Fitzgerald in for last three rounds of Formula Regional Oceania
Rising Irish star Adam Fitzgerald will compete for the last three rounds of the inaugural Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship which begins this week at Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand's South Island.
Fitzgerald (21) will join fellow British junior formula racer Josh Mason in a field that includes young drivers from Brazil, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. He’ll join the action for the events at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, the 67th New Zealand Grand Prix at Hampton Downs and the season finale at Taupo Motorsport Park.
A competitor in the British Formula 4 Championship in 2022, Fitzgerald secured a pole position during a season which included six races in the equivalent Italian F4 series. His step up into cars in 2021 came after a relatively short career within karting having only started racing in late 2019 at home in his native Ireland. He moved to competing in British competitions in 2021 including the British Kart Championship and the Kartmasters Grand Prix, all in the Senior X30 class.
Fitzgerald will join Giles Motorsport for his three round campaign, which also includes the 67th New Zealand Grand Prix, back on the international calendar after missing a year in 2022 due to Covid 19 travel restrictions. He's looking forward to the challenge of competing against some of the best up and coming young racers in the world on New Zealand's highly regarded, and highly technical tracks.
“It’s an exciting championship and a great opportunity for me to show what I can do, racing on some of New Zealand’s best circuits over the course of the three weeks, I can’t wait to get back out on track after a long winter break,” he said. “I want to thank my supporters for this opportunity.”
Team principal Stephen Giles reckons Fitzgerald will make a strong impression when he joins the championship, adding: “We're looking forward to Adam joining the team at Manfeild for the North Island rounds of the Championship.
“The opportunity to get some quality test, qualifying and race mileage under his belt before heading into the European season is going to be invaluable and although there will be a bit of catching up to do against the drivers who started the season, we'll be doing our best to help Adam get up to speed quickly.”
After the Highlands start, the championship heads South to Invercargill before going to the North Island for consecutive weekends at Circuit Chris Amon - Manfeild, Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park and a final weekend at Taupo International Motorsport Park on February 10-12.
Fitzgerald will be hoping to join an illustrious list of graduates from New Zealand’s premier single seater championship who have gone on to greater things in their careers.
The championship one of the best records in junior formulae for the proportion of its drivers over the years who have made it to Formula One or achieved other notable successes. Current F1 aces Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Nicolas Latifi, Lance Stroll and Guanyu Zhou have all raced in what was formerly Castrol TRS. Norris and Stroll were both champions.
2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship
13-15 January 2023 - Highlands Motorsport Park
20-22 January 2023 - Teretonga Park Raceway
27-29 January 2023 - Manfeild - Circuit Chris Amon
3-5 February 2023 - Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park
10-12 February 2023 - Taupo International Motorsport Park
