Christian Mansell wins 2024 Tasman Cup

Australian driver Christian Mansell has won the 2024 Tasman Cup after being the highest-placed Antipodean driver in the first two rounds of the 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

The prestigious Tasman Cup, first awarded in 1974, was announced as part of the trophy lineup for the 2024 Formula Regional Oceania Championship earlier this month. With a combined seven Australian and New Zealand drivers, the spirit of the long-running trophy was able to continue and forge a new chapter thanks to its joint custodians MotorSport New Zealand and Motorsport Australia.

Mansell was left playing catch-up in the points tally after the opening round at Taupo International Motorsport Park. Despite collecting two second-placings, a DNF result in race two gave the points advantage to New Zealander Liam Sceats.

A fifth-place finish in the Saturday race of the second round at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon further increased Mansell’s deficit to Sceats. A breakthrough race victory in the second race of the weekend saw Mansell get ahead of Sceats in the points heading into the final race, where he again out-placed his rival with a second place to secure the 2024 Tasman Cup.

“It feels good to have won the Tasman Cup. It’s cool to set a goal and then accomplish it, as well as being a nice thing to go on the CV,” Mansell said.

“A big thanks to the guys and girls at Giles Motorsport – they were amazing, and I really enjoyed working with them, as well as my main sponsor Castrol for setting up the program.

MotorSport New Zealand CEO Elton Goonan, was pleased to see a new era of the Tasman Cup begin with the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

“Congratulations to Christian and his team,” said MotorSport New Zealand CEO Elton Goonan.

“It’s been great to highlight the special relationship that is shared between New Zealand and Australia, especially our famed sporting rivalry.

“I’m very pleased to see this new era of the Tasman Cup, Christian sits in some very good company having his name etched on the trophy and I wish him all the best this season and beyond.”

Gonan’s comments were echoed by his Motorsport Australia counterpart, Sunil Vohra.

“Well done to Christian and his entire team,” Vohra said.

“Winning the Tasman Cup is a terrific feat and one that we know he will remember for the rest of his career. Christian certainly has a promising future, and we can’t wait to see him competing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship again this year.

“The Tasman Cup is certainly one of the most prestigious pieces of silverware and we’re thrilled to see Christian’s name added to the trophy.”

The 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship resumes this weekend at Hampton Downs.