Formula Regional Oceania Championship

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Formula Regional Oceania Championship

Formula Regional Oceania Championship
Category	Open-wheeler racing
Country	Oceania
Inaugural season	2005
Drivers	20 (2023)
Teams	4 (2023)
Constructors	Tatuus
Engine suppliers	Toyota
Tyre suppliers	Hankook
Drivers' champion	Roman Bilinski
Teams' champion	M2 Competition
Official website	www.toyotaracing.co.nz
Current season

The Formula Regional Oceania Championship is New Zealand's premier formula racing category. The series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. The cars are also the category for the New Zealand Grand Prix – one of only two races in the world with FIA approval to use the Grand Prix nomenclature outside Formula One. The series was formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series until 2023.

The Toyota Racing Series is an incubator and showcase for the next generation of New Zealand racing talent. The Series offers emerging drivers the chance to gain valuable experience with carbon-fibre composite chassis, aerodynamics and slick tyres.

The Series has the full endorsement of Motorsport New Zealand, the sport's governing body. Until the beginning of 2017, the series was managed by Toyota Racing Management a company under the leadership of Barrie Thomlinson.

Previously, the country's leading drivers had to go offshore to step up to this level. High-profile graduates from the series to date include Brendon Hartley, formerly in Formula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, and Earl Bamber.^[1] The series has also seen the likes of Daniil Kvyat, Will Stevens, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris compete on their way to Formula One.

For 2008, the series has also gone "green". Fuels for all cars racing in the series are now an E85 biofuel blend of 85 per cent ethanol made from whey, a dairy industry by-product; and petrol. Reduced emissions, reduced carbon "footprint" and reduced use of fossil fuels are all being showcased in this unique New Zealand programme. The 2008 New Zealand Grand Prix thus becomes the first ever biofuel grand prix in the world.

The short summer series (five weekends in five weeks, all in January and February) during the Southern Hemisphere summer has made the series attractive to development drivers from the Northern Hemisphere, as the series takes place during the off-season, serving as single-seater motorsport's equivalent of professional baseball's "winter ball" leagues in the Caribbean and Australia. Drivers from both Europe and the Americas actively participate in the series, as it allows them to develop their skills in an atmosphere similar to the winter ball leagues. A June 2019 FIA World Motor Sport Council decision now allows development drivers to tally Toyota Racing Series with their regular series towards FIA Super Licence points required to be in a Formula One car, meaning the driver can participate in this series, then participate in a series that starts after the end of the Toyota Racing Series, and accumulate points from both series towards F1 approval.^[2]

The series was renamed to Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship for the 2023 season, joining the other various Formula Regional series around the world.^[3]

The current championship consists of five rounds, each comprising three races.

• Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2025 season.

Number	Circuits	Rounds	Years
1	Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon	21[a][b]	2005–2021, 2023–present
2	Teretonga Park	17[c]	2005–2020, 2023
3	Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park	15	2006–2013, 2015–2019, 2023–present
	Hampton Downs Motorsport Park	15[d][e]	2010–2021, 2023–present
5	Euromarque Motorsport Park	11[f]	2005–2006, 2008, 2015–2018, 2024
6	Timaru International Motor Raceway	10	2005–2014
7	Pukekohe Park Raceway	8[g]	2005–2007, 2009, 2020
8	Highlands Motorsport Park	5[h]	2014, 2019–2020, 2023–present
9	Hamilton Street Circuit	2[i]	2008–2009

The Toyota Racing Series ran a Tatuus FT-50 chassis with modified versions of 1.8L Toyota four cylinder 2ZZ-GE production engines which can produce 200bhp, a six speed Sadev sequential transmission with limited slip differential with a carbon fibre body and a Carbon monocoque chassis built by Tatuus in Italy to full FIA F3 specification.^[4] The cars use Michelin S308 tyres (Front 20x54x13, Rear 24x57x13) and weigh approximately 480 kg.

The Toyota Racing Series switched to a new chassis called Tatuus FT-60, identical to the Tatuus F.3 T-318 used in Europe, whereas the new engine 8AR-FTS will be a 2.0L turbocharged unit developing 270bhp.^[5] The cars have halo for the protection purposes and it weigh approximately 665 kg with driver.^[6]

Source:^[7]

Season	Driver	Team	Poles	Wins	Podiums	Fastest laps	Points	Clinched	Margin
2005	Brent Collins	Brent Collins Motorsport	1	4	10	4	937	Race 18 of 18	33
2005–06	Daniel Gaunt	International Motorsport	5	7	17	10	1491	Race 21 of 23	479
2006–07	Daniel Gaunt	International Motorsport	3	9	16	8	1448	Race 21 of 23	328
2007–08	Andy Knight	Knight Motorsport	6	6	16	2	1230	Race 23 of 23	33
2008–09	Mitch Cunningham	Giles Motorsport	7	5	13	4	1110	Race 17 of 18	121
2010	Mitch Evans	Giles Motorsport	8	3	10	5	915	Race 15 of 15	3
2011	Mitch Evans	Giles Motorsport	6	7	14	5	973	Race 13 of 15	168
2012	Nick Cassidy	Giles Motorsport	0	5	10	4	934	Race 13 of 15	176
2013	Nick Cassidy	M2 Competition	0	2	10	6	915	Race 14 of 15	112
2014	Andrew Tang	Neale Motorsport	1	3	9	4	794	Race 15 of 15	4
2015	Lance Stroll	M2 Competition	0	4	10	2	906	Race 14 of 16	108
2016	Lando Norris	M2 Competition	8	6	11	5	924	Race 14 of 15	135
2017	Thomas Randle	Victory Motor Racing	3	2	7	7	855	Race 15 of 15	5
2018	Robert Shwartzman	M2 Competition	3	1	9	3	916	Race 15 of 15	5
2019	Liam Lawson	M2 Competition	4	5	11	5	356	Race 15 of 15	10
2020	Igor Fraga	M2 Competition	3	4	9	3	362	Race 15 of 15	6
2021	Matthew Payne	M2 Competition	6	5	9	5	287	Race 8 of 9	58
2022	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023	Charlie Wurz	M2 Competition	4	4	6	1	343	Race 15 of 15	14
2024	Roman Bilinski	M2 Competition	5	6	12	5	385	Race 14 of 15	43

Wins	Driver	Years
2	Daniel Gaunt	2005–06, 2006–07
	Mitch Evans	2010, 2011
	Nick Cassidy	2012, 2013

Wins	Country	Drivers	Years
11	New Zealand	Brent Collins	2005
		Daniel Gaunt	2005–06, 2006–07
		Andy Knight	2007–08
		Mitch Cunningham	2008–09
		Mitch Evans	2010, 2011
		Nick Cassidy	2012, 2013
		Liam Lawson	2019
		Matthew Payne	2021
1	Singapore	Andrew Tang	2014
	Canada	Lance Stroll	2015
	United Kingdom	Lando Norris	2016
	Australia	Thomas Randle	2017
	Russia	Robert Shwartzman	2018
	Brazil	Igor Fraga	2020
	Austria	Charlie Wurz	2023
	Poland	Roman Bilinski	2024

The winner of the feature race of each round in the championship is awarded a trophy:

1. Lady Wigram Trophy
2. The Spirit of the Nation Cup
3. The NZ Motor Cup
4. Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy
5. Dan Higgins Trophy
6. The New Zealand Grand Prix Trophy

The overall winner of the championship (based on championship points) receives the Chris Amon Trophy^[8]

• Toyota Racing Series