Kiwi secures win in series
New Zealand racer Kaleb Ngatoa bagged the first chequered flag for home drivers in this year’s Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship at Hampton Downs.
He fought off a late challenge in the weekend’s third and feature race to move up to third on the ladder overall.
Bilinski, perhaps mindful the championship had reached its halfway point and keen to build his overall lead in any way he could, didn’t force for the lead as much as he might have done as the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy went to the New Zealander.
“Roman pressured me the whole race,” says Ngatoa. “I had to tell myself to calm down and breathe. The team gave me the car to do this.
“I had a good start and good pace. I didn’t really have to push too much until I saw Roman get going, but I had enough pace.
“Kenny Smith has helped me in my career. He’s always said I should win this trophy named after his mum and it’s great that I finally have.”
Second was still good enough to extend Bilinski’s lead over second-placed Liam Sceats in the chase for the 2024 title and he also finished the day by setting a class lap record.
Alpine F1 Junior Nicola Lacorte opened his winners’ account with a lights-to-flag victory in the second race of the weekend. The 16-year-old made the most of his tyres and the battles behind him to win in style.
He says: “It was a good race and I enjoyed it. We did good work on Friday and it’s great to see that come into play today. We had good pace, enough to win.”
A crash on the last lap brought proceedings to an early end – Chinese F4 champion Gerrard Xie hit the tyre barriers after making contact with Patrick Woods-Toth.
Michael Shin was a solid second and Bilinski again weaved his magic to move through the field to take another podium in third.
Weather dominated proceedings in the first race at Hampton Downs, but it was Bilinski who came from 14th on the grid to win the weekend’s opener.
Changeable conditions continued with a heavy downpour about 20 minutes before the scheduled start, leaving teams and drivers with a dilemma on tyre choice.
Ngatoa and Kaden Probst – on the third row – opted to start on full wets on a semi-dry track with ominous clouds approaching. For the first few laps, the conditions still weighed in favour of wet-weather tyres, giving Ngatoa a handy lead.
At the end of the fourth lap, the gap between the two options went from a few tenths to four seconds in favour of slicks. That was it for the two gamblers on wets.
The rain returned with a vengeance with two laps to go. But a stranded Nicola Lacorte brought out the safety car, and that was how the field took the flag after an eventful and tense race.
Bilinski, who had a below-average performance in morning qualifying, could rightly be happy with his performance, a scintillating drive that saw him up to sixth by the end of the first lap and into the lead after a daring move on Ngatoa on lap five.
Driver standings
1. Roman Bilinski, 240 points
2. Liam Sceats, 190pts
3. Kaleb Ngatoa, 157pts
4. Tommy Smith, 144pts
5. Patrick Woods Toth, 142pts
