Kaleb Ngatoa (born 11 May 2001), is a New Zealand Māori motor racing driver.

Kaleb Ngatoa
Kaleb Ngatoa moments before the 66th New Zealand Grand Prix
NationalityNew Zealand New Zealander
Born (2001-05-11) 11 May 2001 (age 23)
Marton, New Zealand
S5000 Australian Drivers Championship career
Debut season2021
Current teamTeam BRM
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number15
Starts11
Wins2
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish1st in 2021
Previous series
2021
2019-2020
2018-19
2017-18
Toyota Racing Series
New Zealand Formula Ford Championship
Toyota Finance 86 Championship
New Zealand Formula First Championship

Career

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Before his switch to car racing, Ngatoa was one of the country's most successful karting talents. He started karting in 2011 and immediately shot to prominence by winning the cadet class of the NZ CIK Trophy. Two seasons later he was on the top step of the championship podium again winning the 100cc Junior Restricted Class of the Kartsport NZ North Island Sprint Championship. 2015 saw him claim the Kartsport NZ North Island Sprint Championship in the Rotax Junior class. 2016 followed where he won the Giltrap Group Kartsport NZ Sprint Championship in the Junior Rotax class and demonstrated a seamless transition to circuit racing in the same year by winning the Formula First winter series run at Circuit Chris Amon, Manfeild.

Ngatoa would enter his first car racing national championship racing in the New Zealand Formula First Championship in 2017. Ngatoa finished runner-up to Callum Crawley in a tight championship fight decided in the final round. The following year, he would contend the Toyota Finance 86 Championship, with modest results, picking up a race win at the final round at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.[1] Following a challenging Toyota Finance 86 Championship campaign filled with multiple mechanical issues, Ngatoa moved into the highly competitive New Zealand Formula Ford Championship for the 2019/20 season. Ngatoa again struggled with car reliability and mechanical issues, though picked up top 5 and podium results.

Following the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, Ngatoa would contend the Toyota Racing Series for the 2021 season. The series proved as a stomping ground for the Marton teen, picking up 3 podiums in 9 races. Ngatoa's main season highlight would prove to be his masterful pole position for the 2021 New Zealand Grand Prix in the wet, against the likes of Shane van Gisbergen and Chris van der Drift.[2] Ngatoa would go on to claim second in the championship behind Matthew Payne.[3] Following this, Ngatoa secured a drive in the S5000 Australian Drivers Championship for the remaining 3 rounds in 2021. [4]

Racing record

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Karting career

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Karting career summary

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Season Series Position
2010 CIK Trophy of New Zealand - Cadet 4th
Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Cadet 19th
2011 CIK Trophy of New Zealand - Cadet 1st
Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - Cadet 4th
Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Cadet 14th
43rd Blossom Festival - Cadet 14th
2012 CIK Trophy of New Zealand - Cadet 2nd
Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - Cadet 2nd
Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Cadet 19th
Kartsport New Zealand North Island Sprint Championship - Junior Restricted 4th
2013 New Zealand Top Half Series - Junior Restricted 12th
Kartsport New Zealand North Island Championship - Junior Restricted 1st
Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Junior Restricted 2nd
2014 Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha 6th
Kartsport New Zealand North Island Sprint Championship - Rotex Max Junior 9th
46th Blossom Festival - Rotex Max Junior 2nd
Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - Formula Junior 7th
Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - Junior Rotax 11th
2015 Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Rotex Max Junior 4th
Kartsport New Zealand North Island Sprint Championship - Rotex Max Junior 1st
Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha 4th
2016 Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Rotex Max Junior 1st
Rotax Max Challenge New Zealand National Sprint Championship - Junior 17th
Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - Formula Junior 1st
Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - 100cc Junior Yamaha 8th
2017 Kartsport New Zealand National Schools Championship - Rotex Light 2nd
2022 Kartsport Auckland City of Sails - Vortex Rok DVS Senior 2nd
CIK Trophy of New Zealand - Vortex Rok DVS Senior 9th

Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F. Laps Podiums Points Position
2016 Formula First Manfeild Winter Series Kaleb Ngatoa Motorsport 12 1 2 3 9 712 1st
2016-17 New Zealand Formula First Championship 24 0 0 1 1 956 7th
2017 Formula First Manfeild Winter Series 3 0 0 0 3 194 10th
2017-18 New Zealand Formula First Championship 24 6 1 1 15 1381 2nd
2018-19 Toyota Finance 86 Championship 18 1 0 2 4 781 7th
2019 New Zealand Formula First 1 Hour Thomas Boniface Racing 1 1 0 0 0 N/A 1st
Formula Ford Manfeild Winter Series Kaleb Ngatoa Motorsport 6 1 0 2 2 336 5th
2019-20 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship 13 0 0 0 3 511 7th
2020 Formula Ford Manfeild Winter Series 5 0 0 0 3 288 6th
2021 Toyota Racing Series M2 Competition 9 0 1 0 3 229 2nd
S5000 Australian Drivers Championship Team BRM 9 2 0 1 3 161 9th
Formula Regional Americas Championship Kiwi Motorsport 3 0 0 0 0 24 17th
2022 S5000 Australian Drivers Championship Team BRM 12 1 0 0 1 177 8th
Aussie Racing Car Series Local Legends Racing 4 0 0 0 0 33 35th
2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship Giles Motorsport 6 1 0 1 2 115 14th
Formula Regional Japanese Championship Sutekina Racing Team 2 0 0 0 0 6 24th
S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship 88Racing 3 0 0 0 0 40 18th
S5000 Tasman Series 3 0 0 0 0 40 9th
2024 Formula Regional Oceania Championship Giles Motorsport 12 1 0 1 2 205 6th

* Season still in progress.

Complete New Zealand Grand Prix results

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Year Team Car Qualifying Main race
2021   M2 Competition Tatuus FT-60 - Toyota 1st 4th
2023   Giles Motorsport Tatuus FT-60 - Toyota 3rd 5th
2024   Giles Motorsport Tatuus FT-60 - Toyota 7th WD

Complete S5000 results

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Year Series Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Position Points
2021 Australian Team BRM SYM
R1
SYM
R2
SYM
R3
PHI
R4

10
PHI
R5

Ret
PHI
R6

8
SAN
R7

3
SAN
R8

1
SAN
R9

DNS
SMP
R10

7
SMP
R11

1
SMP
R12

7
9th 161
2022 Australian SYM
R1

9
SYM
R2

5
SYM
R3

7
PHI
R4

8
PHI
R5

7
PHI
R6

6
MEL
R7

7
MEL
R8

4
MEL
R9

10
SMP
R10

SMP
R11

SMP
R12

HID
R13

8
HID
R14

1
HID
R15

Ret
8th 177
2023 Tasman 88Racing ADL
R16

5
ADL
R17

5
ADL
R18

Ret
9th 40

* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Regional Oceania Championship Results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points
2023 Giles Motorsport HIG
1
HIG
2
HIG
3
TER
1
TER
2
TER
3
MAN
1
MAN
2
MAN
3
HMP
1

1
HMP
2

13
HMP
3

5
TAU
1

6
TAU
2

2
TAU
3

9
14th 115
2024 Giles Motorsport TAU
1

4
TAU
2

14
TAU
3

7
MAN
1

4
MAN
2

2
MAN
3

5
HMP
1

16
HMP
2

7
HMP
3

1
CHR
1

4
CHR
2

5
CHR
3

10
HIG
1

WD
HIG
2

WD
HIG
3

WD
7th 205

Complete Formula Regional Japanese Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points
2023 Sutekina Racing Team FUJ1
1
FUJ1
2
FUJ1
3
SUZ
1

4
SUZ
2

Ret
OKA
1
OKA
2
OKA
3
MOT
1
MOT
2
MOT
3
FUJ2
1
FUJ2
2
SUG
1
SUG
2
SUG
3
24th 6

References

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  1. ^ "Motorsport: Marton's Kaleb Ngatoa earns first Toyota 86 Championship race win at Hampton Downs". 11 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Nineteen-year-old rookie Kaleb Ngatoa stuns with NZ Grand Prix pole position". 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Kaleb Ngatoa finishes second in maiden Toyota Racing Series". 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Nervous wait for young Kiwi ahead of S5000 debut". 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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