With the Formula 4 US Championship, the most competitive F4 racing series outside Europe will start its new season this weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park. In this preview you will find all the
teams and drivers starting in the championship. You will also get an overview of the season calendar, race format and points system. At the end you will find my personal championship
predictions.
32 drivers from 13 different teams are on the entry list for the season opener. It is quite possible that in the course of the season more drivers and teams will join the championship. Many drivers will be competing with their own team this year. Only six of the 13 teams have confirmed more than one driver so far. In addition, for most drivers it will be their first year in the F4 US Championship. Many new names that I may introduce to you here. No longer competing this year are, among others, the reigning runner-up team champions from Velocity Racing Development, as they want to focus on their respective commitments in the USF Pro Championships and the British GB3.
Jensen Global Advisors
Everett Stack, Landan Matriano Lim, Aidan Potter
Eric Jensen's team is planning to run three cars this season. Two drivers have been announced so far, neither of whom have raced in the F4 US Championship so far. Everett Stack from Alexandria, Virginia has been participating in an extensive driver development program with the Jensen team in preparation for his first season. The 16-year-old made his F4 US debut at the series' official test at NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans on January 28-29. His teammate this year is Landan Matriano Lim. He is entering his first F4-US season after several years in prototype racing. In January, Landan scored a dominant victory in the main event at the NASA Racing Series at MSR Raceway in Houston. The 20-year-old from Louisiana has also competed in state championship gymnastics for 13 years. The third driver of the team this year is Aidan Potter. Actually, he planned to compete in the F2000 championship this year. After successful Formula 4 tests, however, him and the team decided at short notice to compete in the F4 US Championship.
Jay Howard Driver Development
Michael Boyiadzis, Dane Scott, Tanner DeFabis, Frankie Mossman, Eric Wisniewski, Michael Costello, Logan Adams, Ava Dobson
Jay Howard Driver Development is starting the new year with eight drivers. This means that the team of former Indycar driver Jay Howard has the most cars on the grid. Michael Boyiadzis is one of the few drivers with experience in the championship. He competed in the second half of the season last year starting on the third race weekend. He had his best weekend at Virginia International Raceway when he finished in the points in all three races. To prepare for the new season, he participated in the Yacademy Wnter Series where he finished on the podium four times in six races. Like most of his teammates, Dane Scott has yet to race in the F4 US. The American contested his first car races at the beginning of the year in the Yacademy Winter Series. Tanner DeFabis also contests his first single-seater races in 2023. In various competitions throughout the Mid-American West, he has been a consistent front-runner and podium winner in TaG class races. Frankie Mossman still competed in karting at national level last year. He also competed in the USF 2000 Championship at the Indianapolis race weekend, where he managed to finish his first race in eighth place. In early February, he also won two of three F4 races in the Yacademy Winter Series at Sebring International Raceway. Eric Wisniewski competed primarily in Legend Cars races in the past before joining the new PMH F4 development program last year. He also enters his first season in the F4 US Championship. Michael Costello has competed primarily in karting in recent years. In the ROK Cup USA and the Superkarts! USA, Costello has proven his abilities at the highest level of karting throughout North America as a multiple race winner and consistent front runner. In the Yacademy Winter Series, he dominated all three races in the F4 class at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logan Adams, the grandson of former INDYCAR driver Mark Dismore, will also make his debut in open-wheel racing next weekend. He, too, has competed in ROK Cup USA and Superkarts! USA races. Rounding out the team this year is Ava Dobson. As part of the PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship program, she is one of five female racing drivers receiving financial support this year. Ava will have to wait a few more months to make her racing debut, as she won't turn 15 until June. The racer from Brookfield, Wisconsin has been active in karting for many years.
Future Star Racing
Robert Torres, TBA
The Future Star Racing Team plans to contest the 2023 season with two cars. Robert Torres has been confirmed as the team's only driver so far. He already competed in the championship for one year with Group-A Racing in 2020. Back then, his best result was a tenth-place finish in the second race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This year, the 24-year-old from Malvern, Pennsylvania, finally celebrates his comeback in a race car.
Gonella Racing
Carl Bennett, Tyke Durst
Gonella Racing has two drivers on the grid who also raced with the team last year. Carl Bennett finished the season in 14th place. His best result was a sixth-place finish in the first race at Virginia International Raceway. The dual American-Thai citizen is also racing in Spanish F4 this year. His teammate Tyke Durst also contested all F4 US races last year. He finished the championship in 21st place and recorded his best result with a sixth-place finish at the third race in Virginia.
