Photo: Skip Barber Racing School

Ivan Machado Perez is champion of this year’s Skip Barber Formula Race Series, run by the racing school of the IndyCar-supporting USF Pro championships.

The Spaniard had an immense season as he transitioned from esports to real-world racing. It started on a high, and included an unbeaten run at Virginia International Raceway which extended to rounds at two other tracks.

VIR also hosted the penultimate round on August 27/28, and Machado Perez led Logan Anderson by 0.952 seconds in practice as the only driver to set a sub-two minute lap. In qualifying he improved to 1m58.766s, on pole by 1.675s over Alan Orzynski while Naim Saleh trailed by 2.699s in third.

That advantage continued into race one, as Machado Perez won by 6.873s to wrap up the crown with three races to spare. LaTourrette made his way from fifth into second for his first ever trip to the podium, and Saleh pipped Anderson to the final podium spot by just 0.046s.

Orzynski’s race did not go to plan and he ended up a lap down in sixth, but he bounced back in race two with his first win of 2025 after a run of podiums earlier in the season. LaTourrette finished second to be the event’s top scorer, holding off the inexperienced Robert Mosteller.

Machado Perez set the fastest lap by 2.318s but struck trouble and he finished sixth while Saheh retired nine laps in.

The season finale was at Laguna Seca on November 12/13, and Scott Pyle was quickest in the first practice session. Machado Perez moved ahead in the second, setting a 1m29.785s to lead Pyle by 0.953s. Nobody else appeared capable of a competitive pace, as proven in qualifying when Machado Perez’s last lap put him 2.44s clear at the top.

Pyle was again his closest rival, LaTourrette was 3.649s behind in third and Mosteller was fourth. Saleh was absent due to being injured in a crash while racing in Brazilian Formula 4 four days before, as was series runner-up Orzynski who was in the paddock’s minds as his father died on the morning the finale began.

Machado Perez was the fastest driver on track once again in race one, but an incident eliminated him and caused a caution period. Racing resumed with one lap remaining, and Pyle won a fight with LaTourrette to claim his maiden victory.

Canada’s Thaden Van Wong finished third, breaking the record previously held by 2009 Atlantics champion and former BMW factory driver John Edwards and then 2024 SBFRS champion Oliver Wheldon as the youngest ever podium finisher.

The track was soaking wet for the season-ending race two, and Machado Perez put in his best drive of the year to dominate with a pace advantage exceeding six seconds per lap. His title has not led to any prize, but he is eyeing USF Juniors for 2026.

Results round-up
VIR race 1 (11 laps)
1 Ivan Machado Perez 25m32.228s
2 Trevor LaTourrette +6.873s
3 Naim Saleh +9.209s
4 Logan Anderson +9.255s
5 Scott Pyle +10.899s
6 Alan Orzynski +1 lap
Ret Robert Mosteller
Pole: Machado Perez, 1m58.766s
Fastest lap: Machado Perez, 1m59.225s

VIR race 2 (13 laps)
1 Orzynski 26m28.229s
2 LaTourrette +0.655s
3 Mosteller +1.088s
4 Anderson +3.179s
5 Pyle +13.488s
6 Machado Perez +14.093s
Ret Saleh
FL: Machado Perez, 1m58.521s

Laguna Seca race 1 (15 laps)
1 Pyle 27m54.856s
2 LaTourrette +1.119s
3 Thaden Van Wong +6.598s
Ret Machado Perez
Ret Mosteller
DNS Anderson
P: Machado Perez, 1m29.178s
FL: Machado Perez, 1m29.121s

Laguna Seca race 2 (15 laps)
1 Machado Perez 25m14.226s
2 Pyle +1m36.317s
3 LaTourrette +1 lap
4 Mosteller +1 lap
5 Van Wong +1 lap
DNS Anderson
FL: Machado Perez, 1m39.443s

Championship standings
1 Machado Perez 478   2 Orzynski 407   3 Saleh 336   4 LaTourrette 325   5 Chris Spada 294   5 LaTourrette 263   6 Anderson 250   7 Pyle 223   8 Ethan Booher 178   9 John O’Donnell 158   10 Keagan Day 156

The post Machado Perez wins Skip Barber title as first step on road to IndyCar appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: US F4

Kiwi Motorsport’s Cooper Shipman became United States Formula 4 champion after winning both races at Virginia International Raceway on September 20/21.

Alex Popow pipped him to top spot in practice by 0.194 seconds, with Caleb Campbell 1.492s off the pace in third.

Shipman set the pace in qualifying by 0.519s over Popow, and Campbell stayed third but was now 1.687s behind. Kekai Hauanio and Demitri Nolan were marginally slower than him.

Shipman was unchallenged through race one. Hauanio squeezed into second on lap one, but Popow got back past at turn six on lap two. Shipman built a five-second lead before the pace car was called on lap 13 of 15 and the finishing order was all but settled.

Nolan and Clemente Huerta spent most of the race trading a very distant fifth place, and on lap 13 Huerta got past into turn one but spun out. Nolan was then penalised 30s for causing a collision, handing Oliver Savoie fifth.

Shipman’s fastest lap earned him race two pole, and Hauanio started lasted due to a parc ferme infringement. Campbell had an airborne incident by driving over the rear of Savoie’s car on the formation lap, so failed to start.

Hauanio ended up lining up sixth, but got a five-second penalty for weaving at the start, and dived down the inside into turn one for second place.

On lap two, Hauanio spun at turn 10 and Popow went off in avoidance. It promoted Luke Powers to second, but he trailed Shipman by 3.8s, and Hauanio ended the lap in fourth.

