Callum Hedge converted his pole position to victory in Race 1 of the 2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship finale at Taupo International Motorsport Park.
Hedge took the chequered flag ahead of Louis Foster and 2023 New Zealand Grand Prix winner Laurens van Hoepen in the 18-lap encounter.
In doing so, he now holds a three-point lead over Charlie Wurz, heading into the final two races of the season.
It was a hard race and Louis was definitely quicker than me,” the M2 Competition driver said.
“It’s always good to race against people as good as Louis and put one on him, especially as he was a tenth or two quicker than me.
“My total focus was the start as we hadn’t done good practice starts. I know it’s very hard to pass here so I did what I had to do to take the win.”
An incident at Turn 1 on the opening lap ended title contender Jacob Abel’s championship hopes, after contact with David Morales, resulted in the former colliding with both James Penrose and Bree Morris.
At the front of the field, Hedge held off a hard-charging Foster, with van Hoepen finishing 2.293s adrift off the race winner in claiming the final spot on the podium.
Liam Sceats held position in finishing fourth, ahead of Wurz who came home in fifth.
Giles Motorsport driver Kaleb Ngatoa was sixth, ahead of Morales, who was slapped with a post-race penalty that would ultimately see him classified 14th.
Resultantly, Josh Mason was classified seventh, with W Series driver Chloe Chambers eighth, with Ryder Quinn and Ryan Shehan rounding out the top 10.
Adam Fitzgerald, Tom McLennan, Lucas Fecury and David Morales completed the field, with Abel, Penrose and Morris not finishing the race.
The final day of action for the 2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship will commence with Qualifying 2 at 10.08 local time/08.08 AEDT, with Race 2 at 13.03 local time/11.03 AEDT, with Race 3 to take place at 16.04 local time/14.04 AEDT.
Race 1 – Result
1. Callum Hedge (NZL) – M2 Competition
2. Louis Foster (GBR) – Giles Motorsport
3. Laurens van Hoepen (NED) – M2 Competition
4. Liam Sceats (NZL) – M2 Competition
5. Charlie Wurz (AUT) – M2 Competition
6. Kaleb Ngatoa (NZL) – Giles Motorsport
7. Josh Mason (GBR) – Kiwi Motorsport
8. Chloe Chambers (USA) – Giles Motorsport
9. Ryder Quinn (AUS) – M2 Competition
10. Ryan Shehan (USA) – Giles Motorsport
11. Adam Fitzgerald (IRL) – Giles Motorsport
12. Tom McLennan (AUS) – Kiwi Motorsport
13. Lucas Fecury (BRA) – Kiwi Motorsport
14. David Morales (USA) – M2 Competition*
DNF: Bree Morris (NZL) – Giles Motorsport
DNF: James Penrose (NZL) – Kiwi Motorsport
DNF: Jacob Abel (USA) – Kiwi Motorsport
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