Winning Race 2 at Circuit of The Americas, Teddy Musella clinched the Ligier JS F4 Series (JS F4) 2024 Championship. The Scuderia Buell driver has been the one to beat all weekend, topping the speed chart in every session, and now winning both races en route to locking in the title.
After setting the fastest lap in Race 1, Sacha van’t Pad Bosch (No. 27 Scuderia Buell Ligier JS F4) led the field toward the waving green flag to start the race. Musella (No. 25 Scuderia Buell Ligier JS F4) started second, but going a bit too wide into Turn 1, he settled into fourth place for the first lap. Up front, van’t Pad Bosch was challenged by third-place starter Leonardo Escorpioni (No. 26 Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4).
The two ran side by side while Musella and Maite Cáceres (No. 6 Abitab / Supermatch Ligier JS F4) battled for third behind them. Musella eventually won the battle against Cáceres as they raced through Turn 1 and then turned his focus to the front of the field as van’t Pad Bosch and Escorpioni continued to race wheel to wheel. A few turns later, Musella reached Escorpioni’s gearbox. Easily completing the pass, he pulled up to van’t Pad Bosch’s gearbox seconds later, making his way around his teammate to take the race lead.
Once in control of the event, Musella was unstoppable. A safety car period briefly slowed his pace as contact further back in the field sent Brad Majman (No. 95 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) into the tire barrier. With cleanup work complete, the race resumed with approximately nine minutes left on the clock. Musella once again jumped ahead of the pack and kept his sights forward. Behind him, Escorpioni settled into second and van’t Pad Bosch in third.
Championship contender Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N.E.Where Transportation / New’T Racing Ligier JS F4) had to start the race from pit lane after a penalty was assessed following Race 1. The Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport driver took advantage of the restart to jump up to sixth, and made his way around Cáceres to overtake fifth during the closing minutes. Racing three wide into Turn 12 on the final lap, van’t Pad Bosch and Drew Szuch (No. 28 Szuch Racing Ligier JS F4) both pulled wheel to wheel with Escorpioni. Szuch initially pulled ahead, but van’t Pad Bosch and Escorpioni pulled off an over-under move for both to overtake Szuch.
As they crossed the finish line, Musella led the field, followed by van’t Pad Bosch in second and Escorpioni in third. Szuch crossed the line in fourth, followed by Hauanio in fifth.
During post-race inspection, officials found a technical infraction on the No. 27 driven by van’t Pad Bosch, which the stewards determined was in breach of the sporting regulations. As a result, van’t Pad Bosch was dropped to last place in the classification and lost all lap times.
“We had quite an unlucky start falling back to fourth, but I knew to just focus on the championship — take your positions when you can and don’t make any risky moves,” said Musella. “I ended up taking P1 at the end of it, so it was just a great result for our entire team. What a high it’s been — to come back from [a tough weekend at] Road America to win a championship is just an amazing feeling. Honestly, I’m at a loss for words with the amount of emotion I’m feeling. I want to thank my dad, my team at Scuderia Buell and everyone else that’s helped me throughout this journey.”
JS F4 will contest their final race of the 2024 season Saturday at 8:50am CT.
Popow goes two in a row during F4 U.S. debut
Alex Popow has two race starts and two race wins in Formula 4 United States Championship after taking the victory in Race 2 at Circuit of The Americas on Friday afternoon. Leading from flag to flag, Popow crossed the line with a lead of 1.373s to claim his second checkered flag of the weekend.
From the wave of the green flag there was no stopping Alex Popow (No. 55 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422). The 18-year-old Venezuelan-American secured the pole for Race 2 after setting the fastest lap — and a new track record — during Thursday’s Race 1, and immediately pulled to the point position. Points leader Nicolas Stati (No. 15 AGI Sport Ligier JS F422) started in second, but found himself under immediate pressure from championship rival Daniel Quimby (No. 24 Cruise America / MIR Raceline / FIJI Airways / GalvanizeIns Ligier JS F422), who had started the race in the fourth position.
By the time they exited Turn 1, Quimby had worked his way up to second, staying close to Popow’s rear wing. Another driver with a great start was fifth-place starter Connor Roberts (No. 46 ApexSpeed.com / Entropy Cellars Ligier JS F422), who pulled into third by the time the field completed the first lap.
With the front three pulling away, Stati slotted into fourth while some of the most exciting racing took place behind him as Alex Crosbie (No. 41 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) and Lincoln Day (No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) fought for the fifth position. Crosbie took the spot just in time, as a full-course caution brought out the safety car.
When the race restarted, Popow once again jumped to the point position. Right on Quimby’s gearbox, Stati was able to make a move into Turn 1 to claim the runner-up spot, but Quimby made his way back around his rival before the field reached the esses. With nearly nine minutes left on the clock, the front three drivers settled in nose to tail, while Crosbie looked for a way around Roberts. Within two laps, the New Zealander had made his way around Roberts to claim fourth, and the field raced toward the checkered flag.
Popow was first to take the checkered flag, followed by Quimby in second and Stati in third.
“It’s just been incredible,” said Popow. “I’m so happy to be here once again — thank you to all the guys at MLT and everyone who’s helped me get into this position. It’s just incredible the amount of work we’ve put in over the last couple weeks coming from [Carolina Motorsports Park], where we did our first testing. It’s great. I have to thank my dad — without him, I wouldn’t be here. He’s the one that got me into racing, and showed me what I love to do.”
After the race, a series of stewards’ decisions resulted in penalties that adjusted the finishing order. Drivers receiving a penalty included:
- Nicolas Stati: two five-second time penalties, moving him to sixth on the official results
- Alex Crosbie: five-second time penalty, moving him to fifth on the official results
- Lincoln Day: five-second time penalty
- Seth Gilmore: five-second time penalty