Scoular was the star of the show, leading from pole position to win by two seconds in an incident-free 17-lap affair.

Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad completed the podium, three seconds in arrears at the chequered flag.

The result has come as a shock not only to the Formula Regional Oceania paddock but Scoular himself, who admitted post-race he didn’t think he would be a race winner so soon.

Scoular, who is based out of Dubai, earned himself a spot on the grid thanks to the Tony Quinn Foundation Scholarship.

The teenager made the most of it, leading from lights to flag.

“I’m honestly lost for words. We didn’t really expect it coming in, especially after testing,” he said post-race.

“We looked okay but we never really looked like we had the pace to put it on pole or win the race, but we ended up doing it and to win on debut is pretty special.

“It definitely wasn’t easy. Will was putting a bit of pressure [on], especially in the middle of the race when he started coming back.

“I think he said he made a mistake so the gap went back up and then I was managing it from there.”

Scoular said he spent some time studying previous races at Taupō Motorsport Park to get an idea of what to expect.

“I was looking at the past races and overtaking here looks pretty hard, it seems pretty hard,” said Scoular, who was largely untroubled in the race by Brown.

“You can only really overtake if you’re on the bumper of the guy in front, which is hard to get to that range anyway – especially halfway through the race when the tyre starts to overheat.

“I wasn’t really under too much pressure and I just kept calm the whole race.”

Brown said he didn’t have much to offer Scoular in the way of an attack but was “happy with the car overall.”

The Supercars star spent the opening stanza battling with Lindblad, allowing Scoular to stretch his legs.

Brown got the gap to Scoular under one second but in the dirty air couldn’t make any headway.

Ultimately, the margins stretched across the top five and Scoular cruised home to claim the chequered flag first.

Nikita Johnson was the first of the non-podium finishers in fourth ahead of Matias Zagazeta, and Michael Shin, Enzo Yeh, Josh Pierson, Patrick Heuzenroeder, and the second-best Kiwi Sebastian Manson. New Zealand’s other interest, Alex Crosbie, was 11th.

Results: Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, Taupo Motorsport Park Race 1