Ugochukwu starts FRegional Oceania season with pole by 0.007s

Photo: Joel Hanks

Ugo Ugochukwu kicked off 2026’s junior single-seater action by going fastest in Formula Regional Oceania’s season-opening qualifying session at Hampton Downs.

There were three free practice sessions on Friday, and M2 Competition’s Ugochukwu topped the first by the slimmest margin. He set a 1m30.047s to pip Hitech GP’s Kanato Le by 0.001 seconds, and MTEC Motorsport’s Ryan Wood was just 0.003s off in third. Hitech’s Jin Nakamura trailed by 0.195s in fourth, as a second covered the top 14.

A 1m30.234s earned tin-top star and single-seater debutant Wood first place in FP2, with a tiny 0.042s advantage over Nakmura and 0.089s to Le. Ugochukwu was fourth, 0.175s off, and team-mate Freddie Slater was a further 0.013s back.

Wood lowered the pace to 1m29.764s in FP3, and this time had a 0.287s gap to Slater in second. Nakamura, MTEC’s Louis Sharp and HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed’s James Wharton were the only other drivers within half a second of him. Two-time World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera was 15th in practice.

Qualifying took place on Saturday, and with 19 cars on track traffic posed a risk throughout the 15-minute session.

At the halfway point, Ugochukwu led Sharp, Slater, Wharton and Wood. Many drivers had not set representative laptimes, while the provisional poleman had already posted a 1m29.953s.

He improved to 1m29.794s next time by, but Slater moved ahead by 0.102s. The Briton was only top for 13s before Wood set a 1m29.612s, and Nakamura rose to third with a lap 0.063s quicker than Ugochukwu’s.

On the following lap, Ugochukwu made a half-second gain to reclaim top spot and he remained there to the finish. With two minutes remaining he lowered the pace to 1m29.267s, with Slater 0.142s behind, then traffic meant he bailed out of his next flyer.

“It’s been a good couple of days, pace has been good. I was pretty confident coming into quali, knowing I just had to put a good lap together,” said Ugochukwu.

Sharp snatched second place just before the chequered flag waved, lapping 0.007s shy of pole. Le and Nakamura shuffled Wood down to sixth by setting personal bests, but he then moved back up to fifth. Rovanpera qualified 1.04s off the pace in 16th.

“I had two laps probably I think within two hundredths of a pole, so it was a shame not either one of them was quite enough,” mused Sharp.

Slater “had a few moments out there which weren’t optimal” and reflected on Hampton Downs’ challenges.

“The track’s super bumpy, so there’s never the perfect lap. There never will be around here. So it’s just the little fine margins that obviously cost a lot. And also the tyres get quite hot here as well. Especially through the first and second sector, and then when you get to the hairpins where the traction becomes quite difficult.”

Qualifying results