Double glory for American

Ugo Ugochukwu completed a clean sweep of Sunday’s action at Hampton Downs by backing up pole position and a morning win with another second in the afternoon’s Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup.

It gave M2 Competition’s American driver the early lead in the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy points table and, in a quality field, marks him out as a title favourite.

Fresh from his first win in the morning’s race, Ugochukwu made a great getaway. But it all came to nought after the first turn when a big coming together between Sebastian Manson and Kalle Rovanpera that sent the latter flying off and making significant contact with the wall, albeit at a narrow angle. As soon as the car came to a halt, he was able to hop out.

There was enough damage to their vehicles, and those of innocent victims Ryan Wood and Yevan David, to bring out an immediate safety car, which was followed by the red flag and a race stoppage.

All drivers involved emerged unscathed but were out of the race on the spot, and there was a lengthy delay while the debris was cleared and tyre barrier repaired.

A safety car restart got the field under way once more at the start of lap four. First time across the start finish line flat out it was Ugochukwu from Jin Nakamura, Kanato Le, Louis Sharp, Freddie Slater, Zack Scoular, Nolan Allaer, Ernesto Rivera, James Wharton, Yuanpu Cui and the remaining runners.

IndyNXT racer Allaer, carrying frontal damage, fell prey to Rivera and his push to pass up the home straight on lap six with the Mexican moving to seventh. Allaer would eventually find a way back past the Red Bull Junior.

At the front, Ugochukwu had settled into a lead of a few car lengths over Nakamura and Le, the Hitech duo locked together as they had been for much of the weekend. Sharp looked menacing in fourth too, clocking the fastest lap as the cars approached the halfway mark in his Mtec car.

That pace initially drew him close to Le as the cars started lap 10 with Slater ready to make the most of any mistake as the battle ahead evolved. But the Kiwi couldn’t mount a major attack and dropped enough to give Le some breathing space, and give himself the headache of a fired-up Slater in his mirrors.

Eventually, Slater’s relentless efforts to pass Sharp – particularly an impressive full send down the inside on lap 18 – were rewarded when the Kiwi made a small mistake in turn one and Freddie eased through and into that fourth spot.

The last couple of laps played out without incident. At the flag it was Ugochukwu, with Nakamura and Le taking two more podium finishes for Hitech on their first weekend in New Zealand.

Rest of weekend’s action

Ugochukwu raced away to take the chequered flag in race three at Hampton on January 11. There was no stopping him as he worked his way up from fourth on the grid.

He says: “That was important for us of course and starting fourth we had plenty to do. But I made a mega start. It was quite tricky moving through to the lead but once I did I just had to manage it. Pace all round has been good and we are getting really good points.”

The grid was formed from the fastest lap times from races one two amalgamated. That left Mexican Red Bull Junior Ernesto Rivera on pole alongside Japan’s Kanato Le, with Australia’s James Wharton and Ugochukwu lining up on the second row.

Zack Scoular made it a fine day for Kiwi drivers as he took victory in the second race on January 10. A fine start from the front row set the scene for a strong drive by the Mtec Motorsport racer all the way to the flag, with the 2025 rookie champion racing away from Hitech’s Jin Nakamura.

It made it two wins for two Kiwis after Louis Sharp’s morning victory, and two out of two for Mtec. “We got a very good launch of the line and went from there,” says Scoular. “You do need to use the push to pass strategically and it’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s great to win in this field.”

And it was a great start for 18-year-old Sharp that provided the foundation for an impressive debut win in the first race of the series

Sharp was the best off the grid in his Mtec Motorsport entry, racing around the outside of pole position sitter Ugochukwu to lead out of turn one. Despite continual pressure from the M2 Competition driver, he did just enough over the next 18 laps of the 3.8km track to take the win.

“I got a great start and a great first turn and then it was just about trying to look after the tyres and hold Ugo off as he was very quick,” says Sharp. “The push to pass gives us a bit of strategy in terms of options but it is still hard to pass with the aero wash so I was fully aware how important a good start would be.”

After a breath-taking first weekend which produced three different winners, the trophy now moves to round two. It heads to Taupo International Motorsport Park this weekend.