Photo: Joel Hanks / TGR NZ
Ugo Ugochukwu scored a dominant second pole position of the opening Formula Regional Oceania round at Hampton Downs in Sunday qualifying.
The M2 Competition driver wasted no time in hitting the top of the timing screens and was never toppled as he worked his way down to his best time of 1m29.224s, which he set with two minutes of the session remaining.
He finished up over a quarter of a second clear of his nearest challenger, Toyota junior Jin Nakamura of Hitech GP.
Nakamura’s team-mate Kanato Le had been holding second place into the closing minutes of the session, but ended up fourth behind race one winner Louis Sharp of MTEC Motorsport.
Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera had a more competitive showing than on Saturday and finished up fifth overall.
Double World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera made a strong stride forward in just his second single-seater qualifying session.
He got up into the top 10 in the closing stages and then leapt up to sixth when he took the chequered flag. He was pushed back to ninth as Nolan Allaer, Zack Scoular and FRegional European champion Freddie Slater crossed the line, but was just over half a second away from Ugochukwu’s pole time having been a second adrift in first qualifying.
Slater spent the session on the back foot after having a snap and running off track on his first flying lap.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ugo Ugochukwu | M2 Competition | 1m29.224 | 10 | |
| 2 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech GP | 1m29.487 | +0.263s | 9 |
| 3 | Louis Sharp | MTEC Motorsport | 1m29.512 | +0.288s | 10 |
| 4 | Kanato Le | Hitech GP | 1m29.519 | +0.295s | 9 |
| 5 | Ernesto Rivera | M2 Competition | 1m29.601 | +0.377s | 10 |
| 6 | Nolan Allaer | Giles Motorsport | 1m29.659 | +0.435s | 9 |
| 7 | Zack Scoular | MTEC Motorsport | 1m29.692 | +0.468s | 10 |
| 8 | Freddie Slater | M2 Competition | 1m29.714 | +0.490s | 10 |
| 9 | Kalle Rovanpera | Hitech GP | 1m29.751 | +0.527s | 9 |
| 10 | James Wharton | HMD w/ TJ Speed | 1m29.768 | +0.544s | 9 |
| 11 | Ryan Wood | MTEC Motorsport | 1m29.772 | +0.548s | 10 |
| 12 | Sebastian Manson | M2 Competition | 1m29.943 | +0.719s | 10 |
| 13 | Yuanpu Cui | MTEC Motorsport | 1m29.957 | +0.733s | 9 |
| 14 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | 1m30.031 | +0.807s | 9 |
| 15 | Jack Taylor | Giles Motorsport | 1m30.073 | +0.849s | 8 |
| 16 | Yevan David | Kiwi Motorsport | 1m30.143 | +0.919s | 9 |
| 17 | Cooper Shipman | Kiwi Motorsport | 1m30.183 | +0.959s | 9 |
| 18 | Cadi Baptista | HMD w/ TJ Speed | 1m30.459 | +1.235s | 9 |
| 19 | Trevor LaTourrette | HMD w/ TJ Speed | 1m31.442 | +1.929s | 9 |