Brown survives terrifying tangle in Formula Regional finale

After qualifying seventh for Race 3 of the weekend – the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy race – Brown made immediate headway from the start.

Arvid Lindblad led from pole position and was challenged early by Matias Zagazeta. New Zealand’s Zack Scoular watched the battle in front of him unfold, which ultimately ended at Turn 5 when Lindblad held the lead.

Brown was fifth by Turn 1, just behind Michael Shin. He hounded Shin early and on Lap 3 the pair exited the Turn 11 hairpin side-by-side.

That’s when disaster struck. The pair drifted towards each other on the back straight and collided, sending Shin into a 360-degree spin.

Miraculously, the pair escaped unscathed. Shin fell to eighth while Brown dropped to fifth after compatriot Patrick Heuzenroeder and Nikita Johnson breezed by.

Despite the incident, Brown set a blistering pace and put Johnson under pressure almost immediately. He forced the American into a mistake at the last turn, passing him around the outside.

Brown continued to push and with a handful of laps to go in the 23-lap affair, the Supercars star put a pass on Heuzenroeder for fourth at the hairpin and set about chasing a fading Scoular.

The Dubai-based driver fought hard and ultimately kept Brown at bay, surviving to clinch third.

At the head of the field, Lindblad cleared out to a five-second win over Zagazeta.

“I made my life difficult,” said Lindblad about his first lap battle with Zagazeta.

“It’s not easy to start on the inside here. It’s a bit dirtier and the start is a bit more difficult.

“I was very committed when I saw that I had lost the lead that I had to get it back in Turn 1 because I learned in the previous two races that it’s incredibly difficult to pass here.

“Happy that I got it done in T1 and then it was just controlling the pace there.”

Scoular said holding off Brown “wasn’t easy” but was happy to come away from the weekend clean.

“With a guy like him behind you, it’s always going to be a bit tough.

“Just the deg on the tyre it definitely felt a lot higher. I think we lost most of the tyre when I was chasing Matias, but I just couldn’t really find a way past.

“Tyre management is really a big thing for me coming from F4, there’s not a lot of tyre management.”

Earlier in the day, Zagazeta led home Josh Pierson in the top eight reverse grid race. Lindblad was the star of that race, climbing to third.

The Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship continues at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park on January 17-19.

UPDATE: Will Brown was penalised post-race for the contact between he and Michael Shin. Stewards delivered Brown a 10-second post-race penalty for avoidable contact, which dropped him to eighth.

Results: Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, Taupo Motorsport Park Race 2

Results: Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, Taupo Motorsport Park Race 3