He reclaimed third as lap three began, but then Popow and Nolan overtook him on lap four. By the time Popow overtook Powers on lap six, Shipman was 10s clear and he continued to pull away for a dominant ninth win of 2025.

Powers held off Nolan until turn 14 on lap 10, then got back past and held off five more overtaking attempts until Nolan got him into Roller Coaster on the penultimate lap.

In the Ligier Junior Formula Championship for first-generation F4 cars, Harbir Dass was the practice pacesetter then Roman Felber was on top (and eighth overall) in qualifying before his laptimes were deleted due to a technical violation.

That made Drew Szuch fastest, with Alex Berg also losing all of his laps to a technical violation so Beckham Jacir was second on race one’s grid and 0.205s off pole. Three drivers copped grid penalties.

A standing start was used, and Jacir darted into the lead off the line. Szuch reclaimed first place in sector one, but Jacir passed again ending lap one.

A caution period began late in lap three due to Ronan Bray crashing out, and after racing resumed on lap six it was three-wide up front then the lead swapped hands repeatedly between Szuch and title rival Gaston Irazu. Felber got involved too, but when Szuch had an off under pressure it was Berg who emerged in second.

He pursued Irazu and took the lead into turn one on lap 11, but Szuch then led by Roller Coaster and held it thereon. Berg lost second to a 30s penalty for impeding, and Irazu had an off that dropped him to sixth before a five-second penalty for jumping the start then demoted him another spot.

Berg took pole for race two, which began with drama. Irazu sharged down the inside at turn one to take the lead, but was back to third by turn three and then spun by Szuch at turn four. Three other drivers piled into them, with one going airborne, and red flags waved.

Irazu was the only one not to retire and took the restart from last place. The field headed back out behind the pace car for a formation lap, then one race lap before green flags waved.

Jacir tried taking the lead from Berg then, and when Berg went wide at turn 12 it became a three-wide fight. Max Mokarem was briefly second before Berg reclaimed it, then returned to the lead at the end of lap four as Jacir served a drive-through penalty. Irazu also headed to the pits, to retire.

Felber took the lead in the esses on lap five, with Mokarem claiming second there on lap seven. Berg descended further, and retired in the pits at the end of the lap.

The top two positions were decided then, while Dass and Ava Hanssen traded third until the finish where Dass prevailed by 0.031s.

Results round-up
US F4
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Cooper Shipman Kiwi Motorsport 31m25.587s
2 Alex Popow MLT Motorsports +1.025s
3 Kekai Hauanio Crosslink Competition +1.672s
4 Caleb Campbell LC Racing Academy +2.190s
5 Oliver Savoie Kiwi Motorsport +3.484s
6 Luke Powers Toney Driver Development +3.864s
7 Jonathan Cottrill RASE Motorsports +4.747s
8 Demitri Nolan Crosslink Competition +32.830s
9 Clemente Huerta Kiwi Motorsport +3 laps
Pole: Shipman, 1m52.691s
Fastest lap: Shipman, 1m52.860s

Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Shipman 30m26.433s
2 Popow +15.453s
3 Nolan +28.648s
4 Powers +29.018s
5 Hauanio +51.103s
6 Savoie +1m58.017s
Ret Cottrill
DNS Campbell
DNS Huerta
FL: Shipman, 1m53.009s

Championship standings
1 Shipman 298.5   2 Hauanio 226.5   3 Popow 216   4 Campbell 139   5 Huerta 128.5   6 Nolan 110   7 Ty Arbogast 53.5   8 Powers 53   9 Savoie 32   10 Conor Grant 14

Ligier JFC
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Drew Szuch Berg Racing 31m01.273s
2 Roman Felber Champagne Racing +1.886s
3 Cash Felber Champagne Racing +4.747s
4 Max Mokarem Momentum Motorsports +4.787s
5 Harbir Dass Berg Racing +8.863s
6 Beckham Jacir LC Racing Academy +9.288s
7 Gaston Irazu Champagne Racing +12.808s
8 Ava Hanssen Ava Hanssen Racing +15.986s
9 Luca Day Momentum Motorsports +21.345s
10 Michael Fatutta Champagne Racing +21.355s
Pole: Szuch, 1m57.093s
Fastest lap: Alex Berg, 1m57.009s

Race 2 (10 laps)
1 R Felber 30m02.330s
2 Mokarem +1.699s
3 Dass +7.852s
4 Hanssen +7.883s
5 Day +22.564s
6 William Rohan Crosslink Competition +23.077s
7 Jacir +25.926s
8 Ronan Bray Berg Racing +35.853s
Ret Alex Berg Berg Racing
Ret Irazu
FL: Jacir, 1m57.704s

Championship standings
1 Irazu 196   2 Szuch 173   3 Dass 130.5   4 Daniel Cara 126.5   5 C Felber 126.5   6 R Felber 100   7 Mokarem 87   8 Jacir 79   9 Hanssen 69   10 Pablo Benites 55

The post Cooper Shipman crowned US F4 champion with double Virginia win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FR Americas

Titus Sherlock reclaimed the Formula Regional Americas points lead as Christian Brooks won both races in the penultimate round at Virginia International Raceway.

Brooks made it up to Indy Nxt in his single-seater career and became a rallycross star, but spent most of 2025 on the sidelines prior to making his FRegional debut on September 20/21.

The 24-year-old was on the pace straight away in Toney Driver Development’s second car, leading Bruno Ribeiro and team-mate Brady Golan in practice.

His advantage continued into qualifying where he took pole by 0.179 seconds over Crosslink Competition’s Titus Sherlock. Kiwi Motorsport’s Ribeiro was a further 0.098s behind in third, with Golan and Kiwi’s Jett Bowling the only others within a second of pole.

