Rain Gods unlikely to dampen Sri Lankan spirits

Rain and wet conditions proved to be the order of the day as cars took to the track for the first time during the collective test at Taupo for Round 2 of the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.

Both of the day’s sessions around the 3.3km circuit were blighted by some wet weather in the region so times were meaningless, although with unsettled weather forecast for the second weekend of the Trophy, early running on wets would have still been worthwhile to both drivers and engineers.

Louis Sharp – a winner in the first race at Round 1 – set the standard in the first session while Sri Lankan Yevan David topped the second, a result which will have gone down exceptionally well amongst his 65,000 social media followers.

David will be hoping for better luck this weekend, having been the innocent victim in the Feature Race accident at Hampton Downs, particularly as a significant body of support is expected to travel down from Auckland to support the 18 year-old as he continues to clock up competitive miles in New Zealand ahead of becoming the first ever Sri Lankan to compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Around 50 enthusiastic fans showed up waving flags of support at the first round. That may take a step up this weekend though thanks to a well promoted ‘community cruise’ starting from Auckland on Sunday morning. A convoy of up to 80 cars full of fans will arrive on Sunday to cheer on their hero in the day’s action, which will include the Denny Hulme Memoria feature race.

This year’s Trophy is proving a big hit with the fans outside of Sri Lanka too. More than 120,000 watched the qualifying and races live on the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing YouTube livestream, and that figure rose to 200,000 views by Thursday. 

Ryan Wood was second fastest in the first session, at the circuit where he took his first Supercars podium, while Red Bull Junior Finn McLaughlin was third fastest. McLaughlin was consistent too, clocking fourth fastest time in the second session. Japan’s Jin Nakamura was second fastest in the second session for Hitech.

Three official practice sessions on Friday should give more of a clue to who will be the pacesetters during the second round, and whether early series leader Ugo Ugochukwu can maintain his winning form from Hampton Downs.

All the weekend’s action will be livestreamed on TGRNZ’s YouTube channel, and all races will be live on Sky Sport NZ. Tickets to come along to the race weekend are still available at https://nextgennz.flicket.co.nz