F4 U.S. Championships

Trackside Report

Schedule of Today’s Events at Road Atlanta

Road Atlanta- 12 Turns, 2.54 miles

(All Times Local)

Friday, September 16

8:00 a.m.  Tech Inspection Opens

8:00 a.m. Driver’s and Crew Chief Meeting at Media Center

9:00 a.m. Registration open at Registration Building

9:30 a.m. Tech Inspection Closes

10:00 a.m. Registration Closes

10:00 a.m. F4 US Championship Practice #1 Starts

10:30 a.m. F4 US Championship Practice #1 Ends

11:00 a.m. Tech Inspection Opens

12:30 p.m. Tech Inspection Closes

1:45 p.m. F4 US Championship Practice #2 Starts

2:15 p.m. F4 US Championship Practice #2 Ends

3:45 p.m. False Grid Opens

4:15 p.m. Qualifying Starts

4:45 p.m. Qualifying Ends

4:45 p.m. Parc Ferme Open

5:45 p.m. Parc Ferme Closes

5:45 p.m. On Track Team Photo

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Entry List

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Teams started arriving at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia around 7 a.m. The temperature was 86 degrees with 63 percent humidity.

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8:00 a.m. Crew chiefs attended a meeting reviewing race one material, on-track procedures, a schedule of events, supplemental materials and penalties from the last event.  

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8:00 a.m. Drivers attended a meeting reviewing race one material, on-track procedures, a schedule of events and a lighting demonstration.

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The first round of safety tech inspections ended at 9:30 a.m. All teams passed the first round of tech.

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The first morning test session began at 10:00 a.m. All 15 competitors practiced. No accidents involving yellow or red flags were involved during Practice 1. However, Jim Goughary Jr. of Jupiter, Florida, went off road in Turn 6 during the first lap out. Goughary would stay stranded until the end of the session due to fuel pressure issues. Darren Keane of Boca Raton, Florida, practiced in his newly, rebuilt chassis after a wreck at New Jersey Motorsports Park left his car severely damaged. Baltazar Leguizamon of Buenos Aries, Argentina, practiced as a new member of the GMV Motorsports team. Leguizamon ran seventh in fast lap times. JDX Racing had all three of its competitors in the top 5 lap times during the first practice. During the entire 30- minute session, Cameron Das of Brooklandville, Maryland, was not out performed in fast lap times. His fastest lap of the session clocked in at 1:28.64. Das’ teammate Keane closed in on his fast time, finishing less than 3 hundredths of a second behind him. Blake Mount of Littleton, Colorado, finished the most laps of the session at 19.

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The second F4 U.S. practice session started after lunch at 1:45 p.m. and lasted 30 minutes. All 15 competitors participated in practice. Mount was red flagged early in the session for going off course in Turn 10. Mount would only get 9 laps in during this session. Moises de la Vara also had an off track excusing early in practice. De la Vara took Turn 1 too fast and the off-course damage would not allow for de la Vara to return. Goughary was able to start the second practice after his team fixed his mechanical issues from session one. However, Goughary only got to Turn 7 in his first lap before pulling off-track with mechanical issues. Das was able to beat his best time from Practice 1. He and Konrad Czaczyk of Loxahatchee, Florida, were the only competitors to have times in the 1:28 rage. Das finished with a fast time of 1:28.474 and Czaczyk was less than half a second behind him, finishing with a best time of 1:28.919.

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Qualifying started at 4:15 p.m. The competitors ran considerably faster during qualifications with every participating driver finishing laps under 1:30. De la Vara did not participate in qualifications due to the damage his car suffered during the earlier practice session. No red or yellow flags were thrown allowing for the drivers to fulfil the full 30 minute session. Das finished with the best lap time of 1:27.921. He was the only competitor to have laps under 1:28. Less than eight tenths of a second would decide positions 2-9.  Czaczyk, Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, Keane and Michael Goodyear of Carmel, Indiana, will join Das in the top five. Jackie Ding of Shenzen, China, placed sixth during qualifications but will start last in due to a 10 grid engine change penalty from the last race in New Jersey. After Race 1 tomorrow, Ding will have fulfilled his three race penalty.

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After Park Ferme concluded, the drivers went back to the track for an F4 US team photoshoot with their cars at 5:45 p.m.

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An emergency drivers’ meeting would gather after the shoot to discuss articles 15.1 A-G and 19.4-19.6 in the 2016 Sporting-Regulations. The regulations cover incidentals and specific on-track defensive procedures.

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Quotes from Results

Moises de la Vara, Leading Edge Grand Prix- This was my first time driving at Road Atlanta and I loved it. It’s a very fast track which requires a lot of trust in the car. We made good progress in the practice sessions but an off-track excursion prevented me from qualifying for tomorrow’s race. That minor set-back won’t keep me from pushing for good results tomorrow.

Steve Bamford, Rice Race Prep/Bamford Racing- I’m back racing at the track where I love to drive. I have raced here for many years. We are happy with our qualifying time as each session we have made steady improvements. We finished closer in overall lap time to the leader’s than we have in the last few race weekends.

Full Results

Photos