Ryan Wood stamped his authority on Taupo qualifying. Image: Joel Hanks
The mtec Motorsport driver produced his best effort when it mattered most, jumping to the top in the final minutes of the 15-minute session with a 1:23.258, capping a weekend in which he topped two of the three practice sessions on Friday at a circuit where he claimed his first-ever Supercars podium last season.
Wood, who is racing in his first season of single-seaters, had been among the front-running group throughout qualifying, but teammate Zack Scoular appeared set for pole after a sequence of fast laps gave him a two-tenths advantage midway through the session.
That advantage disappeared late as Wood delivered a decisive final flying lap to deny the field.
“Louis [Sharp] and I went out and were going hard straight away,” Wood said.
“We were quick and we had a great car but it was tough to get those last couple of tenths out of it.
“I was confident, but made a few mistakes and was a bit hard on myself but that last one was definitely good.”
The top 10 was covered by just seven-tenths of a second, underlining the competitiveness of the session.
Series leader Ugo Ugochukwu narrowly missed out on pole after a wobble in the final corner on his best lap, but the M2 Competition driver still secured a front-row start after a late improvement.
Having won twice at the opening round at Hampton Downs, the American looms as Wood’s primary challenger in the first race.
Scoular will start third after his strong showing, with Freddie Slater completing an mtec Motorsport–M2 Competition second row. Louis Sharp qualified fifth to round out a strong session for the mtec outfit, while Kanato Le was the fastest of the Hitech runners in sixth.
Australian James Wharton, who set the pace in Friday’s second practice, qualified seventh for TJ Speed with HMD Motorsports ahead of Jin Nakamura and Seb Manson.
Yevan David completed the top 10, although Manson will drop to 14th on the grid due to a five-place penalty carried over from Hampton Downs.
Further back, two-time world rally champion Kalle Rovanperä qualified 14th but will start 13th after the application of Manson’s penalty.
The first race of the weekend takes place at 11am AEDT.
2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy – R2 Taupo Qualifying
1
40
Ryan WOOD
NZL
MTEC Motorsport
2
4
Ugo UGOCHUKWU
USA
M2 Competition
3
3
Zack SCOULAR
NZL
MTEC Motorsport
4
27
Freddie SLATER
GBR
M2 Competition
5
11
Louis SHARP
NZL
MTEC Motorsport
6
33
Fionn MCLAUGHLIN
IRL
Hitech
6
19
Kanato LE
JPN
Hitech
7
13
James WHARTON
AUS
TJ Speed with HMD
8
12
Jin NAKAMURA
JPN
Hitech
9
22
Sebastian MANSON
NZL
M2 Competition
10
21
Yevan DAVID
LKA
Kiwi Motorsport
11
24
Ernesto RIVERA
MEX
M2 Competition
12
5
Yuanpu CUI
CHN
MTEC Motorsport
13
52
Nolan ALLAER
USA
Giles Motorsport
14
69
Kalle ROVANPERÄ
FIN
Hitech
15
50
Jack TAYLOR
AUS
Giles Motorsport
17
14
Cooper SHIPMAN
USA
Kiwi Motorsport
18
41
Ricardo BAPTISTA
BRA
TJ Speed with HMD
19
8
Trevor LATOURRETTE
USA
TJ Speed with HMD
