
Photo: TGR NZ
Australia will get its own Formula Regional championship this year, with a six-round schedule that includes a round in New Zealand.
Rather than being an all-new creation, the championship emerges from the pre-existing Australian Formula Open (AFO) which features multiple classes of single-seater machinery.
Motorsport Australia approved the AFO promoter’s seperation of the FRegional class into a new championship for 2025 last November, then work has been taking place since on finalising further details on the sporting and technical regulations as well as where FRegional Australia will race. FIA certification of the championship is yet to be determined.
For example there will be multiple engine suppliers that drivers can choose from (one of which will be Alfa Romeo) for powering their Tatuus T-318 chassis, and there also plans for there to be an invitational class for previous-generation Toyota Racing Series cars that sit roughly at the FRegional level and have been raced in AFO.
Pre-season testing will take place at Winton Motor Raceway in April, then the opening round will take place at Phillip Island on May 16-18.
One Raceway, previously known as Wakefield Park, hosts round two on June 27-29 and the field visits Sandown a month later for round three.
The next rounds are at Winton (August 22-24) and The Bend Motorsport Park (September 19-21), then the trip to New Zealand occurs on the final weekend of October. It is yet to be announced which circuit that will be at, although the circuit map for Hampton Downs has featured in the calendar release.
- Read more: The story behind Australian racing’s slicks-and-wings survival route [March 2023]
AFO creator and promoter Tim Macrow said: “When the Australian Formula 3 championship ended in 2022, there was nowhere for them to race so we created AFO as a home for any driver with an open-wheeler to compete because we believe in formula racing.”
“But if we’re to support young drivers in getting the best start to a career overseas, with the best safety standards and technical support, moving to a platform like FRegional is what drivers and their parents, plus our partners are asking for.”
His own team, Tim Macrow Racing, already has FRegional chassis ready to race in the new championship.