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The 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy season kicked off at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park with the first of four rounds on the calendar


Previously known as the Toyota Racing Series and later the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, the series enters the new FIA FR Trophy era with a revised structure, featuring a total of fifteen races across four events.


The season opener confirmed the high technical and sporting level of the championship, boasting a competitive grid that delivered thrilling races and numerous overtakes, boosted by the new push-to-pass feature introduced in 2026.


Ugo Ugochukwu emerged as the benchmark of the opening round, showcasing consistent top-level performances that put him in the lead of the championship standings. Close behind, Jin Nakamura immediately proved he would be a contender for the front positions.


Among the most anticipated names was Kalle Rovanperä, the 25-year-old Finnish double World Rally Champion, making his single-seater debut and attracting attention from fans and the media alike.


The second round of the 2026 Formula Regional Oceania Trophy is scheduled for January 17 at Taupo International Motorsport Park, where the battle among the championship contenders will continue. Over four consecutive weekends, the series promises to deliver thrilling racing and excitement for motorsport fans in New Zealand and around the world.


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News
Two circuits, one show: the Formula 4 weekend between Portugal and Slovakia
Two circuits, one show: the Formula 4 weekend between Portugal and Slovakia

From double wins to maiden victories and shifting leads: the Tatuus-powered weekend story
The Formula 4 weekend between Portimão and Slovakia Ring brought more than 70 Tatuus single-seaters onto the track across two different venues, which nevertheless shared one key element: a strong entry list and closely fought, exciting racing.

F4 SPANISH
The second round of the F4 Spanish Championship , held at the technical and spectacular Portimão circuit , helped reshape the balance at the top of the standings. The standout performer of the weekend was undoubtedly Borys Lyzen , who secured a double win in Race 1 and Race 2, allowing him to close in significantly on the championship lead and becoming the second driver of the season to take more than one victory after Rocco Coronel.
Kasper Schormans also made his mark, taking his first F4 win following the final classification of Race 3, scoring valuable points in the championship fight. The Portuguese weekend also delivered Jacob Micallef’ s first pole position in the category, underlining the extremely high level of competition on the grid, where even thousandths of a second can make the difference.
Despite a less dominant weekend compared to Valencia, Rocco Coronel leaves Portugal still leading the standings with 76 points, but his advantage over his rivals has been significantly reduced: Schormans follows on 72, while Lyzen is just behind on 71, with the top three covered by only five points after two rounds. In the teams’ standings, MP Motorsport continues to set the benchmark, maintaining the lead thanks to another strong and consistent weekend.

F4 CEZ
The Slovakia Ring delivered a weekend full of highlights in the F4 Central European Zone Championship , with Teo Borenstein taking centre stage in the third round of the season. The Jenzer Motorsport driver won two of the four races on the schedule, showing strong pace from qualifying, where he had already set the fastest time. His weekend was further strengthened by the fastest lap in Race 3, a result that helped him climb back into the leading group of the championship.
The Slovakian weekend also brought a first career F4 CEZ victory for Simon Rechenmacher , who secured his maiden win after an intense battle with David Walther . However, the Maffi Racing driver leaves Slovakia with the most significant points haul in terms of the championship fight: thanks to his results across the four races, Walther returned to the top of the overall standings with a 13-point lead over Elia Weiss . Behind them, Borenstein’s double win moves the Jenzer driver up to third place, shaping a leading group that, after the first three rounds of the season, is now clearly established. [...]

News
Slovakia Ring and Portimão Set the Stage for a Formula 4 Weekend
Slovakia Ring and Portimão Set the Stage for a Formula 4 Weekend

F4 CEZ and F4 Spanish Championship take center stage this weekend in Slovakia and Portugal
Two championships, two very different venues, but the same common thread: a season that is already beginning to take shape through intense battles and the first signs of a competitive hierarchy. From the tightly contested fight at the top of the F4 CEZ standings to the second round of the F4 Spanish Championship, this weekend promises plenty of Formula 4 action. With packed grids, demanding circuits, and rivalries already well established, every session could prove crucial in the race for the titles.

