Rising star Nikita Johnson climbs to second in Formula Regional series

Nikita Johnson. Photo / Toyota Racing

The car is unlike anything he’s driven before but rising American motorsport star Nikita Johnson is happy to be contesting the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (Froc, formerly the Toyota Racing Series).

He reckons he’s gaining valuable seat time and experience, racing 15 times on five tracks over five consecutive weekends.

“It’s one of the best winter series,” Johnson said. “It’s because all the cars are owned by Toyota and they’re very similar. It’s very even and five weeks of just having a lot of fun and doing a lot of miles.

“The talent in the field is very strong, and we have so many good drivers coming from higher classes, or drivers moving up from other classes. It’s amazing to be racing drivers with more experience because it allows me to learn more.”

The 16-year-old from St Petersburg in Florida has improved over the first three rounds. At Manfeild last weekend, he finished second to series leader Arvid Lindblad in all three races to jump to second overall in the championship.

Heading to Teretonga in Invercargill this weekend, Lindblad is on 236 points, followed by Johnson (196), top Kiwi Zack Scoular (191), American Josh Pierson (167) and Australian Patrick Heuzenroeder (165).

Johnson has most recently been competing in the GB3 championship, albeit a truncated season finishing 11th, including two victories. Before that, he became the only driver to win in all three categories of the USF Pro Championships.

The Froc car is different to what he has raced previously and Johnson is pleased at the way he’s adapting, getting more out of the car each round.

“I have a lot more trust every time I get in the car now. I’d never driven this car before that first weekend here [in New Zealand], so it took some learning on my side, and then I had to get to know the engineers and rest of the team.

“I think that’s the same for most of the drivers here and it’s challenging to go to a new team with new engineers, so it definitely took a little bit of work.

“This car has a little bit more horsepower, so I have to worry about traction, how easy or hard I can use my right foot, and the car is a bit heavier, too.

“Once it starts sliding or has a little bit of understeer, it kind of stays that way compared to the GB3 car I’ve driven that’s very lightweight with less horsepower.

“Once it’s in a slide, you kind of just turn it and put your foot on the throttle and it just settles down, you get the rear of the car down and it just grips up. This car is a bit different and needs a different driving style.”

The series visits contrasting tracks from the more modern Hampton Downs and Highlands Motorsport Park to the old-school narrow and unforgiving circuits of Teretonga, Taupō and Manfeild.

The different tracks mean the drivers have to be adaptable and aware that the slightest mistake can result in slipping down the field, or a wrecked car.

“It [Teretonga] is very skinny, like some of the older English tracks I’ve been on. There are only seven corners and it’s a very flowy track where once you lose momentum, you’ve kind of ruined your lap.

“It’s all about momentum and you just have to keep your speed up and you can’t make any mistakes because if you make one-tenth or two-tenths of a mistake, you go from being in P1 maybe to outside the top six.”

Johnson has been recently confirmed in a limited number of Indy NXT races (one down from IndyCar) alongside his assault on the GB3 championship.