Feeder Series reviews the action that took place in North and South America over the weekend in the second half of a two-part weekend review.

By Feeder Series

While multiple junior single-seater series got their 2025 seasons underway in Europe, racing continued in full swing in North America, where the IndyCar and its support series gear up for the Month of May and the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 in three weeks’ time.

Before the series head to their home bases in Indiana, though, they stopped over in Alabama for a weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. As IndyCar completed its third caution-free race in a row, there were many more disruptions in Indy NXT and USF Juniors, which each held their second rounds at the undulating 3.83-kilometre road course.

Further south, F4 NACAM returned to its traditional hunting ground at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, home of the Mexico City Grand Prix, where one driver dominated proceedings and extended his points lead. And in South America, the fourth season of Brazilian F4 finally got underway at Interlagos with a wide-open field.

Rainstorms managed to avoid F1’s Miami Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, but its intensity earlier in the day forced the second F1 Academy race that weekend to be abandoned. Check back Tuesday for our review of what went down – literally and figuratively – at the Hard Rock Stadium.

1. Indy NXT: Peerless Hauger tops every session as Papasavvas takes podium on debut
2. USF Juniors: Escorpioni dominates at Barber as Fisher claims one-point lead
3. F4 NACAM: Ibrahim dominates as Luque and Alquicira keep up the pressure
4. Brazilian F4: a show from the rookies

Indy NXT: Peerless Hauger tops every session as Papasavvas takes podium on debut

Dennis Hauger of Andretti Autosport went two for two in the 2025 Indy NXT season to take a lights-to-flag victory by 11 seconds at Barber Motorsports Park as HMD Motorsports stand-in Evagoras Papasavvas starred on his debut to earn second place after starting third. 

The Norwegian’s ride to victory may have been easy, but he and the rest of the 20-driver grid faced an unusual challenge in drying conditions in qualifying. Collet topped the first group by six tenths of a second, but the drivers in the second group had a drier track surface at their disposal. Max Taylor’s mid-session off brought out the red flag and made the session effectively a one-lap shootout at the finish, which Hauger topped by six tenths despite being the first to cross the line.

Hauger held the lead at the start, but Collet kept him honest through the opening few corners and even drew alongside him at the outside of Turn 5. Their battle was interrupted by Callum Hedge’s off into the gravel at Turn 8, which brought out the first of two caution periods.

The second one came out on lap 11 after a collision between Salvador de Alba and Bryce Aron at Turn 5. Both drivers were able to continue. That came after Sebastian Murray had two separate off-track excursions on lap nine, briefly coming to a stop after the second.

Hauger got the jump at the restart at the end of lap 12 and gradually eked out a gap over second position. Therein lay the race’s biggest turning point – Collet had dropped to 14th after experiencing throttle problems, promoting Papasavvas to second and Lochie Hughes to third.

Collet dropped through the order after lap 23 of 35 and eventually pitted on lap 26. He briefly went out on track again before retiring with a total of 27 laps completed.

As Hauger romped away and set lap times more than half a second quicker than everyone else, Papasavvas came under threat from Hughes, having used up two-thirds of his push-to-pass allotment by the final 10 laps of his race. The Australian used his surplus to slash the gap to the 17-year-old to half a second, while Myles Rowe also closed to within a second.

With three laps to go, Josh Pierson in fifth joined that battle, but neither he nor those in front of him made any passes. 

Behind the top five and sixth-placed Liam Sceats, who is racing for HMD on a round-by-round deal, was Taylor, HMD’s other debutant. The 17-year-old USF Pro 2000 driver, competing in the car Papasavvas is scheduled to pilot for three rounds later this year, also impressed with a storming drive to seventh from 17th on the grid after his spin in qualifying.

Jack William Miller’s own surge from 19th on the grid, meanwhile, culminated in an eighth-place finish.

