Cooper Shipman produced one of his most complete performances of the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy (CTFROT) season by finishing sixth in Race 1 at Teretonga Park. Starting from ninth on the grid after qualifying, the Kiwi Motorsport driver steadily worked his way forward in difficult, rain-soaked conditions that rewarded patience, preparation and confidence behind the wheel.
As heavy rain shaped both qualifying and racing throughout Round 3, Shipman stood out as one of the strongest drivers in the midfield. His P6 result not only marked a solid points finish but also reflected his continued adaptation to Formula Regional machinery during his first full season at this level.
Team preparation makes the difference in the wet
Although American drivers often arrive in New Zealand with limited wet-weather experience, Shipman showed no hesitation in the slippery conditions at Teretonga. Instead, he delivered a controlled and measured drive that avoided mistakes while others struggled for grip.
He credited that performance to the work done behind the scenes by his team and engineers, saying: “Well, no, I appreciate that. Definitely don’t have as much wet running over in the States, but, you know, my team and engineers did a great job preparing me for the conditions, making sure that I knew what I had to do, and then, of course, putting a good car underneath me that I was able to drive within myself, drive within my limits and in my comfort, and that just allowed me to be consistent and, yeah, have a strong result.”
That consistency proved crucial in a race disrupted by safety cars and changing grip levels, allowing Shipman to focus on survival, tyre management and positioning rather than outright risk.
Shipman built Teretonga progress over three days during penultimate 2026 CTFROT round
Shipman’s Race 1 result represented the culmination of steady improvement across the entire Teretonga weekend. From the opening sessions, he showed increasing confidence as he learned how to extract performance from the car on a demanding circuit. When asked what had clicked for him at this venue, Shipman pointed directly to experience and adaptation.
“Honestly, I think it’s just been more time in the car, more than anything. This has been my first full championship in a Regionals car, so it’s a lot of adapting for my driving style and all my things I kind of had to unlearn from the F4 car that I drove this year.”
That transition from Formula 4 to Formula Regional machinery continued to shape his approach, particularly in how he managed braking, grip and corner entry in low-traction conditions. However, as the weekend progressed, Shipman’s increasing comfort became evident not only in lap times but also in racecraft. He grew more confident pushing closer to the limit while maintaining control, an approach that paid dividends in the wet.
He expanded on that development, saying: “So I think just the more laps I’ve done in the car, the more comfortable and the more natural it’s felt to drive it at the limit, and, yeah, we’ve seen that, especially this weekend. I’ve been a lot closer than I was in the first two runs, so we’ll hope to continue that for next round at the [New Zealand] Grand Prix and, yeah, go from there.”
That closeness to the front-running pace marked a clear step forward compared to the opening two rounds of the championship.
An honest reflection and eyes on improvement
Despite the positive result, Shipman remained realistic about where he stands within a highly competitive field. While the wet conditions played to his strengths at Teretonga, he acknowledged that there is still work to do, particularly in dry running.
Assessing his progress against the rest of the grid, he said, “Well, I definitely struggled a bit the first two weekends. I think the pace in the dry is still lacking a little bit, but we’re getting closer every time we go out. So, it was a great, great result getting up to that P6 in the wet here, but there’s still a lot of work to do, so we’re going to keep working at it.”
As the 2026 CTFROT championship moves on to the New Zealand Grand Prix, Shipman leaves Teretonga with renewed confidence, valuable experience and a clear understanding of the steps still required to push further up the order.
