Photo: Bruce Jenkins / TGR NZ
Formula Regional Oceania has released further details about the changes it will make to run as a FIA Regional Trophy next year.
The main difference required to follow the new format is reducing the calendar from five rounds to four, which series organiser Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand confirmed it would do three weeks ago.
Hampton Downs hosts the 2026 season opener on January 9-11, with the next rounds occuring in the following weeks at Taupo (January 16-18), Teretonga (January 23-25) and Highlands Motorsport Park (January 30-February 1)
Since the traditional 15-race schedule will be retained for next year, it means an altered structure to race weekends.
Rounds one to three will each feature a 15-minute qualifying session and two races on a Saturday, then the same on Sunday. The first three races of each round will be 43.5 miles, and race four will be around 55.9 miles in length.
These final races will have longer durations due to their enhanced status, as they award the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy, the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy and the Spirit of a Nation Cup.
The final round has an unchanged format, with a three-segment qualifying session and three races. A reversed grid is used for the second race, and the season-ending race is the 67.7-mile New Zealand Grand Prix.
Drivers will have five sets of slick tyres each weekend, up from three, but two of those sets must be used in the pre-event test day preceding each round and in free practice.
A new push-to-pass system has also been introduced to the Toyota-powered Tatuus FT-60 car, which will provide a boost of 25 horsepower. In which circumstances it can be utilised is yet to be determined, with on-track testing due to take place to explore that.
FRegional Oceania’s calendar and format changes have already attracted new teams to the grid, with American outfits HMD Motorsports and TJ Speed announcing they will combine efforts as ‘HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’ to race in New Zealand.
HMD is best known for its success in IndyCar’s primary feeder series Indy Nxt, and co-entered a car at the top level in 2022 and ’23.
TJ Speed has had most of its success further down the single-seater ladder. The squad, established by Australian single-seater racing engineer Tim Neff, has won multiple titles in FRegional Americas and is a frontrunning force in USF Pro 2000, where it already has a partnership with HMD since late last year.