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying, Group 1	Caio Collet, 1:24.8394	Lochie Hughes, +0.6043s	Bryce Aron, +0.7529s
Qualifying, Group 2	Dennis Hauger, 1:12.7705	Evagoras Papasavvas, +0.5964s	Myles Rowe, +0.6672s
Race (35 laps)	Dennis Hauger, 46:38.8782	Evagoras Papasavvas, +11.0196s	Lochie Hughes, +11.8363s

Standings	Drivers	Rookies
P1	Dennis Hauger, 108	Dennis Hauger, 108
P2	Lochie Hughes, 76	Lochie Hughes, 76
P3	Myles Rowe, 64	Evagoras Papasavvas, 40
P4	Josh Pierson, 52	Liam Sceats, 40
P5	Salvador de Alba, 49	Tommy Smith, 31
P6	Caio Collet, 47	Hailie Deegan, 29
P7	Jordan Missig, 46	Sebastian Murray, 27
P8	Ricardo Escotto, 42	Max Taylor, 26
P9	Evagoras Papasavvas, 40	Nikita Johnson, 19
P10	Liam Sceats, 40	Sophia Floersch, 18

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF Juniors: Escorpioni dominates at Barber as Fisher claims one-point lead

Zanella Racing’s Leonardo Escorpioni triumphed in two of three races at USF Juniors’ second round at Barber Motorsports Park, but teammate Ty Fisher left with a one-point drivers’ championship lead after winning the third contest.

Escorpioni dominated qualifying, topping the first session by 0.3878 seconds and the second by 0.1943s. He led race one throughout and finished 2.7856s ahead of Aatola even with two full-course cautions that decimated his advantage.

The first came out after Diego Guiot clipped Matan Achituv’s rear-left tyre at the opening corner and tipped him into a spin. 

Connor Aspley just avoided hitting the slowing Guiot that time, but he was the next driver to bring out the yellows when he went off at Turn 7 on lap 10.

Those behind Escorpioni could now fight for first, but the bigger beneficiary of Aspley’s incident was erstwhile points leader Oliver Wheldon, who damaged his front wing at the restart on lap four while attempting to pass Fisher for sixth. Wheldon was seconds away from being lapped after pitting, but the neutralisation put him back to the tail of the field. Over the last eight laps, he overtook eight cars to rise to 11th.

Aatola, meanwhile, quickly fell away from Escorpioni as Rodrigo Gonzalez in third had to fend off João Vergara and Fisher in the closing laps.

Race two had an aborted start, but Escorpioni bolted once it got underway the second time around and established a 0.566s gap over Fisher after the first racing lap. The race was then quickly neutralised after Kaylee Countryman spun entering the final corner and collected Harry Moss.

Escorpioni faced a stiffer challenge from Fisher after the restart and had to hold him off until the chequered flag. Behind them, Aatola passed Wheldon on lap seven, but the American fought back, reclaiming third place at Turn 12 on the next lap. Vergara then stole fourth from Aatola at the same spot on the final lap.

Race three began in wet conditions, and there was trouble quickly. Aspley stopped at Turn 5 with right-front damage, bringing out the yellows. As marshals recovered his car, Emma Scarbrough ran into the back of Countryman, sending her spinning into the grass. Scarbrough pulled off with damage of her own.

Another yellow came out on lap 11 after Moss spun at Turn 1, and this one changed the complexion of the race. At the restart at the end of lap 12, Escorpioni got a poor jump and Fisher capitalised, snatching the lead around the outside at Turn 3. Liam Loiacono attempted a similar manoeuvre for second at Turn 8 but veered into the grass and conceded seven positions.

The following lap, Escorpioni dipped a wheel into the grass exiting Turn 8 and lost second place to Wheldon. That enabled Fisher to stretch out his lead, but Wheldon closed the margin down to 0.6432s by the chequered flag, aided by a moment of oversteer for Fisher at Turn 9 on the final lap.

