Augie Soto-Schirripa earned his first career win in Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) competition. Marking the first F4 U.S. win for International Motorsports, Soto-Schirripa overtook the lead exiting the first turn on the first lap and never looked back in a race that stayed green from lights to checkers.
Michael Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) started the race from the pole position after opening the weekend with a win in yesterday’s Race 1. Just behind him was Soto-Schirripa (No. 24 International Motorsports Ligier JS F4), who started the race from the second position. When the lights went out, Soto-Schirripa got a clean start to overtake the lead as they exited the first corner. Alex Berg (No. 08 MySim.ca / Rohde & Liesenfeld / Easy Drift / Penn Elcom Online / Dae Systems Ligier JS F4) gridded in the third position, but by Turn 4, he looked inside Costello to overtake the second spot.
While the top three broke away, a pack of five cars started battling it out for the fourth position. Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Ligier JS F4), Tanner DeFabis (No. 5 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4), Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4), Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) and Lewis Hodgson (No. 30 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) raced nose to tail and side by side. Woods-Toth emerged the leader of the group, while Cará and Sherlock continued to duke it out for the fifth position until lap 6, when Sherlock finally completed the pass on Cará to round out the top five.
On Lap 9, Costello pulled to the inside of Berg as they entered Turn 4 to reclaim the second position. With Berg facing wear of his Hankook tires, the driver found himself facing more pressure from behind as the laps progressed.
As the race marched toward its halfway point, Soto-Schirripa pulled out to a 1.5s lead. Costello continued his focus forward, slowly chipping away at Soto-Schirripa’s lead and moving as close as 0.448-seconds when the checkered flag waved. Meanwhile, Woods-Toth and Sherlock continued to battle for the third position. Sherlock overtook Woods-Toth to hold onto third for two laps, but Woods-Toth once again moved past Sherlock to claim the third position by lap 16, and remained there for the rest of the event.
When they crossed the finish line, it was Soto-Schirripa leading the way, followed by Costello and Woods-Toth. Meanwhile, Sherlock and Berg rounded out the top five.
“This win was a long time coming,” said Soto-Schirripa from the podium. “This was our second F4 U.S. race for us as a team, so it exceeded our expectations and we are really happy. After we had that contact in Race 1, we figured that we’d put in a quali lap so we could start Race 2 well, and it worked! Like I said, we’re really, really happy, and I think this sealed the deal for us to go to New Jersey [Motorsports Park].”
- Notes of interest:
The victory marked the first-career F4 U.S. victory for driver Augie Soto-Schirripa and the International Motorsports team. - Soto-Schirripa is competing in just his second F4 U.S. race weekend after joining the championship at Road America last month.
Costello earned his second podium of the weekend after winning yesterday’s Race 1. - After entering the weekend as the points leader, Woods-Toth missed the podium in Race 1, but rallied in Race 2 to earn his first podium finish of the weekend.
- Three teams were represented on the podium, with Soto-Schirripa competing for International Motorsports, Costello for Jay Howard Driver Development and Woods-Toth for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport.
- WATCH THE STREAM REPLAY: F4 U.S. Race 2 at Mid-Ohio
Patrick Woods-Toth comes back to win Race 3 at Mid-Ohio
Patrick Woods-Toth rallied to win Race 3 in Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. After missing the podium in Race 1 and finishing third in Race 2, the Canadian came from a fifth-place starting position to earn his third-career F4 U.S. win.
Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) started from the pole—his first—after setting fast lap in Race 2. Michael Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) started next to him in second, but it was Augie Soto-Schirripa (No. 24 International Motorsports Ligier JS F4) who jumped forward to overtake second after gridding in the third position. Frankie Mossman (No. 6 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) was the next to overtake Costello, moving the No. 19 into the fourth position while Mossman overtook third.
As the clock ticked down, Sherlock’s mirrors were filled with a freight train of Soto-Schirripa, Mossman and Lewis Hodgson (No. 30 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) all running nose to gearbox. With just 20 minutes remaining, Hodgson pulled inside Mossman in the Keyhole to move into third. Meanwhile, tight racing among the front four allowed Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) to join the train, making it a five-car battle. By the time they reached Turn 4, it was Soto-Schirripa looking to make a move, overtaking the point position from Sherlock. Riding the momentum with Soto-Schirripa and Hodgson while picking up positions was Woods-Toth, who moved into fourth by lap 6 and third by lap 8.
A full-course yellow brought another chance to mix up the running order when the race restarted with just under 10 minutes remaining. Soto-Schirripa led the field back to the green with Hodgson, Woods-Toth and Sherlock in tow. As they reached Turn 4, Woods-Toth pulled to the outside of Hodgson and stayed on the gas to complete the pass as they raced through Turn 5.
With less than five minutes on the clock, Woods-Toth had moved within a second of Soto-Schirripa. With three minutes remaining, Woods-Toth pulled next to Soto-Schirripa on the backstretch to once again run into Turn 4 on the outside, looking to pick up a position. Completing the pass by the exit of the turn, Woods-Toth took control of the race and never looked back.
As they crossed the line, Woods-Toth led Soto-Schirripa, followed by Hodgson.
“We struggled in the last race with front grip—we were just understeering everywhere,” explained Woods-Toth from the podium. “We made a change before this race, and I made sure to take care of the tires so we could be there at the end. We got really lucky getting a yellow and had an amazing restart. The pace at the end was just incredible. I saved my stuff for the end, and it paid off.”
Notes of interest:
- Augie Soto-Schirripa was named the winner of the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of the Race following a breakthrough performance in his second F4 U.S. race weekend.
- Three countries were reflected on today’s podium, with Woods-Toth from Montreal, Canada, Soto-Schirripa from Miami, and Hodgson from Sydney, Australia.
- With nine rounds complete, Woods-Toth maintains the points lead. The 19-year-old has accumulated three wins and seven podium finishes in nine races.
- F4 U.S. is back on track next month at New Jersey Motorsports Park, July 28-30. Follow the championship on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or use Race Monitor to follow live timing and scoring. Tickets for the event are available at NJMP.com/SpeedTour.
- WATCH THE STREAM REPLAY: F4 U.S. Race 3 at Mid-Ohio