Brooks comfortably led into the opening corner of race one, as Sherlock held second. Ribeiro got ahead of him into the turn three left-hander as Bowling crashed out at high speed. He was far enough off that racing continued, and Connor Roberts spun away fifth place exiting turn 12 on lap two.

The gap between the top two rapidly grew as smoke billowed out of the rear of Ribeiro’s car, and he pulled over before the back straight on lap five which triggered a caution period. Brooks’ four-second gap was eliminated, and Golan was now second.

Racing resumed on lap eight and Golan immediately took the lead. Brooks reclaimed it pretty quickly, as Sherlock now held off Nicolas Ambiado for third. Another caution period began on lap nine after Landan Matriano Lim crashed into the turn 12 barriers, despite then reversing out and driving away.

The next restart was on lap 11, and Golan attacked in several corners but Brooks held on before a race-ending caution period began on lap 12 due to Kevin Janzen having a more definitive crash into turn 12’s barriers.

Brooks won, Ribeiro dropped from first to third in the standings, and Ambiado now led Sherlock by 4.5 points.

Setting race one’s fastest lap earned Brooks pole for race two the next day, followed by Ribeiro, Ambiado, Golan and Sherlock on the grid.

Ribeiro challenged Brooks into the first turn but had jumped the start, and Sherlock made a great launch to pass Ambiado for third.

Sherlock pressured Ribeiro in the first sector through the first laps, while Ribeiro had the straightline speed advantage. Ambiado meanwhile had to spend several minutes in the pits.

Sherlock’s first proper attempt to pass Ribeiro was late in lap nine, and a caution period was called on lap 11 as Golan retired from fourth place.

Brooks’ five-second lead was eliminated, but on the lap 14 restart he sprinted off as Sherlock went around Ribeiro’s outside and Bowling passed on his inside at turn one. Roberts then got past before a race-ending caution period was triggered due to Ambiado crashing out.

Ribeiro was classified 10th after a five-second penalty was applied, one place ahead of Ambiado. Sherlock meanwhile took a 13.5-point lead by finishing second behind Brooks.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Christian Brooks Toney Driver Development 27m13.710s
2 Brady Golan Toney Driver Development +0.471s
3 Titus Sherlock Crosslink Competition +0.875s
4 Nicolas Ambiado Kiwi Motorsport +1.559s
5 James Lawley Atlantic Racing Team +1.990s
6 Barrett Wolfe Crosslink Competition +2.684s
7 Connor Roberts Atlantic w/ Team Roberts +3.386s
8 Anthony Autiello Momentum Motorsports +10.476s
9 Kevin Janzen Kiwi Motorsport +1 lap
Ret Landan Matriano Lim Crosslink Competition
Pole: Brooks, 1m44.666s
Fastest lap: Brooks, 1m46.370s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Brooks 29m20.570s
2 Sherlock +0.393s
3 Jett Bowling Kiwi Motorsport +0.863s
4 Roberts +2.051s
5 Lawley +3.053s
6 Lim +4.230s
7 Wolfe +4.624s
8 Janzen +5.874s
9 Autiello +6.446s
10 Bruno Ribeiro Kiwi Motorsport +7.794s
FL: Brooks, 1m46.560s

Championship standings
1 Sherlock 248.5   2 Ambiado 235   3 Ribeiro 228   4 Bowling 193   5 Golan 155   6 Roberts 117   7 Lawley 103.5   8 Nicolas Stati 82   9 Wolfe 54.5   10 Brooks 50

The post Sherlock reclaims FRegional Americas points lead as Brooks wins at VIR appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Skip Barber Racing School

Ivan Machado Perez leads the Skip Barber Formula Race Series at the season’s halfway point following two rounds at Virginia International Raceway.

Round three ran on the circuit’s South course on May 13-14, and round four used the longer North course which incorporates the pit straight on June 11-12.

Machado Perez was the driver to beat throughout the first trip to VIR, leading both practice sessions by over half a second then setting a 1m12.556s in qualifying to claim pole by 0.556 seconds over Naim Saleh. Chris Spada trailed by 0.743s in third, and Alan Orzyinski was 1.2s off the pace in fourth. The seven-car field was split by 1.912s on pace.

It was not a surprise to see Machado Perez quickly adapt to the circuit, since the Mexican earned his place on the grid by winning the Skip Barber iRacing Formula Shootout around VIR.

Pole position was easily converted into a maiden victory in race one by Machado Perez, who opened up a six-second gap at the front. John O’Donnell came through from sixth on the grid to finish second, and there were far closer battles behind.

Brazilian rookie Saleh made it onto the podium by beating Spada in a dice at the end, and Ethan Booher was not far behind them.

Race two panned out far more dramatically, but Machado Perez did not see any of it as he romped to a 17.7s win over Saleh.

Booher was 24.9s behind in third, then Orzynski would have been six tenths of a second behind him if not for two one-minute penalties. The first was for causing a collision, and the second was for failing to report to pitlane when instructed to following that clash.

Spada was the driver on the other side of that contact, and got a one-minute penalty as he too ignored the signal to pit. He crossed the line 2.2s behind Orzynski, but instead it was Keagan Day who finished a distant fourth.

The round on the North course played out similarly for Machado Perez, who topped both practice sessions and had a 0.267s gap to the next best driver. In qualifying, he improved his pace to 1m30.327s and that earned him pole by 0.86s over Spada.

Orzysnki had actually gone second fastest, setting a 1m31.062s, but had a four-place grid penalty for missing practice.

Saleh was 1.184s slower than Machado Perez but qualified third, and Day was 1.33s off the pace to take fourth on race one’s grid.

Machado Perez faced more of a challenge than previously in race one, but still won by 2.655s. Orzysnki made quick work of his rivals to get into second, a second clear of Saleh. There was a big gap to Spada in fourth, hurting his title ambitions.

