Feeder Series reviews the junior single-seater racing that took place over the weekend with the opening round of Formula Regional Oceania’s 2025 season at Taupō.

By Feeder Series

Only one junior single-seater championship, FR Oceania, raced this weekend as many teams and drivers in motorsport continue to enjoy their winter breaks.

Summer in the southern hemisphere means that New Zealand’s premier single-seater series is back for its 20th season. FR Oceania began this weekend at Taupō International Motorsport Park with a 17-car grid and several surprises.

FRegional Oceania: Lindblad leads points as Scoular scores maiden win in cars

Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad walked away from the opening FR Oceania round with a five-point lead in the drivers’ standings after winning the final race at Taupō in commanding fashion to earn the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy.

After 23 laps, M2 Competition’s Lindblad crossed the line 5.325 seconds ahead of teammate Matías Zagazeta to win from pole position. The result inched the 17-year-old F1 prospect closer to his goal of earning the 18 FIA Super Licence points that come with sealing the championship.

Lindblad had already earned the championship lead ahead of the race by finishing third in each of the first two races. And while the Briton was the driver to beat in both qualifying and race trim on Sunday, a surprise contender upstaged him – and the rest of the field – on Saturday.

MTEC Motorsport driver Zack Scoular, who had scored just one podium in 47 prior single-seater starts, took his first pole position in cars in Saturday morning’s qualifying session by 0.078s. The FR debutant then controlled the first race and secured his first victory by 2.069s over reigning Supercars champion Will Brown, returning to a single-seater championship after eight years out.

The top eight drivers from race one were reversed to form the grid for race two. Josh Pierson started on pole alongside Enzo Yeh, who jumped the start and earned a five-second penalty as a result. Zagazeta charged through from fourth on the grid to take the lead from Pierson into the opening corner, and the Peruvian driver eked out a 4.155s margin over the American by the end of the 18-lap contest.

Yeh finished 0.370s behind Zagazeta on the road, but his penalty dropped him to fourth.

As Lindblad romped away from Zagazeta in race three, the focal point became the battle for the final podium place. Scoular held the position for the entirety of the race, but the Dubai-based New Zealander faced stiff competition from Giles Motorsport’s Brown as his tyres faded in the closing laps.

Brown then received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with M2 driver Michael Shin on the third lap. As a result of the contact, Shin spun around at high speed on the back straight but miraculously avoided hitting the barrier. Both cars continued without apparent damage, and Shin was classified seventh, one place ahead of Brown.

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Zack Scoular, 1:23.616	Will Brown, +0.078s	Nikita Johnson, +0.177s
Race 1 (17 laps)	Zack Scoular, 24:04.282	Will Brown, +2.069s	Arvid Lindblad, +3.131s
Qualifying 2	Arvid Lindblad, 1:23.039	Matías Zagazeta, +0.089s	Zack Scoular, +0.193
Race 2 (18 laps)	Matías Zagazeta, 25:34.735	Josh Pierson, +4.155s	Arvid Lindblad, +4.667s
Race 3 (23 laps)	Arvid Lindblad, 32:38.824	Matías Zagazeta, +5.325s	Zack Scoular, +10.161s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Arvid Lindblad, 78	M2 Competition, 151	Zack Scoular, 68
P2	Matías Zagazeta, 73	MTEC Motorsport, 128	Enzo Yeh, 37
P3	Zack Scoular, 68	Giles Motorsport, 76	Nicolas Stati, 15
P4	Nikita Johnson, 58	Kiwi Motorsport, 35	Barrett Wolfe, 13
P5	Josh Pierson, 54
P6	Will Brown, 54
P7	Michael Shin, 48
P8	Patrick Heuzenroeder, 46
P9	Enzo Yeh, 37
P10	Sebastian Manson, 35

Report by Michael McClure

Header photo credit: Bruce Jenkins Photography