Woods-Toth sets Hampton Downs pace

Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth hit the timesheets for the first time today ahead of the third round of the 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship at Hampton Downs.

Woods-Toth, Kiwi Motorsport’s highly-rated F4 United States champion found his stride around the full international layout of the North Waikato track to go third fastest in the first session on Thursday before setting the best time of the day to top the second session.

He was also on form in the first session of the day, trailing Liam Sceats’ fastest session time by less than two tenths of a second.

In the later second session his 1 minute 29.721 second lap eclipsed circuit expert and top Kiwi Kaleb Ngatoa by just over a tenth of a second. And it set the benchmark as the drivers head into the weekend with official practice on Friday.

Championship leader Roman Bilinski was in the mix all day, finishing both sessions in the top five. Indeed the same five drivers topped both sessions – Woods-Toth, Sceats, Ngatoa, Bilinski and Gerrard Xie.

Further back, Kaden Probst and Titus Sherlock enjoyed solid days in the top ten. Kiwi Formula Ford racer Sebastian Manson took part in testing too, impressing as he got to grips with the FT60 around the international circuit.

Three official sessions on Friday will give a better indication of the leading runners’ pace as the championship heads into what could be a very critical weekend for anyone trying to stop runaway series leader Bilinski.