Christian Mansell has had a strong start to the 2024 Formula Regional Oceania Championship season, finishing the opening round in third place overall.

One of three Aussies contesting the event at Taupo International Motorsport Park, the New South Welshman was one of the strongest performers across the round – finishing with two pole positions and two podiums.

Not only did Mansell finish the event in third place on the overall standings, but he also finished the weekend in second place for the returning Tasman Cup, which takes place over two rounds. 

Right from the get-go, Mansell was showing the pace and picked up pole position on Saturday morning by more than seven tenths before dropping behind Roman Bilinski during the first 18-lap outing.

A second pole position on Sunday morning was spoiled by a DNF after 16 laps during the middle race of the weekend.

Mansell bounced back in the final race though with his second runner-up finish and the fastest lap. Despite the strong performance, he was unable to hold off a rampaging Bilinski in the final stages of the race after the Polish driver climbed from fourth to pip Mansell by half a second.

Sceats finished behind Mansell in the last race of the weekend – helping him leapfrog the Aussie for top spot by just one point in the Tasman Cup due to the race two retirement.

Other Australians contesting the round were FIA Formula 3 Championship driver Tommy Smith and Elliot Cleary – both of whom ended the round ninth and 10th respectively. 

While Clearly finished every race inside the top 10 with his best finish being eighth overall, Smith had two better results with seventh in the opener and sixth in the second race.

The Championship continues this weekend at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon.

In the United Arab Emirates, six Aussies contesting the Formula Regional Middle East Championship and Formula 4 UAE Championship all faced challenging weekends.

James Wharton picked up the best results of the weekend, with two top five finishes across Formula Regional’s three races.  
A tough qualifying meant he had lots of work to do in the opening, but the Victorian delivered a six-place charge to fifth place after starting from P11 before an unfortunate collision with teammate Ugo Ugochukwu in race two saw both drivers DNF.

In the final race, Wharton secured another top five finish but lost ground to his rivals during the 14 laps after starting from P3.

Fellow Aussie Costa Toparis topped the timesheets in practice but couldn’t continue his pace when it mattered, qualifying in 13th and 15th, which ultimately prevented him from scoring good results.

In the end, the Evans GP driver racked up a 14th and 18th in the opening two races before retiring midway through the final race of the round.

In UAE F4, Queenslander Jack Beeton was the strongest of the four Aussie teenagers after finishing 17th on twice occasions before a DNF in the final race.

AGI Sport teammates Peter Bouzinelos and Nicholas Stati also had a challenging run, with the former picking up a P20 either side of a DNF, while Stati finished in the same position in race two.

The final Aussie, Kamal Mrad also had a challenging run with his best result being the first with P18.

All six drivers will have a weekend off before both the Formula Regional Middle East Championship and Formula 4 UAE Championship resume on 3-4 February at the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai.