Victory for home driver and two-time WRC champion advances in points

The second race of the first stage of the Formula Regional Oceania (FROC) 2026 season took place at the Hampton Downs track in New Zealand.

Starting positions were determined based on the results of the first race. The drivers who finished the race in the top 8 started in reverse order, while the rest started the race according to their finishing positions.

Thus, pole position went to Sri Lankan representative Evan David. New Zealander Zach Scoular came second, while Freddie Slater, who failed in the first race of the weekend, came third.

The two drivers who have perhaps attracted the most attention in this championship – former McLaren protégé Ugu Ugochukwu and two-time WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera – started 7th and 17th respectively.

The race was immediately led by home rider Zach Scoular, who had a significantly better start than his nearby rival. After that, the New Zealander took the race to victory without any problems. Japan’s Jin Nakamura finished second, while Slater finished third and maintained his position, gaining his first championship podium.

Ugochukwu only managed to move into fifth place. However, Rovanpera was pleasantly surprised. Starting from 17th place, the Finnish pilot had a strong first lap and gained a few positions before one of his rivals at the front retired from the race and headed towards the safety car. He then gradually moved up and was in tenth place before the final lap. However, he could not maintain his position until the finish line. However, since points were awarded to the top 15, Calle won his points.

The second qualifying round will be played today and the balance of power may change noticeably depending on the start of the weekend.