The mid-week round concluded with another Machado Perez victory, and he now leads the centrally-run Formula 4 series by 36 points.

Saleh finished second, and Orzynski came out on top of a squabble with Day and Spada for third.

Results round-up
Round 3 race 1
1 Ivan Machado Perez
2 John O’Donnell +6.102s
3 Naim Saleh +10.233s
4 Chris Spada +10.455s
5 Ethan Booher +12.268s
6 Alan Orzynski +32.494s
7 Keagan Day +36.250s
Pole: Machado Perez, 1m12.556s
Fastest lap: Machado Perez, 1m13.293s

Race 2 (19 laps)
1 Machado Perez 22m58.828s
2 Saleh +17.699s
3 Booher +24.900s
4 Day +48.024s
5 Spada +1m27.770s
6 Orzynski +2m25.523s
Ret O’Donnell
FL: Machado Perez, 1m11.851s

Round 4 race 1 (16 laps)
1 Machado Perez 24m20.503s
2 Orzynski +2.655s
3 Saleh +3.820s
4 Spada +14.302s
5 Logan Anderson +38.844s
6 Grant Mitchell +1m02.785s
7 Day +2 laps
P: Machado Perez, 1m30.327s
FL: Orzynski, 1m30.193s

Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Machado Perez 24m37.558s
2 Saleh +3.296s
3 Orzynski +8.854s
4 Day +8.995s
5 Spada +9.583s
6 Anderson +31.971s
7 Mitchell +57.696s
FL: Machado Perez, 1m31.027s

Championship standings
1 Machado Perez 268   2 Spada 232   3 Orzynski 225   4 Saleh 225   5 Booher 178   6 Day 156   7 Anderson 144   8 O’Donnell 104   9 Trevor LaTourrette 96   10 Mitchell 93

The post Ivan Machado Perez leads Skip Barber’s F4 action at Virginia appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRegional Americas

Formula Regional Americas, United States Formula 4 and Ligier JS F4 Series have unveiled their calendars for 2025.

All three start their campaigns at NOLA Motorports Park on March 27-30, and while it is technically a returning venue for US F4 it was supposed to host the 2024 season opener before its round got cancelled due to delays in the delivery of the new second-generation F4 car from Ligier that the championship was switching to.

The LJSF4 Series launched this year to give a new lease of life to the cars that had been retired from US F4.

On May 15-18 the three return to action at Road America, then FRegional Americas races on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course on June 12-15. It reunites with its feeder series at Mid-Ohio on June 19-22, and after a break of another month all three head to Mid-Ohio on July 31-August 3.

Despite being an American series, US F4 joins FRegional Americas in heading to Canada after that. Mosport returned to the US F4 calendar this year after six years away, and hosted the continental FRegional series for the first time, and the trip proved successful enough for the track to keep its place on the schedule for 2025. It will be visited on August 28-31.

FRegional Americas has swapped out its non-championship races at Laguna Seca and round at Circuit of the Americas to include Virginia International Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park for its final two rounds, with both returning venues.

Virginia was on the calendar from 2019 to 2023, and Barber hosted races in 2019 and ’20. The paddock will head to the two tracks next year on September 18-21 and October 17-19 respectively, with US F4 and LJSF4 Series joining on both occasions.

US F4 expands from a scheduled six to seven rounds in 2025, and its first-generation counterpart expands from five rounds to six for its second season. However there will be no uniform number of races at each round for any of the three series. FRegional Americas’ eight-round schedule will feature 21 races, US F4’s has 18 and LJSF Series’ will include 16 races.

The champion of the latter will receive a $186,700 (£139,630) to spend on switching to US F4 for 2026, and that includes the lease of a car, an engine and two sets of free tyres per event. US F4’s champion will get a $264,900 (£198,115) scholarship to enable graduation to FRegional Americas, and “will be provided [with] the use of a JS F3 chassis from Ligier Automotive, an F3 engine developed, engineered and provided by Mountune” and three free sets of tyres per round.

As for the FRegional Americas champion, their prize “will be announced in the coming weeks”.

The post FRegional Americas returns to old favourites in 2025 calendar appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: USF Juniors

Max Taylor, Augusto Soto-Schirripa and Sebastian Wheldon shared the USF Juniors wins in a dramatic round at Virginia International Raceway.

DEForce Racing’s Bruno Ribeiro took race one pole by 0.114 seconds over International Motorsport’s Ariel Elkin, whose team-mate Soto-Schirripa was 0.017s behind him in third. Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers was 0.136s back in fourth.

Elkin then claimed race two pole in Q2 by 0.355s over Jay Howard Driver Development’s Liam McNeilly, with Soto-Schirripa 0.701s off the pace in third. Just 0.126s split third and eighth place.

Race one began with Elkin taking the lead into the first braking zone and then a caution period in which Ribeiro was put back into first place. Racing resumed on lap four and Elkin wasted no time passing Ribeiro again, and at the final corner Ribeiro went off and dropped down the order.

Soto-Schirripa moved into second ahead of Jeffers and Wheldon, with the last two swapping places at turn three on lap five. McNeilly cleared Jeffers and Wheldon over the next two laps, as Ribeiro regained ground. On lap eight Soto-Schirripa fell to fifth behind McNeilly, Wheldon and Velocity Racing Development’s Taylor, and the gap between the top two rapidly shrank.

The prospect of a lead fight on lap 11 was undone by McNeilly spinning off at turn two and Elkin going off at turn 14, promoting Taylor to first. Wheldon was right behind him until he crashed out at turn six a lap later and a brief caution period was required.