Cará Origin Motosports
Daniel Cará
As at the end of the previous year, Daniel Cará will once again be competing with a private team. The Brazilian only contested the last six races of the year last season. His best result was an eighth-place finish in the third race at Virginia International Speedway.
Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport
Cole Kleck, Jesse Lacey, Patrick Woods-Toth, Titus Sherlock, Hannah Greenemeier, Lewis Hodgson, Alex Benavitz, Madison Aust
The Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsports team has six drivers tackling the new season. Cole Kleck enters his first full year in the F4 US Championship. He impressed on his debut at Circuit of the Americas at the end of last season with a fifth place finish in the first race, and a sixth place finish in the third. Jesse Lacey, from Australia, also enters his first season in U.S. Formula 4. The 16-year-old participated in the Ferrari Driver Academy Scouting Finals and celebrated both national and international karting success. Patrick Woods-Toth is also moving from karting into Formula 4 this year. The Canadian won the National Karting Championships in the Rotax Mini MAX category in his home country in 2015. Titus Sherlock competed in the USF Juniors Championship with the Crosslink/Kiwi team last year. The American finished eighth in the championship and made the podium once as runner-up at Virginia International Raceway. He made his debut in F4 US at the season finale in Austin, Texas last year, and finished two of three races in the points. Hannah Greenemeier became the first female driver in history wlche SKUSA to win the X-30 ProTour championship class in 2021. This made her the first woman to win a SKUSA championship. Her first experience with single-seaters was at the Lucas Oil Racing School before she was invited to test for the W Series in 2022. The 20-year-old is competing in her first season in the F4 US Championship this year. Lewis Hodgson and Alex Benavitz will also be on the grid for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, at least on the first race weekend. Hodgson made his debut in the race series at NOLA Motorsports Park last year. Benavitz was still racing in the Lucas Oil Racing School last season. The team is completed by Madison Aust, who already competed last year with Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport. In her Formula 4 US debut season, she made it into the points once as ninth in the third race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Momentum Motorsports
Garrett Dettman
Momentum Motorsports enters the new season with Garrett Dettman. After the team wasn't able to compete last year, they are back full time this year. The Indiana racer competed in the Formula Race Promotions series last year, where he finished on the podium several times and was also victorious in Formula Ford races previously. Dettman is contesting his rookie season in the F4 US Championship this year.
Era Motorsport
Matthew Higgins
The Era Motorsport team is known from the sports car prototype sport and enters the F4 US Championship for the first time this season. Matthew Higgins, the son of rally icon David Higgins, is the first driver for the team in Formula 4. The Briton won the 2020 British Rotax Championship in the Junior category during his time in karting. In addition to his F4 involvement, he will also hold test sessions in the team's Oreca 07 LMP2 prototype this year. His goal in motorsport is to compete in sports car races in the future.
New'T Racing
Kekai Hauanio
Kekai Hauanio is also entering his first Formula 4 season. With the New'T Racing team, he has already participated in the Yacademy Winter Series in February, where he won the F4 class with a race victory and a total of five podium finishes. In recent years, he has mainly competed in kart races.
Bacon Racing
Bacon Zelenka
Also on the entry list for the first race weekend is the name of Bacon Zelenka. He, too, has been active in karting lately and is making his debut in American Formula 4 at NOLA Motorsports Park. Among other things, he won Round 2 of the Senior Lights at the Cup Karts North Division in Norway, Illinois, last summer.
Scuderia Buell
Nicolás Ambiado, Luciano Martínez
The Latin American team of Scuderia Buell enters its first season in the Formula 4 US Championship. Nicolás Ambiado was still competing in Formula 4 in his native Chile last year, where he won the championship. He was also extremely successful in karting until last year, where he won the Rotax Max Challenge in Chile in the Micro Max category in 2017, among other things. His teammate in the United States this year is Luciano Martínez. The Argentinean has so far mainly competed in car races in his home country. Last year he competed in the Fórmula 3 Metropolitana. Before that, he also competed in the Argentine Formula 4 and Turismo Pista, where he won class one in 2019.
IGY6 Motorsports
Christopher Parrish
With the veteran-led IGY6 Motorsports racing team, Christopher Parrish enters his first Formula 4 US season this year. In the past years he was mainly competing in karting and motocross events.
