Liam Sceats saw his gap to the championship lead widen to 50 points at the latest round in Hampton Downs. As his main rival begins to potentially pull away, Feeder Series spoke to Sceats to analyse what has held back the M2 Competition driver up to this stage – and what has to go right in the remaining races.

By Juan Arroyo

Liam Sceats has established himself as a strong frontrunner in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in his sophomore season. The M2 Competition driver is second in the points standings after three rounds and has yet to finish outside of the top six or retire from any race.

This form should not come as a surprise for Sceats, who says the expectation following his rookie season has been to be at the front and challenge for the title “at the least” in 2024.

On the other side of the M2 Competition garage stands his main championship rival, Roman Bilinski. Over the first nine races, Bilinski has accumulated five wins and three podiums, a near-record rate of top three finishes. The Polish driver, now widely touted as the favourite for the title, has built up a 50-point lead over Sceats with two rounds – six races – left.

Sceats has been a frontrunner this season inside a top six that seems to be jam-packed every other race. So far, his standout results have been a best finish of second along three third-place podiums. However, despite his evident pace, even a small misfortune in a grid this tight can mean the difference between first and sixth. The latest round at Hampton Downs served as a reflection of just that, and perhaps, as well, of how strong an opposition Sceats faces for the title in the form of Bilinski.

Sceats secured second place in a wet-dry Friday qualifying session, and with Bilinski starting race one in 14th, it looked like just the opportunity for the New Zealander to bounce back in the standings. Sceats kept his qualifying position for a season-best result, but incredibly, it was Bilinski who emerged victorious from this race. The Polish driver climbed 14 positions and held a fast-chasing Sceats behind before a red flag ended the race with three laps to go.

Starting seventh from a reversed top eight in race two, Sceats could only gain one position by the finish. The top half of the grid lapped similar times throughout the race — mid 1m29s to low 1m30s – complicating most overtakes. Bilinski, starting from eighth, had the strongest pace of the field through the middle stages and ended the race in third place.

Speaking to Feeder Series, Sceats acknowledged the minimal difference in lap times between most of the top eight, while also adding: “We had the race pace to move forward […] I think we were second fastest in the race.”

The 18-year-old qualified seventh for the feature race on Sunday, a result he makes evident he is not satisfied with. Starting sixth following Gerrard Xie’s late withdrawal, Sceats temporarily dropped back to eighth on the opening lap. The M2 Competition driver recovered to fifth by lap 14 but like the rest of the weekend, struggled to make inroads on the race leaders during the late stages.

“I think what didn’t help was just track position in those final two races of the weekend. We had the race pace to be able to be a frontrunner, to contest for the podium and the win, but we just didn’t have the track position, unfortunately,” said Sceats.

While Bilinski was unable to convert pole position into victory in race three, a second-place finish gave the Polish driver his third podium of the weekend. With that, he extended his championship lead to 50 points ahead of Sceats and 83 points ahead of Kaleb Ngatoa.

In spite of the strong opposition, Sceats has remained in the fight by virtue of keeping his nose clean. Consistency, he told Feeder Series, is the key for his title aspirations.

 “We know that to win the championship, we just need to keep doing what we’re doing. and we’re giving ourselves the best chance. I think it’s hugely important to just finish every race and score solid points. We don’t have to be on the podium or win every race, but as long as we’re just banking solid points, that’s going to go a long way for our championship.”

Sceats does possess a hand over Bilinski in terms of experience in the championship itself, however, he feels that this has been partly negated by FROC’s switch to Pirelli tyres.

“I learned a lot in my rookie season, experienced the lows and the highs, so I think that’s kind of nurtured me to be a more complete driver,” said the New Zealander. 

“Still, with [FROC] going to Pirelli this year, I mean, I have no experience on the Pirelli compared to my main competition who race in Europe and did numerous seasons on the Pirelli. So in this way, I feel like I wasn’t experienced, and it hasn’t helped me, but other aspects apart from the tyre, I feel very experienced.”

The cards feel stacked against Sceats at the current pace, but with almost a third of the races remaining, the title fight is still very much open. A victory in either of a round’s main races yields 35 points, a retirement still yields zero.

Sceats’ championship aspirations rest on his ability to match Bilinski’s race pace and remain as consistent as he has been, as well as possibly force the Polish driver into a major mistake sometime in the two rounds left. Should Bilinski maintain his dominance in the next round instead, Sceats’ uphill climb will only become steeper.

Header photo credit: Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