The 2026 racing season got underway at Hampton Downs, where a number of previous Formula 3 and FRegional race winners shone in FR Oceania’s opening round. Feeder Series reviews the action.

By Feeder Series

The new FIA Regional Trophy format made its bow this weekend with the four-race FR Oceania Trophy season opener. Drivers who’ve raced on the F1 support package won three of the four races in the series that crowned incoming F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad as its champion last year.

As we did last year, we’ll bring you reviews of almost all the junior single-seater championships we cover on our other platforms. In addition to a recap of the on-track action, each report includes the key statistics from the top three drivers in qualifying sessions and races. We also give you the top 10 drivers, teams and rookies in the respective championship standings of each series. Keep an eye out for them Sunday evenings or Monday mornings.

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1. FR Oceania: Ugochukwu leads points after dominant showing on Sunday

FR Oceania: Ugochukwu leads points after dominant showing on Sunday

M2 Competition’s Ugo Ugochukwu left the first FR Oceania Trophy round at Hampton Downs with 113 points, having topped both qualifying sessions and taken a clean sweep on Sunday.

In the first qualifying session, Ugochukwu narrowly took pole with a 1:29.267, only 0.007 seconds faster than Mtec Motorsport’s Louis Sharp. In race one, however, Sharp snatched the lead off the line from Ugochukwu and never looked back, leading all 18 laps to win from the American on home soil.

Ugochukwu’s teammate Freddie Slater, starting from third, got a bad start, with Hitech’s Kanato Le overtaking him at the first corner.

By the second lap, Jin Nakamura, Ryan Wood and Zack Scoular had also moved up past Slater, dropping him to seventh. Slater retook sixth place on lap five on the start-finish straight, with Wood likewise passing Nakamura for fourth there five laps later.

The top 10 remained the same from there, with Yevan David’s eighth-place finish awarding him reverse-grid pole for the second race.

Scoular lined up beside David on the front row but got a better launch off the line, taking the lead heading into the first corner. Slater, starting third, made a daring attempt at the second corner to overtake both cars ahead, but he didn’t succeed and slotted in behind David. This gave Jin Nakamura the opportunity to overtake Slater exiting Turn 3 for third.

A spin for James Wharton after contact with Sebastian Manson brought out the safety car at the end of the first lap. The Australian continued, while Manson was given a drive-through penalty.

The safety car period ended on lap three, with Scoular getting a good restart. David had to fend off Nakamura heading into the first corner, opening the door for Slater to attack the Hitech driver through the following corners. Nakamura defended his position from Slater, who was then hit by Le at Turn 8. Le broke his front wing and had to pit. 

On the seventh lap, Nakamura overtook David on the start-finish straight. The Sri Lankan driver did not give up and drew alongside Nakamura once again heading into Turn 2, but a front-right lock-up ensured Nakamura kept his position. This helped Slater close in, and both he and Ryan Wood overtook David on the main straight at the end of the lap. 

Scoular pulled away and crossed the line 1.779s ahead of Nakamura, with Slater holding off Wood for third.

Ernesto Rivera earned pole for race three with his fastest lap late in race two. Le started second but got a better launch, taking the lead into the first corner. Ugochukwu, starting fourth, also got a great launch, overtaking both Rivera and Wharton. He then began challenging Le for the lead, making the pass on lap eight at Turn 2. 

On the 12th lap, Trevor LaTourrette got stuck in the gravel, bringing out the safety car. Its withdrawal on lap 15 left three racing laps, and Ugochukwu held the lead to take his first FR Oceania win. Le crossed the line second, with Rivera completing the podium in third. 

In qualifying for the feature race, Ugochukwu once again set the fastest lap with a 1:29.224, 0.263s ahead of Nakamura and 0.288s ahead of Sharp. Ugochukwu faced pressure from Nakamura immediately, but a multi-car collision behind them quickly brought the race to a halt. Contact between single-seater debutant Kalle Rovanperä and Manson sent the Finn into the wall, with Wood and David struck by Manson’s spinning car. All four drivers retired, while Manson received a five-place grid drop to be served in the first race in Taupō. 

The race restarted behind the safety car, which came in on lap three. Ugochukwu led Nakamura heading into the first corner, while Slater also made up two positions, overtaking both Scoular and Nolan Allaer to take fifth. He then began pursuing Sharp, who defended well until he went wide at the first corner on lap 19. Slater capitalised on his mistake and overtook him, holding firm as Sharp battled to retake the position at Turn 2. 

Out front, Ugochukwu crossed the line 1.254s ahead of Nakamura, claiming the Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup and his second win of the day. Le crossed the line third to round out the podium. They also form the top three in the drivers’ standings.

Report by Kaylene Lau

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Ugo Ugochukwu, 1:29.267	Louis Sharp, +0.007s	Freddie Slater, +0.142s
Race 1 (18 laps)	Louis Sharp, 27:21.011	Ugo Ugochukwu, +0.448s	Kanato Le, +3.036s
Race 2 (18 laps)	Zack Scoular, 29:39.018	Jin Nakamura, +1.779s	Freddie Slater, +7.155s
Qualifying 2	Ugo Ugochukwu, 1:29.224	Jin Nakamura, +0.263s	Louis Sharp, +0.288s
Race 3 (18 laps)	Ugo Ugochukwu, 29:57.204	Kanato Le, +1.122s	Ernesto Rivera, +2.051s
Race 4 (23 laps)	Ugo Ugochukwu, 37:08.390	Jin Nakamura, +1.254s	Kanato Le, +6.196s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Ugo Ugochukwu, 113	M2 Competition, 200	Ryan Wood, 41
P2	Jin Nakamura, 95	Hitech, 189	Fionn McLaughlin, 36
P3	Kanato Le, 87	Mtec Motorsport, 161	Cooper Shipman, 25
P4	Freddie Slater, 74	TJ Speed with HMD Motorsports, 70	Jack Taylor, 19
P5	Louis Sharp, 70	Kiwi Motorsport, 69	Cadi Baptista, 19
P6	Zack Scoular, 62	Giles Motorsport, 63	Kalle Rovanperä, 16
P7	Ernesto Rivera, 57		Trevor LaTourrette, 15
P8	James Wharton, 46
P9	Yevan David, 44
P10	Nolan Allaer, 44

Header photo credit: Joel Hanks Media