Rising Supercars star Ryan Wood has almost no open-wheel experience but is looking forward to contesting New Zealand’s most prestigious series in the category in January.

Known as the Toyota Racing Series for most of the past 20 years, the championship was rebranded to the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (FROC) at the end of 2022 and is now aligned with the FIA’s Formula Regional series around the world.

The entry list for 2026 has not been finalised but one driver of note is Wood. The 21-year-old Kiwi is having a standout year in the tin tops, sitting 10th in the championship with one win and three poles.

Wood is looking forward to following in the footsteps of fellow Supercars drivers Broc Feeney and Will Brown, who both raced in FROC this year.

“I’ve always been eager to compete in the Toyota FR Trophy series ever since I first watched it in 2014,” said Wood.

“We came really close in 2021 before Covid, so it’s awesome to finally get a deal done this year with great backing from the Tony Quinn Foundation and so many others.

“Driving the FT-60 will be a whole new experience — I’ve only driven an open-wheeler twice before — so learning something new will really help me in Supercars.

“To be competing in the New Zealand Grand Prix is a real bucket-list race for me. I never thought I’d get the opportunity, so it’s super special to be racing in New Zealand’s most iconic event.”

Rumour has it that two-time World Rally Championship winner Kalle Rovanpera may be contesting the series as a stepping stone to racing in the Japanese Super Formula in 2026, then Formula 2 in 2027 and potentially F1 in 2028.

Next year, the format switches from a five-weekend championship to four weekends to avoid clashes with Northern Hemisphere testing in IndyNXT and European junior formula.

Aside from the New Zealand Grand Prix weekend, there will be four races per weekend, with qualifying and two races each Saturday and Sunday.

The first three races of each weekend will be 70km, while the longer feature races on Sunday afternoons will be 90km.

These are the races that will decide the series’ famous trophies, including the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy, Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy and Spirit of a Nation Cup.

The NZGP has an unchanged format that includes Grand Prix-type qualifying, with two knockout sessions and a final shootout for the top 10 grid spots. A new push-to-pass system will also be introduced on the FT60 cars for next year, providing an additional 25 horsepower.

The 2026 championship also welcomes two new teams. Top United States racing team HMD Motorsport will join forces with TJ Speed Motorsports to field a three-car line-up.

HMD has campaigned in Indy Lights, IndyNXT and IndyCar, and main game drivers Santino Ferrucci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jacob Abel, Louis Foster, Robert Schwartzman and Kiwi Marcus Armstrong are all FROC graduates.

One of the best-known international single-seater motorsport teams, Hitech, confirmed earlier this year it will field a three-car team. The European-based outfit also contests the FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3, GB3, British Formula 4, Formula Winter Series and F1 Academy.

It also has a formidable list of former drivers, including George Russell, Alex Palou, Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Juri Vips, Armstrong and Kiwi Liam Lawson.