Soto-Shirripa was all over Taylor down the back straight when racing resumed on the penultimate lap, and behind them Zanella Racing’s Leonardo Escorpioni threw away fifth place by going off at the last corner. Moments later another caution period began, as DEForce’s Rodrigo Gonzalez had crashed at turn 10.

Victory was secured for Taylor, ahead of Soto-Shirripa and Elkin. However stewards then put Elkin behind McNeilly in the race results as a penalty for avoidable contact, meaning he was classified eighth while Jeffers moved onto the podium and Ribeiro’s recovery was rewarded with sixth place.

Elkin locked up at the start of race two but kept the lead, and Taylor had a big off at turn three. McNeilly lost second to Soto-Schirippa but regained it on lap two, then took the lead as lap three began.

On lap five Jeffers passed Soto-Schirripa and then Elkin, and a caution period began a lap later as JHDD’s Ayden Ingratta and Wheldon went off at turns five and 11 respectively. Wheldon rejoined a lap down.

Jeffers collided with Elkin at turn three on the lap nine restart, causing another caution period. Soto-Schirripa passed McNeilly for the lead before racing was neutralised, then red flags waved on lap 10 as barriers were inspected.

The race restarted with a lap behind the pace car, in which McNeilly dropped to 19th due to a penalty for avoidable contact. JHDD’s G3 Argyros then fought Escorpioni for second until another caution period that ran to the end caused by DEForce’s Leandro Juncos going off, meaning Soto-Schirripa won. Taylor recovered to fifth.

Elkin’s second-best laptime from Q2 earned him race three pole ahead of Escorpioni, Ribeiro, Jeffers, Ingratta and Wheldon. Escorpioni lost two spots on lap one, then was passed by Wheldon lap two. Jeffers overtook Ribeiro after several corners of side-by-side action on lap three, then Escorpioni crashed out on lap four and a caution period began.

Jeffers went for the lead on the lap six restart but lost out to Ribeiro, then on lap seven red flags appeared after Soto-Schirripa collided with VRD’s Christian Cameron.

The pace car led the field for a restart lap, during which a driver went off. Green flags waved but then almost instantly yellows appeared again, and another attempt at a restart took place on lap 10.

There was wheel-to-wheel action immediately and Elkin was shuffled down to fifth behind Taylor, Jeffers, Wheldon and Ribeiro. The top two went side-by-side through much of the lap, and Jeffers got the lead just before turn 14. Wheldon took to the outside at turn one on the next lap and briefly got second, while Ribeiro fell to sixth behind McNeilly – who was without a front wing – and Elkin.

Taylor reclaimed the lead at turn 14, but lost it again at turn one before another caution period caused by Gonzalez and team-mate Jeshua Alianell going off. That set up a final lap restart with the lead trio going three-wide straight away. Wheldon on the outside overtook Taylor at turn one, then they went three-wide again at the finish and Wheldon edged ahead of Jeffers to win by 0.047s. Taylor was a further 0.01s behind.

Ribeiro got up to fourth early in the lap but finished 17th, with Elkin and Argyros dropping to 14th and 15th as McNeilly remarkably beat Ingratta and Zanella’s Diego Guiot to fourth in a photo finish.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Max Taylor Velocity Racing Development 36m17.940s
2 Augusto Soto-Schirripa International Motorsport +0.993s
3 Jack Jeffers Exclusive Autosport +2.353s
4 G3 Argyros JHDD +3.124s
5 Timothy Carel JHDD +3.721s
6 Bruno Ribeiro DEForce Racing +4.403s
7 Liam McNeilly JHDD +5.134s
8 Ariel Elkin International Motorsport +1.572s
9 Joao Vergara Exclusive Autosport +5.703s
10 Anthony Martella Exclusive Autosport +6.080s
Pole: Ribeiro, 1m54.366s
Fastest lap: Taylor, 1m54.902s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Soto-Schirripa 38m53.001s
2 Argyros +0.445s
3 Leonardo Escorpioni Zanella Racing +1.095s
4 Ribeiro +1.804s
5 Taylor +2.406s
6 Christian Cameron Velocity Racing Development +2.989s
7 Jeshua Alianell DEForce Racing +3.639s
8 Diego Guiot Zanella Racing +4.399s
9 Brady Golan DEForce Racing +5.266s
10 Timothy Carel JHDD +5.651s
P: Elkin, 1m53.843s
FL: Ribeiro, 1m54.739s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Sebastian Wheldon Velocity Racing Development 43m24.461s
2 Jeffers +0.047s
3 Taylor +0.057s
4 McNeilly +3.071s
5 Ayden Ingratta JHDD +3.143s
6 Guiot +3.149s
7 Carel +3.246s
8 Vergara +3.502s
9 Golan +4.077s
10 Martella +4.134s
P: Elkin, 1m54.103s
FL: Soto-Schirripa, 1m55.292s

Championship standings
1 Wheldon 163   2 Taylor 162   3 Elkin 148   4 McNeilly 142   5 Soto-Schirripa 135   6 Jeffers 122   7 Vergara 82   8 Argyros 81   9 Ribeiro 77   10 Ingratta 74

The post Taylor, Soto-Schirripa and Wheldon win amid USF Juniors drama at VIR appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FRegional Americas

Callum Hedge won two of Formula Regional Americas’ three races at Virginia International Raceway, but had his points lead reduced.

Ryan Shehan led a Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 1-2-3 in practice, a 1m45.274s putting him 0.072 seconds ahead of Hedge and with Cooper Becklin 0.989s behind. Qualifying followed later on Friday, and this time Hedge was fastest.

He took pole with a 1m45.986s lap, and Shehan was 0.223s slower in second place. There was a big gulf in pace to the rest of the field, with a gap of 1.804s to IGY6 Motorsports’ Hayden Bowlsbey in third and 2.512s to Becklin in fourth. Only nine drivers set representative laptimes in the session.