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Leonardo Escorpioni, 1:25.2982	Vilho Aatola, +0.3878s	Rodrigo Gonzalez, +0.5159s
Qualifying 2	Leonardo Escorpioni, 1:25.1109	Ty Fisher, +0.1943s	Oliver Wheldon, +0.4412s
Race 1 (20 laps)	Leonardo Escorpioni, 32:45.4841	Vilho Aatola, +2.7856s	Rodrigo Gonzalez, +4.3125s
Race 2 (20 laps)	Leonardo Escorpioni, 32:36.7587	Ty Fisher, +0.9974s	Oliver Wheldon, +3.1009s
Race 3 (20 laps)	Ty Fisher, 38:21.7099	Oliver Wheldon, +0.6432s	Leonardo Escorpioni, +4.6257s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Ty Fisher, 145	Zanella Racing, 198	Ty Fisher, 145
P2	Leonardo Escorpioni, 144	VRD Racing, 166	Oliver Wheldon, 131
P3	Oliver Wheldon, 131	DEForce Racing, 116	Vilho Aatola, 101
P4	João Vergara, 125	Jay Howard Driver Development, 74	Liam Loiacono, 98
P5	Vilho Aatola, 101	InterMS, 28	Karel Staut, 61
P6	Liam Loiacono, 98	Pole Position Motorsport, 24	Brenden Cooley, 44
P7	Rodrigo Gonzalez, 98	Exclusive Autosport, 18	Thomas Nordquist, 32
P8	Diego Guiot, 67		Harry Moss, 29
P9	Michael Suco, 61		Emma Scarbrough, 29
P10	Karel Staut, 61		Matan Achituv, 27

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 NACAM: Ibrahim dominates as Luque and Alquicira keep up the pressure

Zaky Ibrahim dominated the second round of F4 NACAM’s 2025 season at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, taking all three wins to put him at five victories from six this season.

Having secured pole position for race one, Ibrahim lost the lead at the start to Fernando Luque, with Marco Alquicira following him through. The Ram Racing driver quickly closed the gap, however, and reclaimed first place on lap two. From there, the top three drivers were in a league of their own, though Luque and Alquicira nearly swapped places after battling for second on lap 14.

In race two, the same trio led once again at the end, but there was plenty of action on the way there. Polesitter Elias Vignola conceded the lead to Alquicira at the start, but Alquicira, starting his season at this round, cut across Turn 3 and fell to fourth behind Ibrahim and Luque.

Ibrahim and Luque then passed Vignola into Turn 1 on the second lap. Vignola conceded further positions to Alex Bobadilla, Alquicira and Alex Popow and eventually retired on lap four after continuing to lose pace.

Alquicira had also lost fourth on lap three after sliding on exit entering the Foro Sol, putting Popow, who joined the grid for this round, in prime position to fight for third. The F4 US points leader, however, did not claim the position as Alquicira repassed him down the main straight on lap six.

Out front, Ibrahim also faced pressure from Luque, who overtook him at the same time. They fought for the remainder of the race, with Ibrahim reclaiming the position on lap eight but losing it again on lap 17. Luque crossed the line first, but a post-race five-second penalty cost him the win.

Bobadilla was part of that lead battle until he ran wide at Turn 11 on lap 12 and fell into the clutches of Alquicira. The Santinel Racing Team driver completed the podium after passing Bobadilla on lap 14, with Popow following him through later that lap.

In race three, Alquicira, starting third, had problems with his car almost immediately, dropping to the rear of the field before having to pit at the end of the lap. The fight for third was now between Bobadilla and Popow, with Popow overtaking his Alessandros Racing teammate on lap three and then passing Luque for second two laps later.

By mid-race, Ibrahim had a 16-second buffer to Vignola in sixth. Ivanna Richards, who had retired from the first two races, challenged Mora for seventh on lap six, but she had to pit again at the end of the lap with mechanical issues.

The race finished under the red flag on lap 15 after a safety car deployment to allow for circuit clean-up. Ibrahim, Popow and Luque finished on the podium, with Ibrahim holding a 39-point lead over Luque entering round three at the same circuit in seven weeks’ time. 

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Zaky Ibrahim, 1:33.805	Fernando Luque, +0.334s	Marco Alquicira, +0.552s
Race 1 (19 laps)	Zaky Ibrahim, 30:07.354	Fernando Luque, +6.815s	Marco Alquicira, +7.976s
Race 2 (19 laps)	Zaky Ibrahim, 30:09.310	Fernando Luque, +4.693s	Marco Alquicira, +9.312s
Race 3 (15 laps)	Zaky Ibrahim, 26:08.121	Alex Popow, +1.318s	Fernando Luque, +3.044s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Zaky Ibrahim, 140	RAM Racing 1, 178
P2	Fernando Luque, 101	Alessandros Silver, 161
P3	José Martinez, 76	Alessandros Blue, 143
P4	Alex Bobadilla, 60	RAM Racing 2, 56
P5	Alex Popow, 40	Santinel Racing Team, 30
P6	Max Mora, 38	HRI Racing, 16
P7	Marco Alquicira, 30
P8	Alan Zezatti, 28
P9	Elías Vignola, 28
P10	Axel Matus, 27

Report by Laura Anequini

Read the previous round’s report here.

