Charlie Wurz, driving for M2 Competition, claimed the drivers' championship title in the final race of the season.
All drivers competed with identical Tatuus FT-60 chassis cars powered by 2.0L turbocharged Toyota engines.
[25][26] As New Zealand's border restrictions were eased in late 2022, the 2023 season saw the return of a pre-pandemic calendar, with rounds on both the North and the South Island.
[28] The round at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park was later confirmed to become the 67th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix.
[29] The first weekend of the freshly rebranded Formula Regional Oceania Championship was held at Highlands Motorsport Park.
Race two was held on a damp track, and Quinn overtook polesitter Shehan for the lead at the start.
In these conditions, Hedge was the class of the field, rising from seventh to the lead in just one lap to take a sudden and unexpected win.
One of the new arrivals, reigning Indy Pro 2000 champion Louis Foster, made his mark straightaway: He qualified second, kept behind polesitter Wurz at the start of a wet first race, used a safety car restart to get past Wurz into the lead and won the race.
Foster was then once again the fastest car on track for the second race, starting seventh and quickly climbing up the grid.
The front row of race one was shared by debutant Laurens van Hoepen and returnee Kaleb Ngatoa, with the former on pole, but the latter ahead by turn one.
Foster reduced his lead in the closing stages of the race, but van Hoepen held on to win the New Zealand Grand Prix.
The reversed-grid race two saw Chloe Chambers lead the field lights-to-flag to become the first female driver to win in the history of New Zealand's premier open-wheel motorsport category.
Further ahead, Wurz held on to win the race and the championship, as Hedge only managed to come home fourth.
Still, Wurz and Hedge had to beat each other, often facing off directly against one another and delivering a close, unpredictable championship fight until the last race.