Kiwi one-two in NZGP

Liam Sceats put his name on motorsport’s most important trophy in this country with a dominant win in the 68th New Zealand Grand Prix (NZGP) to end his 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship campaign in style.

He fought off an early challenge from compatriot Callum Hedge before stamping his authority on the race and romping to victory by some five-and-a-half seconds.

“We have been very strong in the second half of the season and I’ve loved going head-to-head with Roman Bilinski,” says Sceats. “We’ve been a bit unlucky with results, but it feels great to finish like this.

“I wouldn’t be here without my family and I’m definitely going to share this one, We’ve been through a lot to get to this moment.”

An all-Kiwi front row of pole-position man Sceats and dark horse Hedge led the field around the warm-up lap before forming on the grid for the start of NZGP, which for the 68th time was run over 27 laps of Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, on February 18.

It was Sceats who was cleanest away while Hedge had to go defensive immediately as the field surged through the first chicane, several cars launching over the kerb and Gerrard Xie getting close to the barriers.

Sceats pushed hard and Hedge settled in directly behind him. As they crossed the line to complete lap one, it was those two before a short gap to Michael Shin and Jacob Abel, who were bumping and rubbing as they began a fierce duel over the opening laps. Bryce Aron was fifth with the third Kiwi, Alex Crosbie, in sixth.

With the title already under Bilinski’s belt, it was gloves off from 12th on the grid and he was up to eighth at the close of the opening tour. 

He turned that into seventh by the end of lap two. He made that sixth with a pass on Crosbie on lap three. That third lap also saw Shin move into third as Abel looked to have some minor but significant damage to his car from the battle.

Things settled a little on the fourth lap as Sceats eased out to a lead of just over half a second from Hedge. 

As the 20-lap mark, Sceats was pulling away from the rest, but couldn’t shake Hedge who sat a couple of car lengths behind him, pressuring him for a lap or two before resting his tyres and repeating the process. 

With 10 laps completed it was this cat-and-mouse battle for honours that was the most entertaining part of the race along with Bilinski’s repeated efforts to find a way past Aron. 

Sceats and Hedge traded fastest laps as they stretched their advantage over Shin and the rest to four seconds at halfway.

Sceats was controlling the race well and, as it entered the second half, it was his M2 Competition car that looked to have a slight advantage over Hedge’s MTEC Motorsport. 

It was enough for Sceats to push out to a lead of 1.2 seconds with 10 to go. This was his moment to take control and over the next few laps he increased his advantage over Hedge by at least three 10ths each time around.

Hedge had no answer to his countryman and former school classmate, and slowly but surely had to switch his attention to a closing Shin behind. 

His advantage evaporated with his grip over the next couple of laps and with five to go, the South Korean was right on Hedge’s tail. Sceats, meanwhile, kept up the pressure ahead, lapping consistently in the one minute 29.5 second bracket to build an unassailable lead.

Both Sceats and Shin had done the best job saving their tyres and, as the former rocketed away, Shin launched attacks on Hedge forcing him into defensive mode.

It was plain sailing for Sceats in the final few laps and he remained the fastest right the way to the flag having led all the way.

Hedge made it home in second for a Kiwi one-two, while Abel had a lonely race to fourth after his earlier battles with Shin.

Celebrations were momentarily halted as the battle between Bilinski and Bryce Aron came to a dramatic end as the two approached the finish line. 

The latter hit the outside wall on his dash to the line leaving the Pole nowhere to go and the champion leapfrogged over the back of the American. Aron emerged shaken but unscathed while Bilinksi was nursing some bruising after his heavy impact with the track. 

Remarkably, the accident meant the remains of Bilinski’s car crossed the line in fifth. Aron was classified sixth while Crosbie could be well-satisfied with his seventh place in his debut season at this level.

Ryder Quinn flew the flag for the circuit-owning Quinn family with a solid eighth, beating Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth in the process. Another fine performance by Elliot Cleary saw the Australian round out the top 10. 

Jett Bowling finished 11th and Sebastian Manson completed his first NZGP in 12th. He was followed by US racer Landan Matriano Lim, Brazil’s Lucas Fecury and American Jake Bonilla. Gerrad Xie was last of the classified runners in 16th after a trip to the pits for repairs and the only retirement was Titus Sherlock.

Bilinski takes out title

Bryce Aron took his first win in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, but the big story was British-based Polish star Roman Bilinski’s drive to third and the championship title in the weekend’s second race.

After a challenging Saturday when he put himself and his mechanics under pressure, Bilinski showed his class with a fighting drive to the podium. His nearest title challenger, Liam Sceats, could only manage ninth.

“What a crazy race and a crazy season,” says Bilinski. “We have worked so hard. I gave it everything in that race but these guys were so fast. This is a massive win for me, when you look at the drivers who have won this championship. It’s huge.”

On February 17, meanwhile, Sceats took his second race win in a row. He started from pole position and it was a straightforward race win for him and the most he could do to maintain his late title challenge to Bilinski.

Final standings

1. Roman Bilinski, 385 points
2. Liam Sceats, 342pts 
3. Patrick Woods-Toth, 255pts
4. Michael Shin, 245pts
5. Alex Crosbie, 208pts