Photo: Bruce Jenkins
Yevan David, Kanato Le and Sebastian Manson have become the latest drivers to be announced as racing in Formula Regional Oceania next year.
Kiwi Motorsport has signed David, Le will race for incoming team Hitech GP and Manson will reunite with M2 Competition.
Sri Lankan racer David steps down to FRegional after being runner-up this year in Euroformula, in which he won six races, and ahead of being part of AIX Racing’s 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship line-up.
“I’m very excited to be racing in this championship,” David said of competing in New Zealand.
“It’s going to be such a new experience and there will be many new things to learn. But I’m also excited to compete, to work with a new team and to achieve as much as possible.
“Learning as much as possible will mean trying all the time to be better than the day before. I will focus on making improvements on myself, improvements to how I work with the team and achieving the maximum possible. Whether that’s the championship or not doesn’t really concern me, as long as we fulfil everything within our control.”
The Mark Blundell-managed Le is also FIA F3-bound, with ART Grand Prix, after two years of FRegional experience.
He came 18th in the European championship with one podium and 22nd in FRegional Middle East as a part-timer in 2024, then took one win en route to eighth in the FRME standings, finished 11th in the Macau Grand Prix, was a race-winning 14th in GB3 as a part-timer and was 14th in the FRegional European Championship in 2025.
“I’m really looking forward to racing in New Zealand for the first time,” said Le. “To be able to race against top drivers before the main season starts will be very valuable and of course I’ll be focusing on trying to win the championship with Hitech.”
Manson is a local talent, and will be embarking on his third FRegional Oceania season. He did two rounds of the championship in 2024 with Giles Motorsport, taking a best finish of eighth, then came sixth with M2 this year in a campaign which included two wins. In 2026, FRegional Oceania switches to being an FIA Regional Trophy rather than a championship.
‘I’m definitely excited to be back for a second full season,” said the 17-year-old.
“It was really cool last time around and I’m aiming higher for 2026. I want to build on those results and use the championship as a launch pad for an even stronger 2026 season.”
Manson is yet to announce where his career is headed next away from home soil. He was FRegional Japanese Championship runner-up in 2024, and was 12th in USF Pro 2000 this year.