Brazilian F4: a show from the rookies

The opening round of Brazilian F4 showed that this year’s grid is exceptionally well balanced. Ethan Nobels leads, but several rookies stole the spotlight for either winning or scything through the field.

Nobels, last year’s third-place finisher, topped both free practice sessions Friday, with Ciro Sobral in the top three in both sessions. In qualifying, those two drivers once again featured at the front, but rookie Heitor Dall’Agnol of TMG Racing went faster. His car failed the post-session technical inspection, however, and he was disqualified, meaning Sobral inherited pole.

In race one, Sobral had a great start and showed strong pace throughout the race, leading from start to finish and keeping Nobels behind him. The fight for third raged between Celo Hahn and Alceu Feldmann Neto, but Hahn managed to pass Neto in the closing stages to finish on the podium.

Neto then spun at Turn 1 with five laps remaining to hand another position to Dall’Agnol, who drove a strong recovery race from last to finish fourth with the fastest lap. While there were many battles for position and even some contact, the race featured no safety cars.

Murilo Rocha started on pole in race two and successfully defended the lead as Pietro Mesquita lost a place to Pedro Lins. The safety car was then deployed on lap two after contact in the infield section between Hahn and Pedro Lima left Hahn stranded in the grass.

Rocha kept the position in the restart, but a dive from Bernardo Gentil into Sobral for seventh sent the race one winner spinning and triggered another local yellow flag. As Rocha continued to lead out front, Mesquita made the decisive move for second on Feldmann Neto with three laps remaining at Turn 1.

Sobral was on pole once again in race three, but Nobels, starting second, put him under pressure from the start, nearly making an overtake stick around the outside of Turn 1.

Much of the action unfolded behind them in the midfield. Dall’Agnol, who had started 15th, climbed to 11th by the end of the first lap. He gained three more positions when Hahn attempted an overtake on Grotta but spun, while Enricco Abreu also retired after getting hit from behind by Lima while slowing to avoid Hahn’s car.

After a safety car period, Sobral kept the lead at the restart as Dall’Agnol went up to sixth. With 13 minutes remaining in the race, Nobels closed the gap to Sobral and had several looks at overtaking while facing pressure from Rogério Grotta behind.

Nobels and Sobral touched in the Senna S on the next lap. Sobral got going again after his spin, but by then the safety car had already been deployed.

With Sobral’s spin, Dall’Agnol was promoted to third place. He soon overtook Grotta for second at Turn 4 on the restart lap to complete an incredible recovery race, while Nobels cruised to victory by 2.773s and left the round with a 15-point lead over Dall’Agnol.

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Ciro Sobral, 1:35.957	Ethan Nobels, +0.077s	Celo Hahn, +0.094s
Race 1 (20 laps)	Ciro Sobral, 32:21.853	Ethan Nobels, +1.499s	Celo Hahn, +6.115s
Race 2 (13 laps)	Murilo Rocha, 22:22.688	Pietro Mesquita, +1.549s	Alceu Feldmann Neto, +2.470s
Race 3 (18 laps)	Ethan Nobels, 32:17.429	Heitor Dall’Agnol, +2.773s	Rogério Grotta, +4.651s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Ethan Nobels, 52	TMG Racing, 89	Heitor Dall’Agnol, 55
P2	Heitor Dall’Agnol, 37	Cavaleiro Sports, 87	Pietro Mesquita, 43
P3	Pietro Mesquita, 31	Bassani Racing, 47	Murilo Rocha, 40
P4	Murilo Rocha, 29		Pedro Lins, 31
P5	Ciro Sobral, 29		Celo Hahn, 25
P6	Alceu Feldmann Neto, 24		Cadi Baptista, 18
P7	Rogério Grotta, 16		Pedro Lima, 18
P8	Celo Hahn, 15		Christian Helou, 12
P9	Pedro Lins, 13		Bernardo Gentil, 10
P10	Cadi Baptista, 10		Enricco Abreu, 7

Report by Laura Anequini

Header photo credit: Joe Skibinski / Penske Entertainment