Nakamura and M2's Freddie Slater past. By that point, Scoular had built a gap that saw him able to take the win.^[33] Race three had M2's Ernesto Rivera on pole position, but a slow start saw him drop to third behind Le and Ugochukwu. The latter then took the lead on lap eight, holding off Le after a safety car to claim victory.^[34] Ugochukwu also claimed pole position for the feature race,^[35] retaining the lead at the start before a four-car crash caused a red flag. He held off Nakamura and Le after the restart to take victory again and end the weekend with an 18-point championship lead.^[36]

Mtec's Ryan Wood claimed pole position ahead of Ugochukwu for the first race at Taupo. The pair went side-by-side at the start, but Wood managed to stay ahead and began building a gap to claim victory by 2.5 seconds. Ugochukwu came under pressure by Scoular before the latter locked up and handed the final podium spot to Slater. Le started the reversed-grid race two on pole position and held off Rivera at the start, allowing Wharton to get past the Mexican into turn two. Wharton then quickly closed up to the leader and pressured him until the Japanese made a mistake on lap seven and Wharton moved into first place. Le tumbled down the order afterwards, finishing in seventh, while Rivera and Ugochukwu completed the podium behind Wharton.^[37] Scoular started race three from the front, and used his fresher tyres to stay there after defending from Slater and Wood. While battles were fought all throughout the race, the top three remained static until the end.^[38] Giles Motorsport's Jack Taylor was fastest in qualifying for the feature race, but Wood took the lead right away and never looked back, taking victory ahead of Le and Sharp. Ugochukwu came fourth, his championship lead now 31 points over Le and Sharp.^[39]

Round three at Teretonga Park was disrupted by rain throughout, with qualifying red-flagged multiple times before Rivera was able to claim pole position after several penalties for other drivers.^[40] He spun off at the first turn of the very wet first race, handing the lead to Slater and causing a safety car. Slater led Nakamura from the restart, throughout a second safety car period caused by Scoular hitting the wall, to claim the first victory of his campaign, while Hitech's Kalle Rovanperä claimed his maiden single-seater podium in third.^[41] With weather conditions worsening afterwards, race two was postponed to Sunday, with the third race moved to round four. Ugochukwu had pole position for the second race, which was also interrupted by two safety car periods. The American remained faultless throughout to lead Wood to his third victory, with Kiwi's Cooper Shipman claiming third on the final restart.^[42] Slater had pole position for the feature race, which began in dry conditions. He led Ugochukwu, Sharp and Nakamura until it started to rain and the race was red-flagged. Ugochukwu made a crucial mistake on the restart and fell to fourteenth, with Slater winning to close up to 22 points behind him in the championship.^[43]

The final weekend of the year at Highlands Motorsport Park began with the postponed third race of round three. Slater started that encounter from pole position and converted it into a lights-to-flag victory. Ugochukwu took second off Le at the start to minimize the damage to his points lead, while the Japanese dropped to fourth behind Sharp.^[44] Up next was qualifying, where Nakamura took pole position for both the second race of the weekend and the Grand Prix.^[45] He failed to hold on to his lead in race two as he lost out to Ugochukwu, who was then able to gap the field and secure his fourth victory of the campaign. Sharp took third after defending from Scoular before the latter made a mistake.^[46] Le had pole position for the reversed-grid third race, and he was never attacked on the way to victory as Wharton and his teammate Liam Sceats spent the race fighting over second, with Wharton coming out on top.^[47] Ugochukwu entered the final race 26 points ahead of Slater, but started in 13th after an exclusion from the Q3 session. He was able to climb up to ninth, enough to secure the title by 16 points, while the Grand Prix was won by Scoular ahead of Nakamura and Le after the polesitter bogged down at the start.^[48]

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 were now 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 was formed by reversing the top eight finishers of race one, while the grid for the third race was 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 was held, divided into three parts, with the slowest cars eliminated after the end of each segment. The results of this session formed the grid for the Grand Prix, while the results of Q1 formed the grid for the first race and the grid for the second race was formed by reversing the top eight finishers of race one.^[49]

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

Points awarded for race 2 of the weekend:

Each team counted its two best results of every race.

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