The legendary high-banks from the Homestead-Miami Speedway Roval produced exciting action during the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda season-opener April 8-9, especially in Race 3 for Group-A Racing series newcomer Jonathan Scarallo of Smithtown, New York.
Scarallo saw constant improvement in the incredibly competitive 33-car field. Starting on the grid 18th, he charged his way to the front, finishing the final race in fourth.
“All-in-all this weekend has been very good,” said Scarallo. “Naturally, I want better results, but I’m pleased with how everything went this weekend. We will come back stronger for the next one at Indianapolis.”
Before the event weekend, Scarallo had not competed for five years. The 25-year-old New Yorker previously held the title of team manager for Group-A Racing but opportunities opened for him to get behind the wheel for a full 2017 F4 U.S. campaign for the team.
“I was worried that my driving and race craft would be very rusty since I have not raced since 2011, but I got over that very quickly,” Scarallo said. “Everybody with the Group-A Racing team did a great job making the car better for me every single race.”
In Race 3, a good jump off the line saw Scarallo gain four spots on the start. Avoiding an opening lap crash allowed the Group-A Racing pilot to move-up to 10th before a full course yellow was thrown. On the restart, Scarallo overtook a car to ascend to P9. A three-wide pass a few laps later allowed the No. 29 red, black and yellow car to capture P6.
As the 30-minute session clock dwindled, Scarallo quickly worked to catch the top five cars. He made a pass for fifth with three laps left and in the final race moments, Scarallo seized P4. His battle for a podium spot ended at the gearbox of Raphael Forcier of Montreal.
Scarallo finished the weekend with 27 cumulative position changes.
Group-A Racing will host 2016 F4 U.S Championship runner-up Konrad Czaczyk of Jupiter, Florida, for Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport) and Circuit of the Americas. Drivers interested in testing and racing with Group-A Racing in the other 2017 F4 U.S. events can contact the team at 631-974-4379 or GroupARacing@aol.com.