Shehan attacked Hedge for the lead going into the opening corner of race one, as Oliver Westling jumped up to third but then spun down to last after contact with Bowlsbey.

Late in lap three Shehan had another go at the lead, with Bowlsbey eight seconds back in third.

On lap six Max Hewitt spun off at Oak Tree, then Hedge did the same a lap later and handed Shehan a lead of close to seven seconds. Bowlsbey was 11.83s behind, but the gaps closed up as a caution period was called. Kevin Janzen used the opportunity to pit for nose cone repairs.

Racing resumed on lap 10 and Westling made a move that got him into sixth place. Shehan pulled a way, but a mistake then dropped him behind Hedge and Bowlsbey.

Now Hedge was back up front and with a gap, with Bowlsbey resorting to defence as Shehan pressured him. Shehan got by on the back straight on lap 12, and had a 3.6s gap to make up on Hedge. He was denied the opportunity to, as the race finished with a caution period after Hewitt buried his car in the barriers.

Becklin finished third as a 30s penalty for the lap one contact with Westling dropped Bowlsbey to eighth, and Westling himself ended up finishing fourth.

The race one fastest laps set the race two grid, putting Hedge on pole ahead of Shehan. He converted that into a 8.31s winning margin.

Westling jumped from fifth to third on lap one and held the position until Becklin got past on lap 12 of 17. Becklin finished 32.971s behind Hedge. Nicola Havrda was the only non-finisher, retiring in the pits mid-race.

Hedge had to hold off a surprise attack from Westling at the start of race three, sending him onto the grass, but then looked set for another dominant win in race three until he had what appeared to be an engine issue on lap six. Becklin inherited the lea, and had a big gap to Shehan in second, but then a caution period was called to retrieve Hedge’s stopped car.

Becklin had to resist an attempted move from Shehan at the restart, but after that could pull away for his first win after 11 successive third-place finishes. Late on Bowlsbey got past Westling for third after going side-by-side through Roller Coaster, and Havrda passed Hewitt for fifth.

Shehan reduced Hedge’s championship lead by four points over the weekend, and is 51 points behind with 75 left to score.

Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Callum Hedge Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 28m55.032s
2 Ryan Shehan Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +0.520s
3 Cooper Becklin Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +4.364s
4 Oliver Westling Jensen Global Advisors +5.046s
5 Austin Hill Austin Hill Motorsports +6.000s
6 Nicole Havrda Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsports +6.412s
7 Everett Stack Jensen Global Advisors +6.493s
8 Hayden Bowlsbey IGY6 Motorsports +31.548s
9 Kevin Janzen Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +2 laps
10 Max Hewitt Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +3 laps
Pole: Hedge, 1m45.986s
Fastest lap: Hedge, 1m47.003s

Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Hedge 30m20.767s
2 Shehan +8.310s
3 Becklin +32.971s
4 Westling +37.940s
5 Bowlsbey +47.035s
6 Hewitt +48.003s
7 Stack +1m07.740s
8 Hill +1m13.236s
9 Janzen +1m20.030s
Ret Havrda
FL: Hedge, 1m45.857s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Becklin
2 Shehan +1.452s
3 Bowlsbey +4.374s
4 Westling +5.706s
5 Havrda +16.526s
6 Hewitt +17.723s
7 Stack +26.092s
8 Janzen +40.612s
Ret Hedge
DNS Hill
FL: Becklin, 1m46.235s

Championship standings
1 Hedge 316   2 Shehan 265   3 Becklin 223   4 Westling 166   5 Manuel Roza 82   6 Bowlsbey 90   7 Bryson Morris 62   8 Hewitt 63   9 Nick Persing 52   10 Hill 42

The post Hedge wins twice, but Shehan reduces his FRegional Americas lead appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 US Championship

Augusto Soto-Schirripa was the star of United States Formula 4’s round at Virginia International Raceway.

Patrick Woods-Toth was fastest by 0.562 seconds over Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport team-mate Titus Sherlock in practice, but just 0.001s split Sherlock and Daniel Cara in third. Alex Berg and Michael Costello were the only other two drivers within a second of the pace.

Qualifying went the way of Jay Howard Driver Development driver Costello, a 1m57.134s laptime earning him pole by 0.419s over Woods-Toth. Bacon Zelenka continued his recent strong form by going third fastest, and International Motorsport’s Soto-Schirripa marked his championship return by qualifying fourth. The top seven were covered by 0.938s.

Race one on Saturday morning took place on a very wet track, and Woods-Toth challenged Costello for the lead through the opening corners before running out of room and dropping behind Soto-Schirripa.

Lap two started behind the pace car, and the drivers were not released to race again until lap five. There was immediate drama as Costello slid off at the Horseshoe hairpin while James Lawley and Christopher Parrish spun off.

Soto-Schirripa found himself with a big lead over a three-car fight for second between Alex Berg, Sherlock and Luciano Martinez, and Costello tried to make up ground but ended up spinning off at the last corner.

Eric Wisniewski skated off and fell down the order from eighth place on lap seven, then Sherlock spun while going through Snake but only lost a few spots and did not get hit. Later in the lap Martinez tried passing Berg but also spun, and race control brought the pace car out again for lap eight then decided to wave the chequered flag at the end of it with time still left on the race clock.

That locked in Soto-Schirripa as the winner, ahead of Berg, Woods-Toth and Cara.

Martinez failed to score but did get fastest lap, putting him on pole for the dry race two ahead of Woods-Toth, Berg and Cara.

