Invercargill’s Alex Crosbie concluded his campaign in the 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship with seventh place in his first-ever New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands Motorsport Park on Sunday.
His results meant he finished the championship, which attracts drivers from all around the world, fifth overall and second in the Rookie Championship.
The 17-year-old Southlander had qualified an impressive fifth for the race after an incident-packed, three-part qualifying session on Saturday.
The first segment saw drivers establish their grid spots for Saturday afternoon’s race, with the bottom five eliminated from the next sessions that would determine qualifying for the Grand Prix. Two red flags interrupted the first segment and limited Crosbie’s track time, but he had done enough for the ninth-fastest time.
He was promoted to eighth after teammate Kaleb Ngatoa crashed, ending his weekend.
“I was stressing I was going to miss putting down a lap,” said Crosbie of the red flags.
He went into the second part of qualifying on old tyres and set the eighth fastest time, which put him into the final segment to establish the top eight starters for the Grand Prix. Armed with fresh rubber, he laid down a time good enough for fifth on the grid. The times in the session were close, with Crosbie just .323 of a second off the pole.
Prior to the Grand Prix, Crosbie had two races, and in the first on Saturday afternoon, from eighth on the grid, he got into seventh before the second corner. Later on the lap, he was passed by one car before being put wide by another car on the inside.
“I didn’t back off enough and went over the kerb, and the car leapt in the air,” he said. “It was a heavy landing. I got winded and got a shock in the back and lost a few positions but gained two spots back before the end of the race to end up 13th.”
The impact meant Crosbie’s team worked through the night to put a new tub in the car. In the Sunday morning race, he started 13th and gained one spot to finish 12th.
The Grand Prix wrapped up the series, and from fifth place, Alex moved up to fourth, only for him and the car in front to be caught out by some stones on the track at Turn 4, sending both wide.
From then on, he held seventh for much of the rest of the race, staving off challenges, firstly from Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth and then Australian Ryder Quinn.
Crosbie secured some good results and experience from some good racing over the five weekends of the series and admits he “learnt heaps.”
“It was very different and a fun environment.”
