Freddie Slater was fastest in the second Formula Regional Oceania Trophy qualifying at Teretonga.
Slater was fastest in the red flag-shortened session but was involved in an incident that brought qualifying to a halt.
He and HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed driver Trevor LaTourrette collided at Turn 1, pitching both cars into a spin with just over seven minutes to go in the session.
Slater got beached in the gravel trap while LaTourrette was able to drive away and return to the pits.
To that point, Slater had the quickest time to his name – a 1:01.881s – ahead of teammate Ugo Ugochukwu and Hitech TGR driver Kanato Le.
Shortly after the session resumed, MTEC Motorsport’s Ryan Wood fell victim to the conditions as he toured the grass at the second-to-last corner.
Just a few moments later, Sebastian Manson and Fionn McLaughlin clashed at Turn 1. Both cars were bogged in the gravel trap, and with the allotted 10-minute red flag time exhausted, the session was declared.
“Obviously not the most optimal session with the bit of contact, so we need to look into that and see what comes of it,” said Slater.
“The pace has been really strong in the wet. We’ve had a lot of confidence. Like Ugo was just saying, just getting that lap in was really important.
“It’s not the most optimal lap following people, but you’ve just got to get a lap on the board. That’s what we did, and a very good way to start the day and I look forward to later.”
Slater’s teammate Ugochukwu lamented the conditions.
“Very tricky. Wet conditions again,” said Ugochukwu.
“Good to get an actual quali session this time. Pace was good throughout the whole session.
“A shame to be so close to pole, but P2 puts us in a good position for the final race today.”
Inclement conditions precluded Race 2 of Formula Regional Oceania Trophy at Teretonga from happening on Saturday, and will instead take place on Sunday at 11:02am AEDT.
Race 3 has been postponed to a later date that is still to be determined. Race 4, the Spirit of a Nation, will get underway at 2:26pm AEDT.
Results: Formula Regional Oceania Trophy Teretonga Park, Qualifying 2
Pos
Num
Driver
Lap
Diff
Laps
Best Lap
1
27
Freddie Slater
1:01.881
10
5
2
4
Ugo Ugochukwu
1:01.947
0.066
10
5
3
19
Kanato Le
1:02.129
0.248
10
6
4
12
Jin Nakamura
1:02.193
0.312
10
5
5
11
Louis Sharp
1:02.442
0.561
10
6
6
3
Zack Scoular
1:02.442
0.561
10
6
7
69
Kalle Rovanpera
1:02.478
0.597
10
10
8
5
Yuanpu Cui
1:02.762
0.881
10
5
9
24
Ernesto Rivera
1:02.812
0.931
10
6
10
40
Ryan Wood
1:02.874
0.993
10
5
11
33
Fionn McLaughlin
1:03.006
1.125
10
5
12
21
Yevan David
1:03.167
1.286
10
6
13
50
Jack Taylor
1:03.337
1.456
10
5
14
22
Sebastian Manson
1:03.581
1.700
10
6
15
14
Cooper Shipman
1:03.634
1.753
10
10
16
52
Nolan Allaer
1:04.012
2.131
10
6
17
41
Ricardo Baptista
1:04.144
2.263
10
6
18
8
Trevor LaTourrette
1:07.467
5.586
8
5