Within a lap he had dropped to sixth, while Woods-Toth led Berg. On lap two the top two went side-by-side down the back straight and Berg had his nose ahead but Woods-Toth had the inside line for Roller Coaster so did not lose the lead.

Soto-Schirripa ran in third, and on lap five had a go at passing Berg but ran out of room on the back straight. Berg passed Woods-Toth at Horseshoe on lap seven but then immediately spun down to 12th and later retired.

A caution period later on set up a last-lap lead battle, and Soto-Schirripa got past Woods-Toth on the back straight to win.

Ava Dobson and Tyke Durst crashed out at Horseshoe, and Jesse Lacey went into the barriers at Oak Tree.

The next day, stewards handed three-place grid penalties to Berg and Dobson, and a 30s penalty to Woods-Toth, for causing collisions. Costello also got a 10s penalty.

That dropped Woods-Toth from second to 15th and Costello from fourth to 14th, and lifted Cara and Kekai Hauanio to second and third. Martinez benefited to finish seventh.

Before crashing out, Lacey set the fastest lap so earned pole for race three on Sunday. He converted it into victory, leading by 3.269s after one lap but by just 0.345s when a race-ending caution period began on lap 13.

Cara tried going around the outside of Soto-Schirripa at Horseshoe for second on lap one but ended up dropping to ninth.

Woods-Toth took second, then Costello claimed the position on lap two. Hauanio was closest to Lacey on lap three, and on lap four Berg and Costello collided after Berg dived down his inside at Horseshoe.

On lap eight Woods-Toth passed Hauanio, but on lap 12 Hauanio snuck back past and finished in second. Soto-Schirripa ran as low as 10th before making his way up to fourth, just ahead of Cara and Sherlock.

Woods-Toth, Costello and Sherlock are now the remaining title contenders with one round to go.

Results round-up
Race 1 (8 laps)
1 Augusto Soto-Schirripa International Motorsport 30m16.045s
2 Alex Berg Doran Motorsports Group +0.738s
3 Patrick Woods-Toth Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +1.615s
4 Daniel Cara Cara Origin Motorsports +1.815s
5 Kekai Hauanio New’T Racing +2.323s
6 Titus Sherlock Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +2.573s
7 Hannah Greenemeier Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +3.449s
8 Tanner DeFabis JHDD +4.220s
9 Luciano Martinez Scuderia Buell +5.947s
10 Alex Benavitz Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +6.467s
Pole: Michael Costello, 1m57.134s
Fastest lap: Martinez, 2m18.562s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Soto-Schirripa 31m55.452s
2 Cara +0.423s
3 Hauanio +1.978s
4 Sherlock +2.304s
5 Benavitz +2.435s
6 Greenemeier +2.676s
7 Martinez +2.955s
8 Bacon Zelenka Bacon Racing +3.666s
9 James Lawley Atlantic Racing Team +4.477s
10 Michael Boyiadzis JHDD +5.571s
FL: Jesse Lacey, 1m57.615s

Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Lacey Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 29m56.185s
2 Hauanio +0.435s
3 Woods-Toth +1.267s
4 Soto-Schirripa +2.336s
5 Cara +2.535s
6 Sherlock +2.834s
7 Benavitz +3.348s
8 Zelenka +3.779s
9 Christopher Parrish IGY6 Motorsports +4.418s
10 Lawley +5.148s
FL: Soto-Schirripa, 1m57.229s

Championship standings
1 Woods-Toth 208.5   2 Costello 142   3 Sherlock 140   4 Berg 127.5   5 Lacey 120.5   6 Soto-Schirripa 112   7 Cara 111.5   8 Hauanio 57   9 Lewis Hodgson 55.5   10 Jimmie Lockhart 50

The post Augusto Soto-Schirripa stars with Virginia double in US F4 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Formula Regional Americas and United States Formula 4 returned to action with pre-event testing at Virginia International Raceway on Thursday, with their 2024 calendars being announced earlier in the week.

US F4 will be switching to a halo-shod second-generation F4 chassis from Ligier for next year, while the sister Formula Development series currently aimed at 14 year olds (but open to older drivers in the future) will not only continue to use the first-generation Ligier JS F4 but also rebrand to be named after the car.

All three series begin their seasons at NOLA Motorsports Park on April 11-14, then race at Road America on May 16-19.

FRegional Americas heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first ever time, with it not specified if the oval or road layout will be used, on June 13-16 and a week later the three series reconvene at Mid-Ohio.

A month later they also all race at New Jersey Motorsports Park on July 25-28, then FRegional and F4 head to former Canadian Grand Prix venue Mosport on August 29-September 1. It will surprisingly be US F4’s second visit to the track, having raced there in 2017, while the continental FRegional Americas series is yet to actually race outside of the USA.

Virginia loses it spot on the calendar in those two series for 2024, but will host the Ligier JS F4 Series finale on October 3-6, while the FRegional Americas and US F4 campaigns conclude at Circuit of the Americas on October 31-November 3.

They had four sessions each of testing at Virginia on Thursday, and Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport’s Ryan Shehan set the pace in FRegional with a 1m45.832s lap from session three. Next best was team-mate Callum Hedge, whose session four-topping laptime was 0.595 seconds off Shehan’s earlier benchmark.

Cooper Becklin made it a Crosslink/Kiwi 1-2-3, 1.147s off the pace. He topped the first two sessions but set his fastest lap in session four. IGY6 Motorsports’ Hayden Bowlsbey was 1.555s slower than Shehan in fourth, Jensen Global Advisors’ Oliver Westling was 2.047s back in fifth. In total nine cars participated in the test.

Gonella Racing’s Tyke Durst topped the first US F4 session with a 1m59.855s lap, putting him 0.749s clear of Crosslink/Kiwi’s Titus Sherlock in second place.

