Motor Sport
Invercargill driver Alex Crosbie in his Castrol Toyota FT-60 recorded three tenth place finishes during Round 4 of the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (CTFROC) at his home circuit, Teretonga Park in Invercargill, this weekend.
In two of the three races he made up positions from his qualifying spot while in the feature race of the weekend, the Spirit Of A Nation Cup race, he recorded the fifth fastest lap of the race.
Crosbie qualified his Castrol Toyota FT-60 twelfth to establish the start order for Saturday’s first race of the round. As it has been throughout the series it was close, with the first twelve cars within .803 of a second of each other.
In the race later that afternoon Crosbie gained a place off the start line and ran eleventh initially. He gained another spot when Michael Shin of South Korea went off the circuit later in the race. That elevated him to tenth place but the Safety Car appeared due to the incident and then the red flag was shown. As 75% of the distance had been run the race was declared with Crosbie in tenth place.
The following morning, the first order of business was qualifying for the feature race of the weekend, the Spirit Of A Nation Cup race, the finale of the round. Once again Crosbie set the twelfth best time to establish the start order for that race.
Before the feature event, the second race of the round was held and Crosbie started tenth due to his placing in Saturday’s race. Again, he got a good start to pass team mate Tommy Smith, only for an incident elsewhere in the field to result in a safety car which then led to a red flag. At the restart Crosbie got away ninth but after two laps the safety car reappeared. Crosbie was ninth at the restart but shortly after Michael Shin passed him to leave him tenth at the finish.
Crosbie was twelfth on the grid for the Spirit Of A Nation feature race and again he gained a place off the start and another around the loop on the opening lap. He crossed the line at the end of lap one in tenth. Another safety car period followed in what was an incident packed weekend for the category and Crosbie resumed racing in tenth. Later in the race he dropped a spot to Shawn Rashid of the United States before regaining the spot later in the race to bank his third tenth place finish of the weekend.
Summing up Alex said, “I had no major dramas through the weekend, I just need to push the tyre to the limit in qualifying. In each race I made positions off the start and in the feature race I recorded the fifth fastest lap. We had the pace but qualifying needs to be better.”
The next round of the championship is at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell next weekend with the New Zealand Grand Prix the feature event of the round.
Crosbie is looking forward to the challenge. “I haven’t been there since last year’s series but we had good pace there last year.”
Support for Alex Crosbie’s campaign in the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship comes from Castrol, Stresscrete Southland, the Peter H McMillan Legacy Fund, Kiwi Skips, Invercargill Hose and Hydraulics, Kiwi Driver Fund and Golden Homes in the Southern Lakes.
2025 CASTROL TOYOTA FORMULA REGIONAL OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIP
10-12 January: Taupō International Motorsport Park, Taupō`
17-19 January: Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, North Waikato
24-26 January: Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding
31 January-2 February: Teretonga Park, Invercargill
7-9 February: Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell