Johnson shows pace – Lindblad close behind

Nikita Johnson showed he will be a contender for honours in this season’s Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, topping two of the three times sessions in the final day of testing ahead of round one qualifying.

The 16-year-old from St Petersburg, Florida, immediately caught the eye by starting the day with the fastest time ever recorded by Toyota’s FT60 around the scenic North Island circuit.

A rising star on the United States motorsport scene, Johnson is the only driver to have won at all three levels of the USF Pro Championships as well being the youngest driver to win in each of the series.  

For most drivers – including Nikita – the first morning session was their first run on brand new tyres, although several, notably compatriot Josh Pierson, were on the Pirellis they had used in the final session on Thursday. In the cool morning sunshine of Taupo, both Johnson and M2 Competition teammate and Red Bull star Arvid Lindblad went under the 1 minute 23 second mark, recording the two fastest ever times by the Toyota FT60 around the Taupo track.

Michael Shin – back in NZ for a second season of FR Oceania – continued his good form from Thursday with third fastest time in the first session. Supercars champion Will Brown vaulted up to fourth for Giles Motorsport when he did a new tyre run in the second half of the session.

The second session was run in much warmer conditions and on a track still greasy from oil left on much of the track by one of the historic classes racing at Taupo this weekend. Combined with most opting for old tyre race runs, the lap times were much slower than the morning.

Lindblad hit the top of the time sheets with a string of excellent laps on race pace, while Shawn Rashid used new tyres to good effect to go second in the session for mtec Motorsport. A strong race run by mtec team mate Pierson pushed him up to third while Shin was there again in fourth.

Australia’s Patrick Heuzenroeder was fifth for mtec. Zack Scoular was the best of the Kiwis in sixth – making it four mtec cars in the top six for the session.

In a fascinating third and final session most of the drivers left it until the final 18 minutes to go out on new tyres and try a few timed runs.

With three minutes to go it had narrowed down to a shootout between four of the drivers for the top spot – Johnson, Lindblad, Pierson and Brown. Will had made several set up changes after the second session in a bid for greater comfort in the tight confines of the Formula Regional car and it appeared to have paid off.

It was ultimately Johnson who took the top time in 1 minute 23.525 seconds, the youngster proved he should be at the sharp end of the battle when qualifying gets underway on Saturday morning.

Lindblad was close behind in second, with Pierson third, Brown fourth, Shin fifth and Sebastian Manson the top Kiwi in sixth.

2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship – Round 1 Thursday Test 1

1	17	Nikita Johnson	M2 Competition	USA
2	4	Arvid Lindblad	M2 Competition	GBR
3	23	Michael Shin	M2 Competition	KOR
4	87	Will Brown	Giles Motorsport	AUS
5	5	Patrick Heuzenroeder	MTEC Motorsport	AUS
6	77	Enzo Yeh	M2 Competition	TPE
7	3	Zack Scoular	MTEC Motorsport	NZL
8	69	Sebastian Manson	M2 Competition	NZL
9	14	Josh Pierson	MTEC Motorsport	USA
10	8	Matias Zagazeta	M2 Competition	PER
11	41	Alex Crosbie	Giles Motorsport	NZL
12	9	Nicholas Monteiro	MTEC Motorsport	BRA
13	22	Jett Bowling	Kiwi Motorsport	USA
14	15	Nicolas Stati	Kiwi Motorsport	AUS
15	88	James Lawley	Kiwi Motorsport	CAN
16	13	Barrett Wolf	Giles Motorsport	USA
17	32	Shawn Rashid	MTEC Motorsport	USA

025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship – Round 1 Thursday Test 2

1	4	Arvid Lindblad	M2 Competition	GBR
2	32	Shawn Rashid	MTEC Motorsport	USA
3	14	Josh Pierson	MTEC Motorsport	USA
4	23	Michael Shin	M2 Competition	KOR
5	5	Patrick Heuzenroeder	MTEC Motorsport	AUS
6	3	Zack Scoular	MTEC Motorsport	NZL
7	17	Nikita Johnson	M2 Competition	USA
8	87	Will Brown	Giles Motorsport	AUS
9	8	Matias Zagazeta	M2 Competition	PER
10	41	Alex Crosbie	Giles Motorsport	NZL
11	22	Jett Bowling	Kiwi Motorsport	USA
12	77	Enzo Ye	M2 Competition	TPE
13	9	Nicholas Monteiro	MTEC Motorsport	BRA
14	69	Sebastian Manson	M2 Competition	NZL
15	15	Nicolas Stati	Kiwi Motorsport	AUS
16	88	James Lawley	Kiwi Motorsport	CAN
17	13	Barrett Wolfe	Giles Motorsport	USA

2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship – Round 1 Thursday Test 3

1	17	Nikita Johnson	M2 Competition	USA
2	4	Arvid Lindblad	M2 Competition	GB
3	14	Josh Pierson	MTEC Motorsport	USA
4	87	Will Brown	Giles Motorsport	AUS
5	23	Michael Shin	M2 Competition	KR
6	69	Sebastian Manson	M2 Competition	NZ
7	77	Enzo Yeh	M2 Competition	TPE
8	9	Nicholas Monteiro	MTEC Motorsport	BR
9	8	Matias Zagazeta	M2 Competition	PE
10	15	Nicolas Stati	Kiwi Motorsport	AUS
11	22	Jett Bowling	Kiwi Motorsport	USA
12	41	Alex Crosbie	Giles Motorsport	NZ
13	32	Shawn Rashid	MTEC Motorsport	USA
14	5	Patrick Heuzenroeder	MTEC Motorsport	AUS
15	88	James Lawley	Kiwi Motorsport	CA
16	3	Zack Scoular	MTEC Motorsport	NZ
17	13	Barrett Wolfe	Giles Motorsport	USA

2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship

Round 01:   10 – 12 January 2025, Taupo International Motorsport Park

Round 02:   17 – 19 January 2025, Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park

Round 03:   24 – 26 January 2025, Manfeild, Circuit Chris Amon

Round 04:   31 January – 2 February 2025, Teretonga Park, Invercargill

Round 05:   7 – 9 February 2025, Highlands Motorsport Park,  69^th New Zealand Grand Prix