Doran Motorsports Group’s Alex Berg lowered the pace to 1m57.575s in session two, with Jay Howard Driver Development’s Michael Costello second fastest and 0.543s slower than Berg.

The track got even faster in session three, at least for Ryan Yardley who set a 1m55.363s lap. Costello was again second fastest, but 3.246s off the pace. Yardley was also fastest in session four.

The post FRegional Americas and US F4 back in action as 2024 calendar revealed appeared first on Formula Scout.

Phot: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Nicolas Giaffone reached four USF Juniors wins in a row in round three at Virgina International Raceway.

Pre-event testing took place on Friday, and Jack Jeffers was fastest with a 1m55.096s pace. That put him 0.298 seconds ahead of Joey Brienza and 0.581s ahead of Giaffone.

It was the same top three in practice on Saturday, Jeffers improving to 1m54.855s to lead the way by 0.094s but with a 0.660s gap to Giaffone in third who had a car-damaging off.

Qualifying took place shortly after and Hudson Schwartz was the early pacesetter, then Ethan Ho went to the top before red flags waved after Lucas Fecury crashed.

Qualifying restarted with six minutes remaining, and after the chequered flag waved Brienza matched Ho’s pace. Ho claimed race one pole having set the time first, and Jeffers was just 0.015s behind in third.

Jeffers went from third to first on race one’s opening lap, and Ho was demoted to third on lap three by Giaffone. He started to pressure the leader, but did not attempt a move until after a mid-race caution period due to the arrival of rain.

The track was dry enough to continue on slick tyres, and Giaffone tried passing Jeffers as they crossed the start/finish line on the restart. He then tried the over-under at turn one, and ended the lap 0.030s behind.

Giaffone tried the outside of turn one again and this time it worked, but Jeffers reclaimed the lead through the ‘Snake’. They finished the lap side-by-side, with Giaffone ahead by 0.019s and maintaining the lead through turn one. This time Jeffers could not reclaim first place through the ‘Snake’, and went into the final lap unable to challenge Giaffone until it was too late – as yellow flags waved at the final corner.

There was drama behind throughout. Ho and Max Taylor collided exiting turn one on lap six of 15, promoting Jimmie Lockhart to third until the rain came and he was among those who went off.

Schwartz then held third, but on the restart Fecury went past and then Brienza. Those two then clashed, promoting Quinn Armstrong onto the podium ahead of Taylor and Fecury.

Drivers’ second-best laps qualifying laps set the front of the race two grid on Sunday, and Jeffers claimed pole ahead of Ho and Brienza.

The pace car led the field through lap one, releasing the field on lap two. Giaffone passed Brienza on lap three, Ho on lap four, then took the lead around the outside of turn one on lap five.

He built a two-second lead before a caution period caused by Armstrong going off, and on the restart resisted Ho who collided with Lockhart at turn one and caused another brief caution period. Both drivers got going again after their crash.

Taylor was promoted to second, and with a tow tried passing Giaffone when racing resumed but after going wheel-to-wheel he spun off at turn 17.

That put Brienza second for the final lap, with Schwartz third and Erick Schotten fourth before he spun at turn one, so Brady Golan got the position. Giaffone won, Lockhart remarkably finished sixth, Ho was eighth but without a rear wing so got demoted to 10th in the race results, and Jeffers finished three laps down. He lost several places early on before pitting with an issue.

Setting fastest lap meant Giaffone earned race three pole, with Lockhart, Jeffers and Ho right behind for the rolling start.

There was an early caution period, after which Brienza tried attacking Giaffone but lost out to Lockhart. Jeffers then went on a charge, passing Armstrong, Brienza, Lockhart and Giaffone in four laps before pulling away to win.

Taylor made his way into third amid lots of battling that resulted in Lockhart pipping Brienza to fourth and Armstrong hitting Ho down to 10th.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Nicolas Giaffone DEForce Racing 35m33.827s
2 Jack Jeffers Exclusive Autosport +0.159s
3 Quinn Armstrong DEForce Racing +2.122s
4 Max Taylor Velocity Racing Development +2.332s
5 Lucas Fecury DEForce Racing +3.078s
6 Erick Schotten Exclusive Autosport +3.184s
7 Hudson Schwartz Velocity Racing Development +3.808s
8 Ethan Barker Velocity Racing Development +4.337s
9 Brady Golan DEForce Racing +9.305s
10 Carson Etter DC Autosport +9.378s
Pole: Ethan Ho, 1m55.327s
Fastest lap: Taylor, 1m56.367s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Giaffone 34m53.440s
2 Joey Brienza Exclusive Autosport +0.224s
3 Shwartz +0.725s
4 Golan +1.891s
5 Fecury +2.469s
6 Jimmie Lockhart Velocity Racing Development +3.440s
7 Barker +4.081s
8 Giovanni Cabrera Exclusive Autosport +13.151s
9 Schotten +20.234s
10 Ethan Ho DC Autosport +12.815s
P: Jeffers, 1m55.348s
FL: Giaffone, 1m55.081s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Jeffers 31m12.547s
2 Giaffone +3.214s
3 Taylor +5.846s
4 Lockhart +9.199s
5 Brienza +9.374s
6 Armstrong +9.765s
7 Schotten +13.853s
8 Etter +14.255s
9 Golan +14.643s
10 Ho +14.655s
FL: Jeffers, 1m54.619s

Championship standings
1 Giaffone 229   2 Brienza 169   3 Armstrong 153   4 Jeffers 147   5 Lockhart 131   6 Fecury 129   7 Taylor 118   8 Ho 104   9 Golan 103   10 Schotten 101

The post Nicolas Giaffone gets two more USF Juniors wins at Virginia appeared first on Formula Scout.