SCCA Pro Racing

Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Leads Team Standings

CHARLOTTE (July 24, 2023) – The 2023 championship battle is halfway complete for Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.), as the series wrapped up its ninth round at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last month. Drivers have traveled from nine countries and 16 states across America to compete for this year’s F4 U.S. title. With a scholarship to compete in the 2024 season of Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda on the line, the championship battle is slowly taking shape among the nearly 40 entrants that have seen the lights go out this season.

Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) currently leads the F4 U.S. Driver Points Standings. The Canadian just got his start in single-seater race cars last December after a nomination to attend the Radford Racing School F4 U.S. Scholarship Award School. With three wins and seven podiums, the 19-year-old has been a consistent front runner and has yet to finish a race outside the top five.

Woods-Toth’s fiercest competition has come from Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD) competitor, Michael Costello. With two wins and four podiums, 16-year-old Costello (No. 19 JHDD / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) trails Woods-Toth by 42.5 points.

Just behind Costello sits Jesse Lacey (No. 16 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4). The Australian has four podium finishes to date, but is still searching for his first win after finishing in the runner-up position three times.

While 15.5 points separate Costello and Lacey, Lacey faces fierce competition from Alex Berg (No. 08 MySim.ca/Rohde & Liesenfeld/Easy Drift/Penn Elcom Online/Dae Systems Ligier JS F4), who trails him by just three points in the standings. Berg recorded a career-best second-place finish last month at Mid-Ohio, while still searching for his first-career F4 U.S. win.

In all, the series has seen five different winners and 10 different drivers on the podium in the first nine rounds.

Carl Bennett (No. 9 Gonella Racing Ligier JS F4) took the win on Hankook tires in the season opener at NOLA Motorsports Park. Jimmie Lockhart (No. 48 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4) was the next driver to taste victory with a pair of back-to-back wins in Rounds 2 and 3 at NOLA. Woods-Toth finally stepped atop the podium at Road America (twice), and shared the weekend with another first-time winner in Costello. The most recent F4 U.S. event at Mid-Ohio saw three different winners in three races as Costello and Woods-Toth each added another win to their stats, and Auggie Soto-Schirripa (No. 24 International Motorsports Ligier JS F4) earned his first-career F4 U.S. victory.

Also earning podium finishes this season has been: Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4), Lewis Hodgson (No. 30 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4), and Frankie Mossman (No. 6 JHDD / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4).

     SEE MORE:  2023 F4 U.S. Driver’s Points Championship Standings

Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport currently sits atop the Team Point Championship Standings. Having accrued three wins with Woods-Toth, four runner-up finishes, and seven third-place results, the team has a 101.5-point advantage with nine rounds complete.

Solidly in second place is Jay Howard Driver Development. In the first nine events of 2023, the multi-car team has accumulated two wins with Costello behind the wheel, three second-place finishes and one third-place result.

Single-car effort Doran Motorsports Group currently ranks third with driver Alex Berg as their only representation in F4 U.S. The team holds only two podium finishes, with a second-place result at Mid-Ohio and a third-place finish at Road America, but top-10 finishes in every round—with the majority of the results inside the top five—helped the team rise above their competition.

     SEE MORE:  2023 F4 U.S. Team’s Points Championship Standings

F4 U.S. is back on track next weekend 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.