F4 CEZ
The F4 CEZ Championship returns to action this weekend at the Slovakia Ring for the third round of the 2026 season, in what promises to be another thrilling chapter in the title fight. The situation at the top of the standings is already becoming clear: the battle is close, but incredibly intense. On one side are Elia Weiss, Max Karhan, and Teo Borenstein (Jenzer Motorsport), while David Walther (Maffi Racing) leads the opposition, with Simon Rechenmacher (Cram Racing) consistently establishing himself among the front-runners. So far, this group of five drivers has completely dominated the podium celebrations, claiming every top-three finish across the opening seven races of the 2026 season—a clear sign that their rivalry is shaping up to be the defining storyline of the championship. Just days after the action-packed Salzburgring round, the Slovakia Ring will once again welcome a highly competitive field, with 40 drivers set to take the start.
The weekend schedule kicks off on Friday with two qualifying sessions: Qualifying 1 – Friday, 16:45 Qualifying 2 – Friday, 17:10
The racing action then unfolds across four races: Race 1 – Saturday, 12:00 Race 2 – Saturday, 16:05 Race 3 – Sunday, 09:25 Race 4 – Sunday, 14:05
The entire weekend will be streamed live on the championship's official YouTube channel

F4 Spanish
The F4 Spanish Championship returns this weekend for the second round of the season at Portimão , one of the most technical and spectacular circuits on the calendar. The season opener at Valencia immediately provided a clear indication of the competitive order. Rocco Coronel leads the championship after a perfect start, claiming two victories during the opening round to secure the top spot in the standings. Close behind, Noah Monteiro and Aleix Piñera remain firmly in contention, while MP Motorsport has emerged as the early benchmark among the teams, ahead of Griffin Core. Portimão, however, represents a completely different challenge. The 4.6-kilometre circuit features 15 corners and significant elevation changes, creating a technical and physically demanding layout that requires absolute precision. It is a track where mistakes can easily happen, but one that also offers several overtaking opportunities, making the weekend especially unpredictable.
The schedule will be compact and action-packed, with sessions spread across both Saturday and Sunday: Qualifying 1 – Saturday, 09:00 Race 1 – Saturday, 11:00 Race 2 – Saturday, 13:50 Qualifying 2 – Sunday, 09:00 Race 3 – Sunday, 11:00
The entire weekend will be broadcast live on the championship's official YouTube channel [...]

News
"It is no coincidence that the world turns to Italy to find quality in motorsport."
"It is no coincidence that the world turns to Italy to find quality in motorsport."

CEO Giovanni Delfino’s remarks at the Motor Valley Fest 2026
Motorsport is experiencing a period of strong vitality. Not only because of the results that continue to bring Italy back to the center of international competitions, but also because of the strength of an entire industrial system capable of transforming research, technology, and development into a competitive advantage recognized worldwide. These are some of the topics analyzed by Giovanni Delfino (CEO of the Korus Group and Tatuus) , starting from the concept of collaboration among different but complementary excellences.

A growing movement and an increasingly widespread demand for motorsport. “What we are experiencing is a demand for motorsport that is difficult to measure, but we are helped by some significant numbers, such as the 500 T-421 units recently celebrated by Tatuus and the 300 first-generation Formula 4 cars, along with all the other categories we supply. We are talking about a healthy movement that is clearly perceptible also in karting, where at every race we see hundreds of children showing determination and a strong desire to get into karts and compete. Today our priority is to continue producing and offering products to help these young drivers grow, so that they can eventually reach the top level of hypercars, F1, and IndyCar, with the awareness that it is not an easy or inexpensive path, but one to which we dedicate ourselves every day.”

The technological and industrial challenge of junior and entry categories. “Italian mechatronics is a benchmark and a point of reference. We produce and sell cars while respecting extremely strict price caps, with safety standards that must be guaranteed to young drivers racing at a very high competitive level. The effort is significant, but so is the satisfaction in seeing these results on track.”

Motorsport as an ecosystem of industrial collaboration. “The panel is called The Future of Racing and if I were asked what it means, fully understanding the depth of this title would require endless reasoning. But then I look around and I am joined in this panel by Pirelli, Marelli, Sabelt, and Ferrari, with whom we will be rivals in WEC but always friends. Many of them also collaborate on the T-421 project, which in itself is highly representative of what the future of racing stands for. I always recall with pleasure how we are on excellent terms with Dallara, with whom we share, without overlap, a specific area of activity such as the motorsport pyramid, which today represents an almost entirely Italian market.”

