In just four days, competitors in the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (CTFROC) will take to the track to the first time, with practice for Round 1, at the Sixt Taupo Historic GP at Taupo International Motorsport Park.
The 2025 grid features at least 18 drivers confirmed for full or partial campaigns, and sees talents from nine countries, including New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Brazil, and Peru.
Three drivers, Sebastian Manson, Alex Crosbie, and Zack Scoular, will race under the New Zealand flag, with the United States being the most-represented country, with five drivers, and Australia having four.
Four teams feature on the grid, being M2 Competition, MTEC Motorsport, Giles Motorsport, and Kiwi Motorsport.
Supercars Champion Will Brown will compete in three rounds, while Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad in all five.
The season begins at Taupo this weekend, before rounds at Hampton Downs, Manfeild, Teretonga, and the 69th Running of the New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands, over five consecutive weekends.
The entire championship can be streamed live, and for free, globally on the Stuff Speedhub platform.
Josh Pierson (USA)- MTEC Motorsport
The 18-year-old from the United States is in for a big year, beginning with CTFROC before returning to the United States for a full-time Indy NXT campaign. It’s understood he won’t be competing in Round 5, the 69th Running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, due to Indy NXT testing commitments.
He finished 14th in the Indy NXT Championship standings in 2024, taking six top ten finishes. Pierson also holds the record as the youngest ever starter in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, having made his debut there aged just 16 in 2022 as part of the United Autosports LMP2 entry.
He is also the youngest ever winner in the World Endurance Championship, having won the LMP2 class at the Sebring 1000 Miles in the same year with teammates Oliver Jarvis and former F1 driver Paul di Resta. He went on to finish third overall in the LMP2 Championship standings.
Sebastian Manson (NZ)– M2 Competition
One of three Kiwi hopes in the 2025 Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship. Manson has well-and-truly made his mark on the New Zealand motorsport scene in recent years, and ventured to Japan in 2024 to compete in the Formula Regional Japanese Championship, where he took six podiums on his way to second in the standings.
Manson was also the runner-up in the 2024 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, missing out on the title in a final-race thriller in front of a soldout crowd at the ITM Taupo Super400. He also featured in the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship, North Island Endurance Series, and South Island Endurance Series in a Porsche, taking several podiums.
Manson featured in the final two CTFROC rounds in 2024, having turned 16, the minimum age to compete, on February 7, and immediately impressed, taking two top tens in his five starts.
Alex Crosbie (NZ)- Giles Motorsport
The 17-year-old Kiwi was a standout performer in CTFROC in 2024, and is expected to challenge towards the front of the field in his second season.
He took a podium in the opening round at Taupo, and was a consistent top ten finisher throughout the rest of the campaign, seeing him finish a solid first campaign in fifth overall, an impressive debut.
The two-time New Zealand Formula Ford Champion went even better when he went competed in the United States Formula 4 Championship with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport – taking two wins and four further podium finishes on his way to fourth overall.
Nicolas Stati (Australia)– Kiwi Motorsport
Sixtenn-year-old Australian Nicolas Stati, from Perth, was the runner-up in the 2024 F4 US Championship, missing out on the overall title by just 4.5 points following a campaign that featured three wins from a 10-podium haul.
That followed a solid run in his domestic Australian F4 Championship earlier in the year where he took eight podium finishes on the way to another second overall.
Patrick Heuzenroeder (Australia)– MTEC Motorsport
The 19-year-old from Sydney joins the CTFROC field following a full-time campaign in the GB3 Championship with JHR Developments in 2024, where he took eight top tens, including a podium, on his way to 12th overall in a competitive field that featured over 30 drivers.
Heuzenroeder raced in the British F4 Championship in 2023, finishing 19th in the standings with multiple top ten finishes, and a podium. He also made a two-round cameo in the 2023 GB3 Championship, finishing third in the final race of his second-ever round.
Zack Scoular (NZ)– MTEC Motorsport
Dubai-based Kiwi Zack Scoular began his 2024 season in the highly competitive Formula 4 UAE Championship, where he finished 17th out of 40 drivers as the fifth-best rookie.
He then spent the European summer racing in the British Formula 4 Championship, finishing 15th, with a season highlight of finishing on the podium at Brands Hatch.
The 17-year-old was the winner of the Tony Quinn Foundation Scholarship prize of $70,000 to put towards his championship campaign.
