Michael Costello earned his third-career win in Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) competition on Sunday morning at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). After setting the fast lap en route to a fourth-place result during Saturday’s race one, the driver had a clean launch off the starting grid and sailed away to victory.
Just a couple minutes into the race, the safety car was deployed for a full-course caution, as two competitors spun in Turn 5. With one car unable to drive back to pit lane, safety workers swiftly cleared the wreckage to get the race back underway. Cars lined up one by one and Costello led the field to green, perfectly timing his launch toward the starting line. Once again solidly out front, Daniel Cará had no choice but to settle into second with Patrick Woods-Toth behind him. While Cará’s gap to Costello fluctuated slightly, staying just under or just over a second, Woods-Toth was slowly making forward progress to close in on Cará.
With just a few minutes left on the clock, Cará and Woods-Toth found themselves in a heated battle for second. There was slight contact between the two, but later in the lap, Cará went off track and damaged his wing pulling back on to the circuit. The slip-up was just enough to allow Woods-Toth to pick up the position and drop Cará to third.
When they crossed the line after 30 minutes, it was Costello who led Woods-Toth, followed by Cará. Titus Sherlock, Saturday’s winner, finished fourth, while Saturday’s pole sitter, Jesse Lacey (No. 16 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4), rounded out the top five.
“It feels awesome,” said Costello after climbing from the car. “I mean, just to be able to win at my home track and have my family here—there’s nothing like it. I want to thank everyone at ProGuard Warranty for helping me throughout my career and helping me get to F4 U.S. I’d also like to thank A14 Management for being an amazing management company—I’m so grateful to be a part of their program. I’d like to thank Jay Howard Driver Development for keeping the hard work up, especially when it was so hot here earlier in the week. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. I’d also like to thank my mom and dad for everything.”
After a post-race steward’s decision cost him the win in race one, Alex Berg got his first Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) win in race three at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) on Sunday afternoon. The driver set fast lap in Sunday morning’s race to lead the field off the starting grid and immediately take command of the race. An incident on the track at the end of the first lap led to a red flag for cleanup before the race resumed as a 20-minute sprint to the finish. Berg relinquished the lead for a few corners, but reclaimed the top spot before the field made it back around to the line and went on to open up a 2.627s lead before the checkered flag waved.
With a good jump off the starting block, Berg’s pace was slowed just one lap in when Logan Adams (No. 20 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) and Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N.E. Where Transport Ligier JS F4) made contact on the front stretch while racing inside the top 10 and sent Adams flipping through the grass. The red flag was immediately displayed, bringing cars down pit road while safety crews worked to clean up the debris.
Michael Boyiadzis (No. 3 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) had started the race third and held the position until the red flag was displayed. However, rear wing damage observed by pit road officials during the stoppage resulted in his car being pulled out of line and brought to the attention of his crew for repairs. He restarted the race in 21st and was only able to rebound to 13th by the time the checkered flag waved.
Meanwhile, with the race effectively split into two parts, race director Scott Goodyear called for a 20-minute sprint to the finish when the green flag waved. As they took the green, the top five cars crossed the line with less than a second separating them. Cará had a great restart from third, driving past both Woods-Toth in second and Berg to overtake the lead going into Turn 1. Now back to second, Berg knew he didn’t want to wait long before making his move to retake the top spot. With Cará leaving the door open entering Turn 6, Berg drove deep into the corner and took control of the race.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, Sherlock moved into third after starting the race in the eighth position. The 18-year-old was quietly gaining on second place, picking away at Woods-Toth nearly a half second per lap. With just one lap to make the pass, Sherlock had a good run at Woods-Toth heading into Turn 1, but the driver of the No. 27 covered the inside. The move forced Sherlock to drive deep into the corner and out-brake Woods-Toth while driving around the outside to claim the second position.
When the checkered flag waved, Berg led Sherlock and Woods-Toth to the line. Costello finished fourth after winning race two earlier in the day. Cará rounded out the top five.
The stewards voted to pick the driver who they felt had the best performance throughout the weekend, awarding Berg with the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of the Race and a bespoke timepiece.
“I am extremely happy with this result today,” said Berg. “I started on the pole. We had a safety car restart, and I dropped down to second for a couple corners, but I was able to come back up to first. Then I was just able to bide my time, conserve my tires, walk the line and end up with over a 2s lead. I’m over the moon right now; I’m really happy. It’s definitely a weekend to remember.”
The F4 U.S. action will resume at VIRginia International Raceway, October 5-8. Tickets for the event are on sale now at VIRnow.com. Be sure to follow F4 U.S. on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest news and updates.