The 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship was the second season of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, and the nineteenth running of the premier open-wheel motorsport category formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series, held in New Zealand. It was held over five consecutive weekends in January and February 2024.
For the first time in the history of the championship and its predecessors, the highest placed Australian or Kiwi driver after the first two rounds was awarded the Tasman Cup that had previously been awarded to the winner of the Tasman Series up until 2023. Australian driver Christian Mansell was second overall after the second round at Manfeild, thereby taking this title.
Roman Biliński, driving for M2 Competition, claimed the championship at the penultimate race of the season. Kiwi Motorsport driver Patrick Woods-Toth took the rookie title at the same race.
Entry list All drivers competed with identical Tatuus FT-60 chassis cars powered by 2.0L turbocharged Toyota engines. The series switched its tyre supplier from Hankook to Pirelli because of a fire at Hankook's factory in Daejeon that caused widespread supply issues. The series supplied all cars with 100% fossil-free fuel, becoming the first Formula Regional championship to take this sustainability step. TeamNo.DriverStatusRounds M2 Competition 4 Roman Biliński All 7 Nicola Lacorte 1–3 16 Michael Shin All 23 Liam Sceats All27 Bryce Aron 4–5 39 Gerrard Xie All 101 Ryder Quinn 5 mtec Motorsport 5 Lucas Fecury All 6 Tommy Smith 1–3 17 Callum Hedge 5 19 Elliott Cleary 1–3, 5 48 Kaden Probst 1–451 Jacob Abel 4–5Kiwi Motorsport 14 Patrick Woods-Toth All 20 Jake Bonilla All 22 Jett Bowling All 31 Titus Sherlock AllGiles Motorsport 15 Kaleb Ngatoa All 41 Alex Crosbie All 69 Sebastian Manson 4–5 71 Christian Mansell 1–2 739 Landan Matriano Lim All Icon Status Rookie Guest driver
Race calendar Even before the 2023 season had begun, New Zealand's national motorsport governing body had already announced the 2024 calendar. The championship again consisted of five weekends. The round at Teretonga Park was dropped, instead the series returned to Euromarque Motorsport Park for the first time since 2018.
The 68th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix was held as the final race of the season, at Highlands Motorsport Park. RoundCircuitDateSupport billMap of circuit locations1R1Taupo International Motorsport Park(Taupō, Waikato)20 JanuaryTaupo Historic Grand PrixHistoric Touring Cars NZFormula Junior NZNZ Historic Muscle & Saloon CarsR221 JanuaryR32R1Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon(Feilding, Manawatū District)27 JanuaryNew Zealand GT ChampionshipTGR 86 Series NZSuper V8 SeriesTA2 New ZealandR228 JanuaryR33R1Hampton Downs Motorsport Park(Hampton Downs, North Waikato)3 FebruaryNew Zealand Porsche Series ChampionshipGT Racing New ZealandNZ Formula First ChampionshipSuperkart Drivers Club SeriesR24 FebruaryR34R1Euromarque Motorsport Park(Christchurch, Canterbury)10 FebruaryLady Wigram TrophyTrans-Tasman ChallengeNew Zealand GT ChampionshipTGR 86 Series NZR211 FebruaryR35R1Highlands Motorsport Park(Cromwell, Otago)17 FebruaryNew Zealand Grand PrixTrans-Tasman ChallengeNew Zealand GT ChampionshipTGR 86 Series NZR218 FebruaryR3
Race results Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Taupo International Motorsport Park Christian Mansell Roman Biliński Roman Biliński M2 Competition R2 Alex Crosbie Gerrard Xie M2 Competition R3 Christian Mansell Christian Mansell Roman Biliński M2 Competition 2 R1 Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon Roman Biliński Nicola Lacorte Roman Biliński M2 Competition R2 Kaleb Ngatoa Christian Mansell Giles Motorsport R3 Roman Biliński Liam Sceats Roman Biliński M2 Competition 3 R1 Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Gerrard Xie Liam Sceats Roman Biliński M2 Competition R2 Roman Biliński Nicola Lacorte M2 Competition R3 Roman Biliński Roman Biliński Kaleb Ngatoa Giles Motorsport 4 R1 Euromarque Motorsport Park Roman Biliński Bryce Aron Roman Biliński M2 Competition R2 Michael Shin Michael Shin M2 Competition R3 Roman Biliński Roman Biliński Liam Sceats M2 Competition 5 R1 Highlands Motorsport Park Liam Sceats Liam Sceats Liam Sceats M2 Competition R2 Roman Biliński Bryce Aron M2 Competition R3 Liam Sceats Roman Biliński Liam Sceats M2 Competition
Season report
First half The 2024 Formula Regional Oceania Championship began at a wet Taupo with Giles's Christian Mansell taking pole position for the first race. His advantage was short-lived, however, as M2's Roman Biliński grabbed the lead at the start. He continued to lead Mansell all 18 laps, throughout a safety car phase. His teammate Michael Shin completed the podium. Giles's Alex Crosbie headed the field for the reversed-grid second race. Two caution periods disrupted proceedings, allowing M2's Gerrard Xie to rise up to second and then grab the lead at the final restart to win. Crosbie dropped to third, behind Biliński. Mansell had qualified on pole position for the third race, but a penalty saw him start fifth. Nevertheless, he was back in second by the end of the first lap and took the lead on lap four. Biliński took second shortly after and began closing up on Mansell. The Pole took the lead on lap 19 and went on to take the win. Mansell and M2's Liam Sceats were on the podium and left Taupo equal on points, 25 behind Biliński.
