The Finnish star, who is at the early stages of his formula racing career, gained experience across all four races at Taupo Motorsport Park. Rovanperä’s best result of the weekend was tenth place in the second race on Saturday.
In Sunday’s opening race, Rovanperä finished 14th, but in the main race of the weekend he was once again able to fight for a place inside the top ten.
Rovanperä started the 23-lap race from 15th on the grid. His position improved by a couple of places in the opening half of the race when two rivals ran off the circuit.
Midway through the race, there was a collision ahead of Rovanperä, and suddenly he found himself battling for tenth place. The safety car then bunched up the field for three laps, and at the same time the two-time world rally champion received an important lesson.
Rovanperä was not fully alert when the safety car left the track. Ernesto Rivera and Sebastian Manson slipped past the Finn, dropping him to 12th place.
However, Rovanperä improved his position by one place on the penultimate lap with a fine overtake on Manson, securing 11th place at the finish.
Rovanperä’s final classification could still improve by a couple of positions, as Yevan David and Jack Taylor are facing potential time penalties.
Victory in the main race went to New Zealand’s Ryan Wood, with Kanato Le finishing second and Louis Sharp third. Wood claimed two wins from the weekend’s four races. Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu of the United States finished fourth in Sunday’s final race.
The Formula Regional Oceania continues next weekend at the Teretonga circuit.
