Photo: TGR NZ
Michael Shin will head to New Zealand next month to reunite with the M2 Competition team for a second season in Formula Regional Oceania.
The 20-year-old South Korean came fourth in the championship last season, winning one race and claiming four other podiums. Following that he raced in the FRegional-based Eurocup-3 and the Formula 3-level Euroformula, with Campos Racing and Motopark respectively.
In the former he picked up four podiums and came seventh in the points, but his campaign may be remembered by many for a scary crash, and his half-season in the latter resulted in two wins, three second places, a pole and sixth in the standings.
“Getting to race in FRegional Oceania at the start of the year was an unforgettable experience for me,” said Shin.
“It was an intense season full of learning as well as enjoying the best of what New Zealand has to offer. Thus I am thankful to M2 Competition for having me back for the 2025 championship. We had a solid debut season together and I’m confident we can build upon that. The ambience racing down under is like no other, and I’m really looking forward to making a return.”
Shin’s return will mark the start of his fourth year in single-seater racing. He was 11th in British Formula 4, 23rd in the Motorsport Games’ F4 event and 29th in F4 United Arab Emirates in 2022, then last year was 14th in FRegional Middle East, 18th in GB3 and had a best finish of 17th from three FIA Formula 3 Championship rounds.
Also recently confirmed on the 2025 FRegional Oceania grid are Nicholas Monteiro at MTEC Motorsport and Barrett Wolfe at Giles Motorsport.
Monteiro, 19, was eighth in Brazilian F4 in 2022 then left his home nation to race in third-tier series USF Pro 2000 for the last two years. Two 11th places were his best results as a rookie, and he came 13th in the 2024 standings with five top-10 results.
Wolfe is stepping up after two years in F4. The American was ninth in the 2023 Skip Barber Formula Race Series standings, and fifth in United States F4 this year. The 21-year-old made the podium twice in a depleted grid.