Doran-Kroll Competition
Alex Berg
With Alex Berg, there is only one driver confirmed at Doran-Kroll Competition at the moment. Canadian Berg is entering his second full season in Formula 4 US. He finished last year's championship in a strong fifth place and was regularly among the top five drivers. He made it onto the podium four times in third place.
This year, 18 races are again planned over six weekends. All the race tracks were already visited in the same order last year. Unfortunately, the season finale at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas will not be held together with the F1 US Grand Prix as in previous years. The newly formed F1 Academy will take over this slot.
Round 1: NOLA Motorsports Park, Avondale (9-12 March)
Round 2: Road America, Elkhart Lake (18-21 May)
Round 3: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (22-25 June)
Round 4: New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville (28-30 July)
Round 5: Virginia International Raceway, Alton (5-8 October)
Round 6: Circuit of the Americas, Austin (2-5 November)
For the F4 US Championship there are three races per championship round. Each race weekend includes free practice sessions, as well as a half-hour qualifying session, which determines the starting grid for the first race. The fastest lap times of this first race then determine the starting grid for the second race. And the fastest lap times in the second race determine the starting grid for the third and final race. Each race lasts 30 minutes plus one lap.
For all three races points are awarded for the top 10, as we know it from F1. The winner gets 25 points for the championship. There are no extra points for pole positions or fastest race laps.
For the team championship only the best two cars of a team can score points per race.
P1: 25, P2: 18, P3: 15, P4: 12, P5: 10, P6: 8, P7: 6, P8: 4, P9: 2, P10: 1
In preparation for the new season, some F4 US teams & drivers have already competed in the Yacademy Winter Series about a month ago. Together with the USF Juniors cars, they competed in several practice sessions as well as three races each at Sebring International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. On the first two days at Sebring, Frankie Mossman was the fastest driver. He was able to win two of three races in the Formula 4 class. Then at Homestead-Miami, Michael Costello set the pace and won all three races. Victory in the overall standings, on the other hand, was secured by Kekai Hauanio, who was on the podium in five of the six races, including one race win.
P1: Kekai Hauanio / 41
P2: Frankie Mossman / 39
P3: Michael Boyiadzis / 39
P4: Michael Costello / 31
P5: Dane Scott / 26
P6: Tanner DeFabis / 15
P7: Ward Hix / 14
P8: Ava Dobson / 12
P9: Logan Adams / 7
P10: Everett Stack / 0
In each race the top three will win a payout. $750 for the winner, $300 for P2 and $150 for P3.
At the end of the season, the champion will win a scholarship for the 2024 FR Americas season, among other prizes, as well as a $25,000 cash prize. The runner-up will receive $500 each for Bell Helmets and OMP Racing. The third-place finisher will receive $250 each.
There are also FIA Super License points up for grabs for the top seven championship finisher. 12 for the champion, 10 for the runner-up, 7 for third place, 5 for fourth, 3 for fifth, 2 for sixth and 1 point for seventh.
As I already did last year, I'll venture a short prediction for this season's F4 US Drivers and Teams Championships. I have to say that compared to other years, I don't really know many of the drivers for this year. So don't take the prediction too seriously.
Drivers Championship Prediction
P1: Jesse Lacey
P2: Michael Costello
P3: Alex Berg
P4: Cole Kleck
P5: Titus Sherlock
Due to the many rookies who are starting the new year, it is difficult for me to make an accurate prediction for this year's drivers' championship. Depending on the course of the season, I believe that many rookies will be in the fight for the championship. For me, this includes drivers like Jesse Lacey, Cole Kleck, Frankie Mossman, Michael Costello, Nicolás Ambiado, Matthew Higgins or Kekai Hauanio. I also count Alex Berg and Titus Sherlock among the experienced drivers who will be fighting for victories and podiums.
Teams Championship Prediction
P1: Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport
P2: Jay Howard Driver Development
P3: Gonella Racing
After Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport won the team championship last year, I expect them to be the team to beat again this year. Together with JHDD, I think they will fight for the team title. Gonella Racing with their two more experienced drivers Bennett and Durst can certainly compete for race wins or podiums here and there. Behind them, the new teams will have to find their way around the championship. but surprises are always possible.
The first races of the season will take place next weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park.
written by Claudio Graf / 5th March 2023