Young American adds three top-five results highlighted by maiden win for driver and team
DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports scored its first ever victory in the F4 US Championship Powered by Honda on Saturday, June 30 as American Dakota Dickerson won from pole in the opening race of the doubleheader at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The San Diego, CA resident came back on Sunday, July 1 and finished as runner-up in the second race and fifth in the finale in his #9 Stress Engineering Services / RoxBalden Ligier F4-16. Dickerson’s teammate Eduardo Barrichello was quick to begin the weekend, and while on-track contact affected his end results, he still logged three top-15 finishes, completing each race in the front half of the field.
“It was great to get a win at Mid-Ohio, all the guys on the team did an excellent job,” enthused Conner, DC Autosport team owner. “Putting that first team victory in the books is special, and now we’re all focused on the next event and making a push for the championship.”
Dickerson started the weekend on the right foot, timing in second during the first of two practice sessions on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. Barrichello was also impressive out of the gate, as the rookie was ninth in the opening run. After debriefing with Conner to get set for the second practice, both Dakota and Barrichello ran in speed-hindering traffic for a majority of the session, finishing up to ninth and 15th, respectively. 
In qualifying for Race 1 with fresh Pirelli rubber, Dickerson sat second on the time charts during the first half of the session. Minor adjustments made to his car were ideal, and he immediately went to P1 upon returning to the course, holding onto the pole position through to the end. It was the first pole for both Dickerson and DC Autosport. Barrichello was also in the hunt, qualifying a strong sixth.
In the opening race, Dickerson led quickly from the pole position and stretched out an immediate advantage over the initial laps. A lap four incident brought out the full course yellow, and Dickerson delivered a great restart to hold off his challengers, maintaining his position up front. The green flag running would last just a single lap when another incident between two drivers at the end of Mid-Ohio’s long backstraight brought out the yellow once again. The wreck required significant clean up time, meaning that Dakota would take the checkered flag under caution, winning his first career F4 event. The victory moved Dickerson and DC Autosport into the championship point lead. Barrichello started sixth in his #91 Think SEG car and took 14th in the final tally.
Race 2 was run early on Sunday morning, with Dickerson again starting from the pole. Barrichello launched from P17. Dakota was quickly into the lead and was building up a solid advantage when a full course caution erased the work he had done. The 21-year-old was passed on the restart down the long backstraight, and once he settled into second, Dickerson held the position to bag the crucial championship points. Eduardo moved up three positions to finish in 14th.
The final race of the weekend hit the track in the afternoon, so the drivers were right back in their cars with a focus on improving from their Race 2 results. Dickerson started from the outside of the front row alongside James Raven, but he quickly took the lead from the green flag and paced the first three laps before dropping to second just before the yellow flag was displayed for a driver stopping on-track. At the restart, Dickeron was booted off track but saved it, expertly guiding his car back onto the racing surface in fifth. Dickerson pushed hard to regain positions, but fifth would be the final classification. Barrichello started fifth and ran strong in the pack, dropping to 11th on the final lap, having spent the entire race within the top-10. In the end, he was promoted back to 10th after a post-race penalty was issued to another driver. This was Barrichello’s third top-10 of the year, and moved him to 14th in the championship standings.
Overall, the weekend was a tremendous success for DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports, scoring their first-ever race win as a team. Dickerson’s initial F4 victory was the highlight and, when paired with his two additional top-five finishes, has set him in his new position as the leader in the championship standings. The team is also third in the current Team Standings.
The next event on the 2018 F4 United States Championship Powered by Mazda is the Keystone Speedfest at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, PA on August 3-5. The team will test at the facility in late July in preparation for Rounds 10-11-12 of the series.
DC AUTOSPORT – DRIVER RESULTS AND QUOTES
F4 US CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUNDS 7/8/9 – JUNE 29-JULY 1, 2018
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE – LEXINGTON, OH
DAKOTA DICKERSON - #9
Qualifying: 1st – 1:25.906
Race 1: Start – 1st / Finish – 1st
Race 2: Start – 1st / Finish – 2nd
Race 3: Start – 2nd Finish – 5th
Driver Quote: “I am really happy to get my first of what I know will be many wins with the DC Autosport boys. We have all been working tremendously hard to get these results, which have put us in the championship lead. We are going to continue to focus on what we can control and keep pushing hard to snag more wins this season!"
EDUARDO BARRICHELLO - #91
Qualifying: 6th – 1:26.627
Race 1: Start – 6th / Finish – 14th
Race 2: Start – 17th / Finish – 14th
Race 3: Start – 5th / Finish – 10th
