Ugochukwu was just 0.007s faster than Sharp, who was the best of the MTEC Competition quartet.
Freddie Slater (M2 Competition) was third ahead of Kanato Le (Hitech TGR) and Supercars star Ryan Wood (MTEC Motorsport).
Australia’s James Wharton was eighth while compatriot Jack Taylor wound up 12th.
WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera could only manage the 16th fastest time int he 19-car field, and was one second away from the pole position time.
The session ran without incident, with the best times coming late in the 15-minute affair.
“Great way to start my campaign here in New Zealand,” said former McLaren junior Ugochukwu.
“It’s been a good couple of days. The pace has been good, so I was pretty confident coming into qualifying knowing I just had to put a good lap together.
“The whole quali we were quick, always up the front, so I just had to keep chipping away and try to go faster and faster as the session went on.”
Sharp said he still had more time to find.
“I definitely tried. I had two laps within two hundredths of pole, so it was a shame not either one of them was quite enough,” said Sharp.
“Massive thank you to the team, MTEC. I think this is a really good way to start the year.
“To be honest, there’s still a little bit [of time] out there everywhere. As a driver you’re never perfect. There’s more I can do.
“I’ll look at some data with the team and see where we can make the gap.”
Race 1 of the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy at Hampton Downs is scheduled for 10am AEDT.
Results: Formula Regional Oceania Trophy Hampton Downs, Qualifying 1
| Pos | Num | Driver | Lap | Diff | Laps | Best Lap |
| 1 | 4 | Ugo Ugochukwu | 1:29.267 | 9 | 7 | |
| 2 | 11 | Louis Sharp | 1:29.274 | 0.007 | 9 | 8 |
| 3 | 27 | Freddie Slater | 1:29.409 | 0.142 | 9 | 7 |
| 4 | 19 | Kanato Le | 1:29.496 | 0.229 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | 40 | Ryan Wood | 1:29.560 | 0.293 | 9 | 9 |
| 6 | 12 | Jin Nakamura | 1:29.563 | 0.296 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Zack Scoular | 1:29.731 | 0.464 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | 13 | James Wharton | 1:29.777 | 0.510 | 8 | 8 |
| 9 | 21 | Yevan David | 1:29.792 | 0.525 | 8 | 8 |
| 10 | 24 | Ernesto Rivera | 1:29.844 | 0.577 | 9 | 6 |
| 11 | 5 | Yuanpu Cui | 1:29.852 | 0.585 | 8 | 8 |
| 12 | 50 | Jack Taylor | 1:29.998 | 0.731 | 8 | 8 |
| 13 | 52 | Nolan Allaer | 1:30.058 | 0.791 | 8 | 5 |
| 14 | 22 | Sebastian Manson | 1:30.154 | 0.887 | 9 | 8 |
| 15 | 33 | Fionn McLaughlin | 1:30.241 | 0.974 | 8 | 8 |
| 16 | 69 | Kalle Rovanpera | 1:30.307 | 1.040 | 9 | 5 |
| 17 | 14 | Cooper Shipman | 1:30.353 | 1.086 | 8 | 8 |
| 18 | 41 | Ricardo Baptista | 1:30.777 | 1.510 | 8 | 6 |
| 19 | 8 | Trevor LaTourrette | 1:31.765 | 2.498 | 8 | 8 |
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