Nicolas Ambiado secured his first Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) win in race two at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). The 16-year-old Chilean driver finished second in the last two rounds, finally breaking through to run away with the win—and a 10s margin of victory—Sunday morning.
With the perfect setup for morning track conditions, Ambiado methodically hit his marks, opening a gap on the field—a full second within the first lap, nearly 6s within the first 10 minutes, and ultimately over 10s by the time the checkered flag waved. Behind him, Titus Sherlock felt the pressure of Patrick Woods-Toth, with less than 0.5s separating the two during the closing laps, but Sherlock was ultimately able to hold off his opponent, crossing the finish line in the same order they ran the majority of the race: Ambiado, Sherlock, Woods-Toth.
“I’m very happy,” said Ambiado atop the podium. “I had a very good setup today—thanks to my team, my dad, Velox USA. I had a good gap over second, and was able to take the victory. I have to thank my sponsors—LIQUI MOLY—and obviously SpeedTour, FR Americas, and SVRA.”
Patrick Woods-Toth wins thrilling Race 3 at NJMP
Patrick Woods-Toth won a nail-biting third race at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). Racing wheel-to-wheel with Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 LIQUI MOLY Ligier JS F3) for nearly the entire race, Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) was able to hold off Ambiado’s advances to win the final Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) race of the New Jersey Lottery SpeedTour weekend.
Woods-Toth maintained the lead when the race resumed from an early yellow after a Turn 1, lap one incident, getting a clean restart as the green flag waved. With Ambiado in his tracks, mere tenths separated the two frontrunners for nearly the first half of the race. Carrying speed down the frontstretch, Ambiado had a few opportunities to try to find a way around Woods-Toth as they raced toward Turn 1, but Woods-Toth stayed on defense and was able to hold off Ambiado’s challenges.
When the checkered flag waved, Woods-Toth led the way, followed by Ambiado in second and Jett Bowling (No. 02 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) in third. Bowling had started the race in fifth, but the Turn 1 incident on the opening lap gave him the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the situation and earn his fourth podium of the season.
“It’s nice to be back [on the top step],” said Woods-Toth from the podium. “We worked pretty hard at the last two races and had a little bit of tough luck, but we just had to put it together. Finally, we had a good race today. Nicolas [Ambiado] was super fast all weekend. When he was out front [in race two], we couldn’t even see him anymore. This race was a tough race. I had to pull all my karting defense moves, but it turned out well for us in the end. I have to thank the team at Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, Orlando, FSMQ, Ron Fellows, my family, my friends and everybody that supports me.”
FR Americas visits Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for its penultimate round of the 2024 championship, August 29-September 1. Live timing and scoring can be accessed on the Race Monitor app, and additional news and updates about F4 U.S. are available on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.