Wood fastest in Taupo qualifying thriller

Ryan Wood will start on pole position for the first race of Round 2 of the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy at Taupo later today after a blistering final flying lap effort.

The mtec Motorsport driver – who took his first Supercars podium at the track last year – was on electrifying form throughout the session, clocking a very fast time early on and then being in the top group throughout.

Teammate Zack Scoular had looked secure on pole with a sequence of mega laps through the mid portion of the 15-minute qualifying session that gave him a two tenths advantage over the rest of the field but in the final two minutes Wood delivered his best lap of the weekend so far when it mattered most.

“Louis [Sharp] and I went out and were going hard straight away,” said the young Kiwi – in his first ever season of single seater racing.

“We were quick and we had a great car but it was tough to get those last couple of tenths out of it. I was confident, but made a few mistakes and was a bit hard on myself but that last one was definitely good.” And quick he was – his 1.23.258 proving too much for the rest of the top ten, all covered by just seven tenths of a second.

Had it not been for a wobble in the final corner on his best lap, series leader Ugo Ugochukwu could have snuck onto pole position for M2 Competition having been further down the order throughout the session until his very last flying lap. A front row start for the American – who won two races in fine style at the first round last weekend – means he will be the major threat to Wood in this afternoon’s race.

Scoular’s fine performance netted him third sport on the grid, while Freddie Slater was another who was quick throughout the session and completed an mtec Motorsport-M2 Competition-mtec Motorsport-M2 Competition first and second row sequence.

Sharp was next up in fifth capping a great qualifying session for Bruin Beasley’s mtec Motorsport outfit, with Kanato Le next up and top of the Hitech runners. Australian James Wharton, pacesetter in Friday practice, was seventh fastest for TJ Speed with HMD Motorsports, followed by Hitech’s Jin Nakamura and M2 Competition’s Seb Manson. Sri Lankan Yevan David rounded out the top ten and last of the qualifiers under the 1 minute 24 second mark for Kiwi Motorsport. Manson, however, carries a five place grid penalty from Hampton Downs and will therefore start the first race from 14th.

Further back two time world rally champion Kalle Rovanperä started well in the session and held seventh fastest time at the half way mark of the session but fell back as the more experienced single seater racers – and circuit specialists – paired the extra tenths off the lap time. He was 14th fastest but with Manson’s penalty will line up 13th.