David heads to NZ to make history for Sri Lankan motorsport
Eighteen-year-old Yevan David will join Kiwi Motorsport for the forthcoming Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy in New Zealand.
David will be the first Sri Lankan to race in New Zealand’s premier single seater championship – which will enter its 21st season in 2026.
Raised in Singapore, Yevan was the top rookie in the 2025 Euroformula Open Championship and will race in New Zealand as a prelude to joining the FIA F3 Championship with AIX.
In common with the vast majority of today’s junior formula stars, Yevan began his career in karting before progressing to Formula 4. He competed in F4 throughout 2024 along with an appearance for Sri Lanka at the FIA Motorsport Games where he took pole position for the F4 race.
As well as competing with success in this year’s Euroformula Open Championship, he also made his debut in the GB3 Championship, scoring 15 points across three races of the Silverstone round.
He joins experienced New Zealand team Kiwi Motorsport for the four-round New Zealand championship, which begins in January and concludes in February with the 70th New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands Motorsport Park in the South Island.
The intense southern hemisphere championship has been a proving ground for multiple stars of F1 and Indycar over the past two decades and David is relishing the challenge of pitching himself against some of the best young drivers in the world today.
“I’m very excited to be racing in this championship,” he said this week. “It’s going to be such a new experience and there will be many new things to learn. But I’m also excited to compete, to work with a new team and to achieve as much as possible.
“Learning as much as possible will mean trying all the time to be better than the day before. I will focus on making improvements on myself, improvements to how I work with the team and achieving the maximum possible. Whether that’s the championship or not doesn’t really concern me, as long as we fulfil everything within our control.”
Two more teams have joined the New Zealand championship since it strategically reduced its season from five to four rounds to avoid clashes with northern hemisphere testing. A high quality field is promised.
Fans will be able to follow the championship easily. Qualifying will be livestreamed on TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand’s YouTube channel. Races will also be on that channel and on SkySport domestically in New Zealand. Races will also be streamed live on the Motorsport.TV platform.
2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy
Rd1 9-11 January - Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park
Rd2 16-18 January - Taupo International Motorsport Park
Rd3 23-25 January - Teretonga Raceway, Invercargill
Rd4 30 Jan -1st Feb - 70th New Zealand Grand Prix – Highlands International Motorsport Park