Will Brown (Australia)- Giles Motorsport
The 2024 Supercars Champion needs little introduction, and is a significant addition to the CTFROC field for three rounds in 2025.
The 26-year-old from Queensland brings backing from Red Bull into the series, and will feature in Round 1 this weekend in Taupo, Round 2 next weekend at Hampton Downs, and Round 5 at Highlands, the 69th Running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, on February 7-9.
In addition to four full seasons in Supercars, Brown has competed in the GT World Challenge Australia, including the Bathurst 12-Hour, TCR Australia, and NASCAR.
He was the winner of the 2016 Australian Formula 4 Championship, and aimed to competed in the Toyota Racing Series in 2017, but couldn’t quite pull a deal together.
Matias Zagazeta (Peru)– M2 Competition
The 21-year-old will be the first Peruvian driver in the series’ 20 year history and is expected to feature towards the front of the field.
A three-time national karting champion in Peru, he switched to Formula 4 in 2020, learning in his first season in the British Championship with Carlin before switching to Argenti in 2021 and winning four races and finishing runner-up in the championship.
For 2022 he stepped up to the the FR European Championship, impressing once again with his speed. He returned for 2023, also running in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, where he scored a podium.
He concluded 2023 with a run at the Macau Grand Prix for Jenzer Motorsport before joining them for 2024 and the FIA F3 Championship, where he took a podium at Silverstone during the British Grand Prix weekend. He will return to the FIA F3 Championship in 2025 with DAMS.
James Lawley (Canada)- Kiwi Motorsport
The 21-year-old was a regular top ten finisher in the 2024 Formula Regional Americas championship campaign with ATL, ultimately securing eighth overall in the championship.
He was even stronger in the parallel Formula Pro USA Western Series – run for FR and F4 cars- running only select events and finished fifth overall, dominating the final round at Buttonwillow Raceway with two pole positions, a new track record fastest lap and the race win.
In addition to his Formula Regional competition and testing, he competed in karting and worked as a driving instructor at ATL’s FBMW corporate events whenever his entrepreneurial endeavours with real estate development and business studies at Acadia University would permit.
Tommy Smith (Australia)- Giles Motorsport
22-year-old Tommy Smith will compete for Giles Motorsport for two rounds, at Manfeild and Teretonga, in the car to be used by Will Brown in rounds one, two and five.
He is no stranger to the championship having competed in the full series in 2019 and taken part in three rounds last season, which included a podium finish at Manfeild. His strong run of results netted eighth overall in the final championship points table despite missing the last two rounds due to FIA F3 testing commitments.
One of the most experienced single seater drivers in the championship, Smith has raced in Formula Ford, in the Asian F3 Championship, GB3, Australian S5000, Formula Regional Europe, FIA F3 and, of course, the Castrol Toyota Racing Series and the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
In 2025 he will compete in Indy NXT.
Enzo Yeh (Taiwan)– M2 Competition
Sixteen-year-old Taiwanese junior formula driver Enzo Yeh has plenty of experience to bring to New Zealand from two seasons competing in junior formula championships, beyond his impressive eight domestic Chinese karting titles.
In 2023 he competed in Formula 4 South East Asia scoring a podium finish and seventh overall in the title chase. He also took an impressive eighth place overall in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix, traditionally a major challenge for the world’s best junior drivers.
In 2024 he switched to the F4 United Arab Emirates Championship, scoring another podium finish and 14th overall in the series before heading to Europe and more F4 in the Italian Championship.
He scored an early seventh place finish at Misano in the packed and highly-competitive field before settling as a consistent mid-field runner and eventually finishing 23rd overall in a championship that included more than 50 drivers over the course of the season.
Shawn Rashid (USA)– MTEC Motorsport
The 29-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, does not have a classic background in karts, instead making an eye-catching debut to the sport at Laguna Seca’s AMG Academy in 2020, finishing first out of 100 competitors.
Impressed by his performance, seasoned pros around him encouraged him to pursue a career as a professional racing driver and he went straight into Formula Ford.
At 25 he more than proved he had the basic talent to win, securing the rookie title in the BRSCC Avon Tires British Formula Ford 1600 Championship in his first season with two wins and five podiums.
He moved quickly to the GB3 and completed a full season in 2024, scoring a ground breaking second place finish at Silverstone on his way to 17th in the standings from 33 drivers.
