In a tough battle that lasted through the last laps of the final Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Baltazar Leguizamon of Buenos Aires, Argentina, emerged victorious as the JRi Shocks Hard Charger.
Leguizamon finished the three-race weekend with a combined 27 forward positions changes, earning him the $500 cash award from JRi Shocks.
“Indy was an amazing experience,” said Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon Motorsports pilot Leguizamon. “IMS is a new track for me. We started as the fastest on Friday in practice. Then for Race 1, we had a set back with a 10 grid spot penalty that carried over from the first F4 U.S. event, but we didn’t let that stop us from moving forward. We did a very good job overtaking as many cars as possible to get championship points and to receive the JRi Shocks Hard Charger Award. Now we are looking forward to being at the top at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.”
Advancing to the final round in Indy, Leguizamon was trailing Jonathan Scarallo of Smithtown, New York, by one pass. Scarallo started the race off strong, leaving little room for Leguizamon to capture the $500 prize. However, midway through the race, Scarallo mistimed a pass, causing him to spin, lose position and ultimately finish the race 10 spots lower than he started. Driving the No. 45 Motorola red, white and blue car, Leguizamon capitalized off the mistake and patiently overtook his F4 U.S. competitors one car at a time. The final run would add 8 forward passes to his weekend tally, beating Scarallo by 18 total forward position changes.
Leguizamon completed his run at IMS with two top-10 finishes, a top-10 fast-lap time in qualifying and the fastest lap in the first practice session.
The JRi Shocks Hard Charger Award is determined by the F4 U.S. Championship competitor who overtakes the most cars with the most forward progression from his starting position during the three-race event weekend. One competitor during each event is recognized in victory circle at the end of the weekend’s final race. Rookie Jordan Sherratt of Durban, South Africa, was the inaugural recipient of the award at the first F4 U.S. event of the season in Homestead-Miami Speedway.
F4 U.S. returns to action at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park July 7-9.
