Get To Know My Competition as I take on New Zealand!
I am excited to announce my plans for the start of 2026! I'm about to embark on the biggest challenge of my racing career. At seventeen years old, fresh off winning the 2025 Formula 4 United States Championship, I'm stepping up to Formula Regional for the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.
My press release talks about winning the US F4 championship and setting a record with nine consecutive wins in my rookie year with Kiwi Motorsport, and it says that makes me someone to watch. Looking at the grid, I’m excited to compare myself against some very talented drivers, and look forward to a lot of learning. I'm lining up against F3 drivers, IndyNXT veterans, and a two-time World Rally Champion plus an emerging Supercars star making their single-seater debuts. This is not only a step up from F4 to Formula Regional, but an opportunity to test myself against some of the best emerging talent in the world.
I'm training, studying film, and learning tracks with Driven DynamiX, all in an effort to be as prepared as possible prior to my trip to New Zealand. I'm prepared, focused, and committed to executing at the highest level I can every time I get in the car. While I am excited for the chance to learn from and compare myself to these great talents, I’m also excited to show my talent and compete at the highest level.
Thanks to Toyota's support of the series, the currency exchange, and how this championship series is structured, I am able to get some extremely high level racing in during the pre season instead of a winter testing program in the US, which allows me to sharpen my skills in a race weekend environment and wheel to wheel situations.
Over the next week or so, I’ll be releasing some background on the drivers I'm racing against below. I want to share who these competitors are, and what has brought them to where they are.
Starting at Hampton Downs on January 9–11, then Taupō, Teretonga, and finally the iconic 70th New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands—four weekends that will define my career trajectory. The Tatuus FT-60 is a beast compared to anything I've driven, and New Zealand's circuits are legendary for being unforgiving.
But that's exactly why I'm here, to learn and grow my skills as a driver and improve my prospects for success in my racing career. Connect with me:
Instagram: @coopershipmanracing
Feature 1: Yevan David
Team: Kiwi Motorsport
Age: 18
Nationality: Sri Lankan (raised in Singapore)
2026 Plans: FIA Formula 3 with AIX Racing
My teammate at Kiwi Motorsport for the 2026 CTFROT will be Yevan David. In the 2025 Euroformula Open Championship, Yevan secured the overall runner-up position and clinched the Rookie Championship title, becoming the first Sri Lankan driver to achieve both milestones in the series' history. His season included six victories and consistent front-running results against deep competition across one of Europe's premier single-seater series. Euroformula Open runs the Dallara 320 chassis that defined European F3 for years.
Yevan began competing in karting in Singapore at seven years old. He represented Sri Lanka at the FIA Motorsport Games, taking pole position in the F4 race. From his early success in karting to his breakout European season, his trajectory reflects discipline, resilience, and technical growth.
Yevan is also making history here—he's the first Sri Lankan driver ever to compete in New Zealand's premier single-seater championship. Representing your country at this level, opening doors for drivers who come after you, takes a certain kind of mindset.
Being paired with Yevan inside Kiwi Motorsport will be an exciting partnership as we work to calibrate feedback and iterate setups efficiently. Yevan brings a full season of higher-downforce experience from Euroformula that I can learn from directly. We will look to work together to give the engineers productive feedback and improve the performance of the team.
Connect with Yevan: Instagram: @yevandavidofficial