Son of Formula 1 driver wins NZ motorsport title

Monday, 13 February 2023

Charlie Wurz (centre) celebrates his third championship in a formula car, next to Laurens van Hoepen (left) and James Penrose (right).

Austria’s Charlie Wurz has won the 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship title, sealing the win by winning the final race of the season at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupō.

Son of former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz, Charlie Wurz becomes the first Austrian driver to win the New Zealand championship – following in the footsteps of the likes of F1 regulars Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.

Wurz’s final win didn’t come easy, with a late safety car and rain shower threatening to force a mistake.

Entering the fifth and final round of the season, Wurz held a narrow championship lead.

This was surrendered following Saturday’s opening race, with Wurz having to settle for fifth as his closest championship rival, Auckland’s Callum Hedge, took victory, ahead of Louis Foster and Laurens van Hoepen.

* Dutch teenager steals New Zealand Grand Prix victory

Wurz spent most of the final race of the season fending off van Hoepen.

* One of NZ's biggest sporting trophies also one of the most forgotten

* Kiwi Penrose wins feature race at Super Sprint weekend

Series runner-up Hedge now prepares for another season in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia in 2023.

This swung momentum in the New Zealander’s favour, only for Wurz to take back the top spot after claiming third in the second race of the weekend behind Kaleb Ngatoa (Marton), and winner Chloe Chambers (USA); Chambers becoming the first woman to win a race in the Toyota series, and to win in a FIA Formula Regional series of any kind.

Entering the final race of the year, it effectively ensured a winner-take-all scenario, with 17-year-old Wurz and 19-year-old Hedge needing to beat the other to take the crown and the precious 18 FIA Super License Points that go with it.

Starting the finale from pole, Wurz led off the start – the mission being to simply stay there. For several moments, it looked like the chasing van Hoepen could spoil the party, with the two almost making contact on several occasions while they fought, but Wurz held strong.

Hedge, meanwhile, started from fifth on the grid. Passing Ngatoa, early, it took him several laps to get onto the back of the third-placed Liam Sceats (Auckland). With Sceats getting a penalty for jumping the start, Hedge sat an effective third with the end of the feature race in sight.

The stranded, spun car of Adam Fitzgerald (Ireland) then caused a safety car in the dying laps. Combined with the arrival of showers, it made for a tense grandstand finish, with Hedge doing all he could to get around van Hoepen in the hopes of somehow stealing the lead.

However, no fairy tale would materialise. Wurz won having withstood the pressure, with barely a few car lengths separating the podium finishers. He ended up claiming the championship by a mere 14 points.

Van Hoepen took second, with Hedge actually losing the last step on the podium to fellow Kiwi James Penrose after the Castrol scholarship driver made a sublime restart. Hedge instead finished fourth, heading Sceats, Jacob Abel (US), Tom McLennan (Australia), Chambers, Ngatoa, and David Morales in 10th.

“I can’t feel any better. I mean that race was the most difficult to win of this championship for me because it started raining a lot, I was so afraid of going off and I had to keep Laurens [van Hoepen] behind me,” said Wurz.

“Luckily I got a bit of a gap and could relax a bit but then the Safety Car came out and I thought ‘Oh no’ so I had to get it all right in the restart but fortunately it was OK. This gives me a lot of confidence going into Europe. I know the competition is tough over there but it has been strong here. I’ve learned a lot about racing in New Zealand,” he added.

Wurz is not the only driver to have earned some Super License Points towards aspirations of F1, IndyCar, Supercars, and more, with points awarded down to ninth place in the standings.

Wurz is now set to take part in the Formula Regional European Championship for one of the category’s most decorated teams, ART Grand Prix. Ironically, sparring partner van Hoepen will be one of his team mates.