The role of Italy in motorsport “There are many OEMs that choose to work alongside Italian elite companies to develop their products, and this clearly demonstrates how strong Italy’s importance in motorsport is. It is no coincidence that from all over the world people look to Italy to find quality. For us, reaching a level of collaboration such as the one with McLaren has been an important step up; working with a manufacturer of this prestige is undoubtedly a source of pride and of absolute significance.”
Panel participants The panel held in Modena at the San Paolo complex featured representatives from several national and international motorsport organizations:
Marco Palmerini (MotoGP Vehicle Development Manager, Ducati) Lara Rodini (Global Sponsorships & Activation Director, Lenovo) Philippe Tramonde (Technical Director Motorsport, Michelin) Massimiliano Ortalli (VP, Market Unit Director, Automotive, Life Science, Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defence, Capgemini) Massimiliano Marsiaj (Executive Vice President, Sabelt S.p.A.) Riccardo De Filippi (CEO Motorsport, Marelli) Dario Marrafuschi (Head of Motorsport, Pirelli) Antonello Coletta (Ferrari) Vincent Biard (Head of Maserati Corse) Franco Cevolini (CEO, CRP Group) Alessandro Tucci (Executive Director Head of House of Grand Challenges, Aspire) Luca Ciancetti (Technical Director, Podium Advanced Technologies) [...]

News
Tatuus Celebrates the 500th T-421, the World’s Most Widely Used Formula 4 Car
Tatuus Celebrates the 500th T-421, the World’s Most Widely Used Formula 4 Car

The Lainate-based manufacturer has celebrated the production and delivery of the 500th chassis of the single-seater on which Kimi Antonelli and Arvid Lindblad developed their careers.

Born in 2021, the Tatuus T-421 reached its 500th unit produced and delivered in May 2026, once again confirming its status as one of the most manufactured and successful racing single-seaters worldwide. The milestone was celebrated by the Lainate-based brand together with all its employees and the sister companies of the Korus group, which contribute daily to the T-421 project: ATM–Autotecnica Motori, Breda Racing, and Next Solution Technologies.
Today, the T-421 is the most widely used Formula 4 car in the world, competing across 16 championships spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Behind its wheel, some of the most exciting talents in contemporary motorsport have developed, including Kimi Antonelli and Arvid Lindblad , who built the first steps of their single-seater careers in the second-generation Tatuus F4 before progressing all the way to the pinnacle of Formula 1.
“The 500th T-421 is not only a major milestone for Tatuus, but also an important achievement for the entire international motorsport ecosystem,” said Giovanni Delfino, CEO of Tatuus and the Korus Group. “With the introduction of Formula 4 in 2014, the FIA created a new pathway between karting and single-seaters, enabling drivers to arrive better prepared for higher categories. This model has established itself through years of significant growth in motorsport, during which many championships were launched and expanded, now reaching grids of nearly 50 cars per round with the second generation we celebrate today. These are figures that were difficult to imagine at the beginning of this journey, but which now define the everyday reality of many of the companies within the Korus Group.”
“Throughout Tatuus’ history, many of our models have achieved widespread adoption across global championships and have demonstrated unparalleled driver development capabilities,” added Gianfranco De Bellis, President of Tatuus and the Korus group. “The T-421 is writing an important chapter in the history of our brand and, together with the first-generation car, is now approaching 800 units produced. These volumes allow us to aim toward the milestone of 1,000 F4 single-seaters, a figure previously approached by the various Formula Renault models that marked a turning point in our history and in the development path of many drivers.”
As the second generation of Formula 4 single-seaters, the T-421 succeeded the T-014, which from 2014—the year Formula 4 was introduced—through 2021 was produced in just under 300 units. It represented the ideal platform for drivers transitioning from karting to single-seaters, and helped develop talents such as Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Franco Colapinto.
The T-421 is just one of many examples of the cooperation that makes the Korus group one of the leading global ecosystems in motorsport engineering. The companies within the Group involved in the celebration have contributed to the project from day one, within a consolidated model of synergies that each year gives rise to new cars, powertrains, and solutions for motorsport.
Specifically, ATM–Autotecnica Motori developed and supplies the Abarth-derived inline four-cylinder engine that powers the car, while Breda Racing is responsible for a large portion of the components—such as the halo and suspension arms—as well as instrumentation required for managing the cars both on track and at HQ. Next Solution Technologies provides a significant part of the car’s electronic and electromechanical systems, in addition to supplying steering wheels and rain lights.
However, the milestone of 500 cars does not represent a finishing point for Tatuus. Production of the current model will continue through 2028 , when FIA regulations foresee the introduction of the third-generation car , on which the brands of the Korus Group are already actively working.

