FROT – Highlands: Rovanperä withdraws from the start of the weekend, Slater returns to the title race

A far cry from the torrential rain experienced at Teretonga last week, on the southernmost circuit in the world, Highlands offered drivers dry and sunny conditions to kick off this new weekend. Before the three races scheduled for this final round of the Formula Regional Oceania championship began, a fourth race, specifically Race 3, which was cancelled last week, was held to start the action. In this race, Freddie Slater dominated. Starting from pole position, he was slightly worried at the start before quickly pulling away in the opening minutes. The Briton demonstrated much greater precision than in the earlier rounds of the championship. With metronomic precision, he crossed the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu, the current championship leader.

Unfortunately for Kalle Rovanperä, the exponential learning curve he had experienced so far couldn't continue on Friday. Ill and forced to withdraw from all three free practice sessions as well as the rescheduled race that was ultimately run, the Finn is expected to be fit to return to the grid on Saturday. Within reach of a top-10 finish, the world champion WRC could well begin his adventure in car by a flattering ranking in the Formula Regional Oceania championship, provided that he reproduces his performance from Taupo, notably crowned by a podium in race 1.

ALSO READ > FROT – Teretonga: Slater breaks down Ugochukwu, Rovanperä completes his best weekend

In the overall standings, there are now only 18 points separating Ugo Ugochukwu, the leader, from Freddie Slater, his pursuer. Last year, the British rider finished his FRMET (Middle East) season in second place, behind Frenchman Evan Giltaire. Dominant in FRECA afterward, will he be able to seize the winter trophy this time before his season? F3 The answer will come throughout the weekend, particularly after the qualifying sessions scheduled for Friday night/Saturday morning, French time.