New Zealand Grand Prix Recap
- Lorenzo Baer
- 4 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Bloke…we are going Down-Under!
While circuits north of the equator are gradually returning to normal activity, the same cannot be said for the southern hemisphere, which is seeing frenetic activity on its tracks as the 2026 season of the sport heats up. Leading the way once again, the New Zealand Grand Prix did not disappoint, offering continuous entertainment for the public over three days of competition.
So, come and check out the best moments of the 70th edition of the race, which saw the future of the sport shine in the heart of Maori lands.
FRegional Oceania & NZGP
Race 1: the only race of the category held on Saturday, the event was marked by a dominant performance by Ugo Ugochukwu. Starting in second place, the American took the lead early on from Jin Nakamura. The event as a whole unfolded without much excitement, except for a spin by Louis Sharp on lap seven, at a time when the Kiwi was in fourth position.
With most of the battles involving drivers in the middle of the pack and an uninspiring rhythm of the leaders, which involved only brief skirmishes between Ugochukwu and Nakamura during the 18 laps of the race, it can be said that the American had no great difficulty in securing victory, with Japan's Nakamura 0.439 seconds behind. Completing the podium was Kiwi Louis Sharp
Race 2: The grid, formed by reversing Saturday's top eight finishers, presented an interesting scenario, with Kanato Le (8th in FRegional Middle East 2025) and Liam Sceats (2024 NZGP winner) sharing the front row. At the start, while the Japanese held firm to his position, Sceats saw his second place evaporate, due to a perfectly timed overtaking manoeuvre by James Wharton.
The Aussie became the immediate pursuer of Le, who tried to maintain a comfortable gap in the lead. Despite this, Wharton kept his sights on the Japanese, planning a final attack in the closing moments of the race. However, this never materialised, with a series of yellow flags in the second half of the race completely breaking the rhythm of the contest.
Thus, Le crossed the finish line in first, followed by Wharton and Sceats. This was a remarkable achievement for Le, who was the first Japanese driver to win a major single-seater event in New Zealand since Yuki Tsunoda – back in 2020.
Race 3: the featured event of the weekend, it was time for the race that would crowd the New Zealand Grand Prix winner. Held in a single 27-lap heat (a considerable distance by FRegional standards), the race would see Jin Nakamura and Zack Scoular sharing the front row, followed by Kanato Le and Freddie Slater.
Given the green light, it was Scoular who jumped ahead, taking Nakamura's position before the first corner. Behind them, the positions remained unchanged, with the drivers seeking to preserve their cars for the long event that was about to unfold. Despite this, with just over 10 laps of the race gone, the front pack remained compact, with only four seconds separating Scoular, Nakamura, Le and Slater.
Meanwhile, Ugochukwu was desperately trying to climb through the field, with the American starting 13th after receiving a penalty for illegal adjustments during qualifying. Even though he clearly had one of the fastest cars on the grid, the American struggled to overtake his opponents, largely due to the technical difficulties presented by the Highlands circuit.
However, lap 11 brought a new spice to the race, as the Safety Car was called in as Australian Jack Taylor went into the wall on the exit of the penultimate corner. The removal of the vehicle got underway, but a red flag was soon called to pause the race rather than run laps down behind the SC.
On the restart, on lap 14, Scoular held off a timid attack from Nakamura, which would be repeated on lap 16, with the Kiwi once again resisting the pressure. On lap 19, the Japanese driver made a last-ditch effort to snatch the position from Scoular, with the New Zealander once again proving impassable. With no energy left to renew the offensive for a fourth time, Nakamura settled for second place, with Scoular finding himself in an advantageous position until the end of the race.
Scoular set the fastest lap of the race on lap 21, progressively increasing his lead over the Japanese driver until lap 26, when the safety car was called in once again after an accident involving American driver Trevor LaTourette. With just one lap to go, victory was now certain for Zack Scoular, who joins names such as Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren as Kiwis who have won the NZGP on home soil.
On the podium, Scoular was joined by the two Japanese drivers in the field: after battling valiantly with the Kiwi, Jin Nakamura took home a well-deserved second place, while Kanato Le finished third, crowning an excellent weekend for the Hitech TGR drivers.
The end of the NZGP also signalled the end of the 2026 FRegional Oceania season, with the final winners decided after the Highlands round: Ugo Ugochukwu took home the Chris Amon Trophy as the overall winner of the series after a thrilling battle with Freddie Slater, which was only decided in the last race of the tournament.
Louis Sharp would not be going home empty-handed either, with the Kiwi receiving the Trans-Tasman Trophy, awarded to the most consistent Australian or New Zealand driver in the tournament.
GT NZ Championship
Race 1: The race was marked by an exciting duel between two drivers in the Open category, Rick Armstrong (Porsche 992 Cup Car 2025) and Nigel Cromie (Porsche 992 Cup Car 2021). Cromie, who started in pole position, held on to his lead until a yellow flag was raised 10 minutes into the race following a crash by Samuel Fillmore (Porsche 992 Cup Car 2024).
At the restart, Armstrong went all out against Cromie, resulting in a definitive change in the overall lead of the race. In the GT4 category, which would also be the scene of interesting battles, Matthew Day, driving a Mercedes AMG GT4 (2018), would come out on top.
Race 2: If in Saturday's event Armstrong had to fight to come away with the victory at Highlands, in Sunday's first race the story could not have been more different. Despite an early challenge from Cromie at the start, the Porsche 992 2025-spec driver had no trouble securing the lead right away, sitting comfortably in that position until the chequered flag.
Further back, Cromie and Fillmore would engage in a more interesting duel, with both drivers separated by less than a second for much of the race. Even so, Cromie would prevail in the duel, finishing second for the second time over the weekend.
In GT4, William Exton (Toyota Supra 2024) would also have a smooth race, leading the category train through the 30 minutes of the race.
Race 3: Another race that featured the Armstrong vs. Cromie duel in GT Open. Starting in second position, Cromie made a perfect start, overtaking Armstrong at the first corner. But the 2025-spec Porsche driver was quick to respond.
Still on the first lap, the driver made a magnificent attack on the descent from the bridge (before turn 17), overtaking Cromie and regaining the lead. From then on, nothing could stop Rick Armstrong, who set a spectacular pace on the lead for the remaining 48 minutes of the race.
Cromie initially kept up with Armstrong, but as time ran out, it became clear who would be the winner of the final GT race at Highlands. Cromie's second place in the event almost turned into third, as the driver found himself engaged in a battle with Regan Scoullar (Porsche GT3 Cup Car 2023) in the final third of the race.
There were several moments when the gap between Cromie and Scoullar was less than half a second, but Cromie held his position. However, Scoullar did not have the energy to make a final push, and the driver eased off the pressure on Cromie in the final moments of the race.
Further back, in GT4, the category offered more excitement to the crowd, thanks to the battle between Matthew Day (Mercedes GT4 AMG) vs. Glen Chappel & Lachlan Evenett (Toyota Supra GT4).
Despite Day's comfortable early lead in the duel, which reached nearly 3.5 seconds in the middle of the race, Evenett gradually closed the gap. With 10 minutes to go, both Day and Evenett were now less than half a second apart, with the battle continuing until the last lap of the race.
In a meticulously calculated attack, Evenett performed a perfect overtaking manoeuvre just two corners before the finish line, thus securing victory in the category for the Toyota team.
The other events of the weekend
GR86 Highlands: The category was marked by extreme balance, with three different winners in the three races over the weekend: in the first, Hugo Allan, champion of the 2025 GR86 NZ Championship, would come out on top. In the second race, it was the turn of another well-known face of the category to take the victory: Josh Bethune. And in the featured event, the honour of lifting the trophy went to Arthur Broughan.
TA2 Highlands: One of the big new features of the NZGP weekend, the TA2 event did not disappoint, with unpredictability being the word of the weekend. Jaden Ransley (Mustang Howe TA2 2016) made history by becoming the first winner of the category at Highlands. In race 2, Caleb Byers (Camaro Howe TA2 2019) took the spotlights, while Dylan Grant (Dodge Howe TA2 2025) took the victory in the series' featured event on Sunday afternoon.
Formula Atlantic NZ: in the historic races, two drivers would shine at the Highlands circuit, starting with Greg Murphy (Ralt RT-40), who would take the victory in the first race of the weekend, held on Saturday. On Sunday, it would be Jaxon Evans' turn, in his vintage 1987-spec Swift DB4, to climb to the top of the podium.