Biliński continued his form by taking pole position for the first race at Manfeild. He led Mansell throughout most of the first race, before the Australian dropped to tenth because of an electrical issue. This allowed Biliński to take a trouble-free win ahead of Lacorte and Sceats. The second race was held in wet conditions and saw Biliński forced to pit to repair his rain light, thereby removing him from contention. Xie spun from second place, while Mansell and his teammate Kaleb Ngatoa both got past Kiwi's polesitter Patrick Woods-Toth. The pair battled for the race lead with Mansell eventually coming out on top, while mtec's Tommy Smith completed the podium. Another pole position for Biliński put him in prime position for race three. Wet conditions first saw a red flag for a crash between Lacorte and Shin, before multiple drivers spun and race control elected to stop the race early. Biliński won ahead of Mansell and Sceats, now with a slightly reduced lead of 22 points ahead of newly crowned Tasman Cup winner Mansell.
Round three at Hampton Downs began with Xie taking pole position and Biliński only managing 14th place. He turned his frustration into a momentous first race: in changing conditions, he climbed eight places on the first lap into sixth, forced his way past Xie and Sceats into third and set out after Ngatoa and mtec's Kaden Probst. The pair had started on wet tires, but the track was now dry enough that Biliński could easily take the lead and the win ahead of Sceats and Woods-Toth. Race two began with Lacorte overtaking Shin into turn one, with the Italian, then controlling the race out in front to win ahead of the Korean with Biliński in third. Now the Pole had also regained his one-lap pace and took pole position for race three. Xie was to start alongside him, but a heavy crash in race two saw him withdraw. This allowed Ngatoa into second and he used that to overtake Biliński and leading him home. Shin came third, as Sceats overtook the absent Mansell for second in the standings, now 50 points behind Biliński.
Second half The series' return to Ruapuna saw Biliński claim another pole position ahead of Sceats. The first race opened with a lengthy stoppage after heavy contact between Probst and Kiwi's Titus Sherlock. Bilinsiki controlled the restart and resisted Sceats's pressure all race long. Behind them, mtec's returnee Jacob Abel held on to third in a three-car battle with Ngatoa and Giles's Alex Crosbie. Race two saw front-row starters Shin and Woods-Toth making slight contact side-by-side into turn one. This saw Woods-Toth drop to third behind Xie. Shin then pulled away to win, while Xie did all he could to keep Woods-Toth behind him. Biliński was on pole position again for the third race, again heading Sceats, but this time, the Kiwi got the better of the Pole into the first turn to take the lead. Again the leader had to resist pressure from behind, but like Biliński the day before, Sceats did not put a foot wrong to claim his maiden win. Still, Biliński had grown his lead to 56 points, with 90 still on offer heading into the final weekend.
Qualifying for the New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands began with a shock for Biliński as he crashed, putting him 13th on the grid for the Grand Prix, while Sceats took two pole positions. The first race saw a controlled lights-to-flag victory by Sceats to keep the championship alive going into the final day of the season. Biliński started fourth and got into second, but could not find a way past mtec's Callum Hedge. M2's Bryce Aron started the second race from pole position, while Biliński was in fifth. He needed to outscore Sceats to take the title, but did more than that, rising to second and briefly contending for victory before dropping back into third behind Woods-Toth. He thereby took the championship title, while Woods-Toth claimed the Rookie win. Sceats's only consolation for the loss of the championship title came in him winning the Grand Prix, resisting Hedge for 27 laps before claiming the victory, with Shin also on the podium. Biliński's season ended in a wild crash, going over the top of Aron's car in the final turn.
Biliński came to New Zealand with a single Formula Regional podium in his previous career, but was a championship contender right off the bat. While most of his six wins came from front-row starts, a defining moment of his championship was his win from fourteenth on the grid at Hampton Downs. Biliński called his championship "massively" important for his career, calling himself "absolutely over the moon". Sceats was runner-up in a Formula Regional Championship for the second time in a year after his 2023 Formula Regional Japan campaign, but found comfort in winning the Grand Prix. After the race, his words to the media talking about his win were: "I’m speechless. I can’t even think right now. I can’t believe it." The championship's second year post-COVID saw it further reestablish itself as a competitive winter series, while also continuing to build upon its unique selling points with the addition of features like a fossil-free fuel.
Championship standings
Scoring system No points were awarded for pole position or fastest lap. Race (starting grid from qualifying)
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20thPoints3531272422201816141210987654321
Reversed grid race
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15thPoints201816141210987654321
Drivers' championship +DriverTAUMANHMPRUAHIGPointsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31 Roman Biliński12111711321423353852 Liam Sceats5433632652811913413 Patrick Woods-Toth16598463467336292554 Michael Shin3751712Ret6238174732455 Alex Crosbie83497712108568131272066 Kaleb Ngatoa414742516714510WDWDWD2057 Gerrard Xie61117101545WD62686162058 Tommy Smith76126345971449 Christian Mansell2Ret251213510 Nicola LacorteRet11625Ret71413011 Elliott Cleary108101491088119101012412 Jett Bowling12121511139131415109911111112013 Jacob Abel37554411814 Titus Sherlock11Ret8138811139Ret12111714Ret10515 Bryce Aron910471610216 Landan Matriano Lim159171511121015131113131515139417 Lucas Fecury9NC16101613912121214Ret1417149118 Callum Hedge2527419 Jake Bonilla1410141615141416141315141616157420 Kaden Probst131313121411151110RetWDWD6321 Sebastian MansonDNS1112108124322 Ryder Quinn1213828DriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PointsTAUMANHMPRUAHIGBold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
† — Did not finish, but classified Rookie
Tasman Series