Jett Bowling (USA)- Kiwi Motorsport
The 19-year-old engineering student from Dallas, Texas, is back with Kiwi Motorsport, who ran him in the second half of the 2023 F4 United States Championship and in 2024 in the Formula Regional Americas Championship.
A solid season in New Zealand in the 2024 Castrol Formula Regional Oceania Championship with Kiwi Motorsport set him up for an impressive season in America, where he scored eight podium finishes on his way to third overall in the championship.
He’s also just competed in the Macau Grand Prix for the first time – again with Kiwi Motorsport – finishing in the top 20 in the qualifying race but unfortunately retiring in the Grand Prix itself.
Nikita Johnson (USA)- M2 Competition
Despite only being 16 years old, Nikita Johnson, from St Petersburg, Florida, is paving his way towards a succesful career in motorsport, and should feature strongly in the 2025 Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Johnson is the only driver to have won at all three levels of the USF Pro Championships (USF Juniors, USF2000, and USF Pro 2000). He was the runner-up in the 2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship, and took two wins in the 2024 GB3 Championship, one at Zandvoort and one at Brands Hatch.
His talent isn’t limited to single seaters and tarmac either. In 2021 he was Legends Road Course World Champion, was third in the Legends Asphalt Oval USA National Championship and in 2020 runner up in the Legends Dirt USA Nationals.
Following CTFROC, he joins Hitech Motorsport for a second season – his first full one – in the GB3 Championship.
Nicholas Monteiro (Brazil)– MTEC Motorsport
The 19-year old from Sao Paulo, Brazil will be making his first racing trip to the Oceania region, having raced in his homeland in its junior formulae before heading to the United States.
He was a podium finisher in both the Copa Brasil de Fórmula Delta and Formula 4 Brazil before heading to the USA to further his career at the end of 2022.
In 2023 he finished inside the top 20 championship finishers in 19th in the extremely competitive USF Pro 2000 Championship, notably finishing every race. He improved further in 2024, regularly finishing in the top ten on his way to 13th overall in the championship – and again finished every race.
His experience isn’t limited exclusively to the Americas, however, and he has competed in Europe in the Italian Formula 4 Championship.
Barrett Wolfe (USA)– Giles Motorsport
The 19-year-old from Chicago who lives in Las Vegas was a podium finisher in the 2024 Formula 4 United States Championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park and secured a number of other top six finish positions to claim fifth overall in the championship with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport.
Wolfe started his racing career later than most, beginning in circuit racing and only karting as a hobby. He gained more track time driving various exotic cars on track days and quickly attracted the interest of several racing teams.
Like many rising US stars he then enrolled in the Skip Barber Racing school to learn the basic skills and rules of racing and to gain the licenses he required. He then raced in the in-house Skip Barber programme for an entire season in 2023. He dipped his toes in the F4 Championship in 2023 too, before committing to a full season with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport for 2024.
Michael Shin (South Korea)– M2 Competition
The 22-year-old from South Korea finished fourth overall in the 2024 Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, taking a win at Ruapuna in the fourth round at Ruapuna and featuring on the podium a further four times.
He competed in the Formula Regional Middle East and British GB3 championships in 2023, gaining experience in the Middle East Championship with top team Prema Racing and scoring a podium finish. He also competed in six FIA Formula 3 races during the 2023 season.
His 2024 CTFROC appearance was followed by a full season in Eurocup 3 with Campos Racing. He took his first podium with third place at the second race in Portimao and was back on the podium at the Aragon event and managed a double third place finish in Jerez. Those podium finishes helped him to seventh overall.
Arvid Lindblad (UK)– M2 Competition
A massive signing for M2 Competition, Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad comes to New Zealand in search of super license points ahead of his rookie F2 season.
The 17-year-old Brit is hotly tipped to join Racing Bulls in 2026, and it’s understood he takes part in the series on the request of Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko for the required super license points that would enable him to partake in Free Practice sessions with RB in 2025.
Lindblad will compete in the full series and enters the championship as one of the favourites for overall success.
Lindblad has been competitive and a winner in almost every motorsport championship he has competed in. He was a multiple international karting champion and a winner in Italian F4, F4 UAE, Euro 4, and Formula Regional Middle East. He also won the Macau GP in 2023.
In 2024 he finished fourth overall in the FIA F3 Championship with four wins – one in Bahrain, one in Spain and two at Silverstone at the British Grand Prix round.
For 2025 he’ll be stepping up again to a full season of FIA Formula 2 with Campos Racing.
