Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, claimed the first race of the weekend, while Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, won Race 2 as the second event of the Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda kicked off Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Robinson, who was just added to the F4 U.S. roster by Momentum Motorsports last week, had a big day, winning Race 2 after finishing second in the opening race of the weekend. The final race of the event takes place Saturday.
“The racing in this series has been really competitive,” Robinson said. “We are going to push for win number two, but we can only control what we can control. I’m going to strive to get the best results I can set to achieve. My team will be working hard, too, so I know everything will turn out great.”
Robinson started on the pole in Race 2 after Konrad Czaczyk of Loxahatchee, Florida, withdrew from the round due to race-related damages to his car from Race 1. Jackie Ding of Shenzen, China, another first time F4 U.S. entry, sat in position two and took the lead in lap seven. After a race-long battle, a bad exit out of turn two from Ding left just enough space for Robinson to make an inside move going into turn four, overtaking Ding on the final lap of the 30-minute session.
“The whole race was a dog fight,” Ding said. “I made a rookie mistake and let Skylar pass by me. I thought that I could fight my way back, but in the end, he was faster.”
Austin Kaszuba of Burleson, Texas, found himself on the podium for the first time placing third in Race 2 for GMV Motorsports. Kaszuba started sixth on the grid and slowly picked off the three competitors in front of him until held steady in third.
“We had our work cut out for us,” Kaszuba said. “There were a lot of fast guys in front. We raced clean and fair and that’s all that matters.”
Kirkwood proved himself a victor during tough racing conditions, emerging as the winner of the first race of the day for the F4 U.S. Championship.
“The track conditions were really scary at times,” said Kirkwood. “This was my first time competing in the rain in a full sized car. I really had to keep focused too because Skylar and I were neck-to-neck at times. He made a mistake late in the race that allowed me to pull away and cross the finish line uncontested.”
Rainfall early in the race caused the first wet race in F4 U.S. history to be called. Competitors were radioed to the pits to switch to Pirelli rain tires after the formation lap.
Due to the wet conditions, F4 U.S. drivers completed their first rolling start of the season. A standing start is the traditional start for the series unless weather or other on-track circumstances prohibits the drivers from doing so.
The field was under a full course yellow until 18 minutes into the race. Weather conditions produced several off-track incidents causing the delay in green flag racing. Limited visibility caused Baltazar Leguizamon of Buenos Aries, Argentina, to make contact with the backside of Quebec, Canada, native Raphael Forcier’s car causing rear damage. Forcier would not return to Race 1 or compete in Race 2. Czaczyk finished 10th in Race 1 after making contact with another car that spun in front of him in the keyhole.
Robinson and Ding joined Kirkwood on the podium. Robinson took home an impressive second-place finish even after making a 360-degree turn on the track late in the race. Robinson was able to recover without losing position. Ding would cross the finish line third but would finish the race fourth after a penalty was issued for passing James Goughary Jr. of Jupiter, Florida, on a yellow.
The final race of the weekend starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday with a special driver introduction to be held prior to the field going green. Cameron Das of Brooklandville, Maryland, captured the fastest lap in Race 2 earning him pole position while Darren Keane of Boca Raton, Florida took second fastest time in the race. However, due to an earlier issued penalty from changing his motor during race weekend, Keane will now start 11th.
F4 U.S. and FIA rules do not allow motor changes during race weekend if the damage was caused by the competitor. If teams do change the motor, the competitors are issued to start 10 grid spaces back from their qualifying grid position for three consecutive races. Moises de la Vara from Guadalajara, Mexico, was promoted to second and Michael Goodyear of Carmel, Indiana, third. Kirkwood and Ding round out the top five.