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News
The collaboration between Tatuus and TGRNZ continues: from 2027, the T-326 will join the grid in the CT FROT.
The collaboration between Tatuus and TGRNZ continues: from 2027, the T-326 will join the grid in the CT FROT.

The new generation of Formula Regional also arrives in the Oceania racing landscape.
The Formula Regional supply landscape under Tatuus continues to expand, with Oceania set to adopt the new-generation T-326 . This move completes and strengthens the global transition to the Gen 2 car, consolidating a unified technical pathway at international level. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand has confirmed that the Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy will adopt a new second-generation Formula Regional car starting from 2027, marking a key step in the evolution of the championship and in its role within the international single-seater ladder. The series will replace its current fleet of Toyota FT-60 cars, in use since 2020, with a new package based on the Tatuus T-326 chassis. The project continues the long-standing collaboration between TGRNZ and Tatuus, confirming a shared commitment to developing drivers, performance and technology through motorsport. The new car is aligned with FIA Formula Regional Gen 2 standards and is powered by an evolution of the 2.0-litre turbocharged 8AR-FTS engine already used in the championship. The unit delivers approximately 280 horsepower, combining performance, efficiency and reliability. The overall package meets the latest targets in terms of performance, efficiency and sustainability, while keeping driver development at its core. The push-to-pass system, introduced in 2026, remains an integral part of the car, further enhancing race dynamics. Pirelli continues as the official tyre supplier in line with international Formula Regional regulations.
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Event
The First Korus Values Day Hosted at Tatuus HQ
The First Korus Values Day Hosted at Tatuus HQ

For the first time, representatives from across the Korus companies came together for a day dedicated to the Group’s shared values.
A day of networking and shared culture marked the first true moment of connection and interaction among employees from all Korus companies . The Korus Values Day took place on Tuesday, March 3, at the Tatuus HQ.
More than 60 employees attended, representing Tatuus, ATM, Breda Racing, YCOM, Next Solution Technologies, Birelart, Kart Republic and IAME . The event offered an opportunity to connect , exchange perspectives and engage in a series of activities opened by an introductory speech from Korus CEO Giovanni Delfino . In his address, Delfino reflected on the origins and development of the Group , while highlighting the deeper meaning of its core values , Passion , Team Spirit and Excellence , which make “Korus companies a tangible demonstration of how strong and influential Italy remains within the global motorsport landscape . ”
Among the distinctive characteristics of the Group, the CEO underlined its customer-centric approach:“A shared trait across all our companies, a true added value and winning factor, reflected in our practical ability to solve problems with openness and a spirit of service, both toward our end customers and toward our colleagues .” He also emphasised the Group’s “unique capability to create projects from scratch, transforming a blank sheet of paper into a finished product through coordinated, collective efforts across multiple companies .”
Another key pillar of the Korus culture is its focus on employee well-being :
“We place great importance on ensuring that every talent can thrive in the best possible environment and with the best tools, while also nurturing the values and personal relationships outside professional life that contribute to happiness and positively influence our approach to work. ”
Throughout the day, employees from the eight companies took part in workshops and discussion sessions alongside Group management, exploring the practical meaning of Korus’ three core values and reflecting on how they permeate daily operations across different business areas and roles, all equally represented during the event.
The Tatuus HQ showroom provided the ideal setting for a business lunch, with tables arranged among the Group’s cars and products. The focus then shifted to karting, a sector that, from 2025 onward, uniquely characterises the Korus Group. An in-depth session explored the distinctive features of the karting world and the “Korus Kart ” companies, before the day concluded with a special hands-on experience aboard Birel karts.
The first edition of the Korus Values Day once again demonstrated the strong team spirit that defines the Korus Group , as well as the uniqueness of eight elite Italian motorsport companies united by a shared vision and passion, a commitment that takes them to racetracks around the world every single day .

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