{"id":451115,"date":"2026-02-01T06:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/451115\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T06:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:49:15","slug":"james-wharton-scores-second-ctfrot-podium-at-highlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/451115\/","title":{"rendered":"James Wharton scores second CTFROT podium at Highlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wharton
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKanato Le leads the Formula Regional Oceania field through the bus stop chicane during Race 2 at Highlands Motorsport Park. Image: John Cowpland<\/p>\n

Le clinched the New Zealand Grand Prix curtain raiser, converting pole position to a win in the top eight reverse grid.<\/p>\n

Wharton, who started third, beat New Zealand\u2019s Liam Sceats into the bus stop chicane and never ceded second place.<\/p>\n

Ryan Wood wound up finishing sixth after side-to-side contact with MTEC Motorsport teammate Louis Sharp through the chicane speared the Supercars star off the road and across the grass.<\/p>\n

Great Britain\u2019s Freddie Slater, who is a serious threat for the title, finished fifth while title rival Ugo Ugochukwu was seventh.<\/p>\n

The race featured three incidents. Trevor Latourrette spun at the Turn 3 and 4 esses.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Yuanpu Cui brought out the first Safety Car on Lap 9 when he went off at the Turn 9 hairpin from 12thl.<\/p>\n

Racing resumed on Lap 14 but it wasn\u2019t long before the Safety Car returned and brought an early end to the contest.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s Ricardo Baptista parked his car backwards in the gravel trap at Turn 11 after the bridge.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off I want to say thank you to Hitech,\u201d said Le, whose win came at the same circuit where Tsunoda last won in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a difficult weekend and last weekend, but I\u2019m very happy to be able to get the win and am very grateful for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames was keeping me on the edge of my seat and I had to be focused on every single lap. It was quite difficult. Not an easy win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wharton said he didn\u2019t have enough to beat Le, but wasn\u2019t unhappy to finish second.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good race but Kanato is a person you don\u2019t mind coming second to,\u201d said Wharton.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe works hard and he\u2019s one of the nicest guys here. Second is not too bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t quite have the pace of the faster cars, but we maximised our race then.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Formula Regional Oceania Trophy comes to a close with the 70th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix at 2:33pm AEDT.<\/p>\n

With one race remaining, Ugo Ugochukwu leads Freddie Slater by 25 points. A maximum 35 points are available for the New Zealand Grand Prix, in which Slater will start fourth while Ugochukwu starts last due to a penalty.<\/a><\/p>\n

Results: Formula Regional Oceania Trophy Highlands, Race 2<\/p>\n

Pos
\nNum
\nDriver
\nLaps\/Diff<\/p>\n

1
\n19
\nKanato Le
\n18 laps<\/p>\n

2
\n13
\nJames Wharton
\n0.421<\/p>\n

3
\n23
\nLiam Sceats
\n1.140<\/p>\n

4
\n11
\nLouis Sharp
\n1.663<\/p>\n

5
\n27
\nFreddie Slater
\n2.042<\/p>\n

6
\n40
\nRyan Wood
\n2.967<\/p>\n

7
\n4
\nUgo Ugochukwu
\n3.304<\/p>\n

8
\n12
\nJin Nakamura
\n4.128<\/p>\n

9
\n21
\nYevan David
\n4.443<\/p>\n

10
\n3
\nZack Scoular
\n4.712<\/p>\n

11
\n52
\nNolan Allaer
\n5.013<\/p>\n

12
\n50
\nJack Taylor
\n5.376<\/p>\n

13
\n33
\nFionn McLaughlin
\n5.596<\/p>\n

14
\n14
\nCooper Shipman
\n5.935<\/p>\n

15
\n41
\nRicardo Baptista
\n3 laps<\/p>\n

16
\n22
\nSebastian Manson
\n5 laps<\/p>\n

DNF
\n8
\nTrevor LaTourrette
\nLap 10<\/p>\n

DNF
\n5
\nYuanpu Cui
\nLap 8<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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