F4 U.S. Championships

Nicky Hays, Michael d’Orlando and Sicheng Li join F4 U.S. for Virginia International Raceway

 After a month-long break, the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda drivers are back in full force this weekend (July 26-28) at Virginia International Raceway for the second annual Andy Scriven Memorial Race.

With a $230,000-valued scholarship on the line to advance into the F3 Americas Championship Powered by Honda, fans can expect three rounds of intense wheel-to-wheel action as the championship battle heats up.

Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport pilot Joshua Car of Sydney, Australia, leads the season-long points battle over second-place DEForce Racing driver Kiko Porto. Stepping up from karts, Car made his open wheel debut last year at VIR with two top-five finishes and a top-10. Now with more than a season’s worth of races and hundreds of seat hours of preparation behind him, Car looks to capture the podium results that were out of reach last season. 

“We have had a win at every track so far this season and our goal is to continue that here at VIR,” said Car. “Having experience on the track is helpful, but guys like Kiko Porto who didn’t race here last year, were picking it up quickly during the promoter test. We’ve been working really hard over the break and we're ready for another Crosslink/Kiwi podium sweep. It’s going to be a good weekend.”

Teddy Wilson also wants to capitalize off his experience on the 3.27-mile, 17-turn technical circuit. The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year nominee took a second and third place finish last year at VIR. With the top step escaping him at in 2018, Wilson enters the weekend hungry for a victory.   

“I had good results here last year,” said Wilson. “I left with a second and third place finish but missed out on first. This year, we started the season out with a win, and want to repeat the first-place results that we got at Atlanta. I really think we have a chance to do that here at VIR.”

While the top talents campaign for the championship, three new challengers join the field, all with different goals for the weekend.

In effort to keep his skill set fresh during his two-month break from the French F4 Championship, Nicky Hays of Huntington Beach, California, inked a deal with DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports for the weekend.  In his first year of international open wheel competition, Hays is already third in the French F4 championship, culminating the first half of the season with a victory. While the chassis and engine packages differ from the French F4 to F4 U.S., Hays’ unofficial times in Thursday’s promoter test day matched the top drivers in the field. With his speed, experience and mentor support from former Indy 500 driver Phil Giebler’s, Hays is a threat to Car’s perfect podium performance and Wilson’s first-place results. 

“This is my first year racing in Europe. The competition there is tough but it’s just as tough here with the F4 U.S. There’s a lot of talented drivers entered,” said Hays. “My goal this weekend is to be competitive up front, but I really wanted to come here to get the extra seat time with a large field of competitive cars.”

Following an abbreviated season in USF2000 last year, Michael d’Orlando returns to the cockpit under the Velocity Racing Development banner. The New York-native spent the winter months testing in the Ligier JS F4 machine at the team’s home base in Georgia and prepared for this weekend turning multiple laps on the simulator. Driving the No. 61 VRD car, d’Orlando looks keep pace and match-up with the rookies throughout the 22-car field.

“I am so excited to get back in the car with VRD,” said d’Orlando. “Dan Mitchell (team principal) and I made tons of progress working together last year in only a few race weekends and I am excited to be back to continue to learn and improve. I have been preparing with training at UFC Gym and on simulators at Classic Car Club Manhattan and Artis Race Labs. I look forward to working with the VRD team to strive for some great results.”

Adding two new drivers to its lineup at the start of the season, Primus Racing Team welcomes yet another driver to its growing team. Chinese pilot Sicheng Li joins Primus Racing in the carbon fiber No. 13 car. At 24-years-old, Li got a later start to racing than the typical F4 driver, but with hard work and determination expedited his career going from karts to being competitive in open wheel in 18 months. Starting in karting in 2018 on the west coast, Li quickly moved into F2000 cars, running in the SCCA Cal Club series, and more recently, the SCCA Pro Racing sanctioned Formula Race Promotions F2000 Championship.

“I had a test an F4 West Coast team and I really liked the car,” said Li. “The F4 car is more advanced with the paddle shifters than I am used to and I feel like I have more control in the corners. I am looking forward to my first F1-style standing start. With it being my first race, my goal is to finish the race and bring the Primus Racing Team car back in one piece.”

Giving drivers ample seat time on race weekends to aid in their development is a staple of the F4 U.S. Championship. Drivers will receive three hours of track time at Virginia International Raceway with a pair of 30-minute practices on Friday, kicking off the official weekend. A 30-minute qualifying session opens the day on Saturday at 11:35 a.m. ET followed by the first of three 30-minute races at 4:55 p.m. ET. The race weekend wraps up on Sunday with two races (11:40 a.m. and 4:55 p.m ET). For live timing and scoring, post-race video highlights and results visit F4USChampionship.com. 

2019 F4 U.S. Championship VIR Entry List