There was great variety among junior single-seater racing this weekend as several first-time winners emerged in Indy NXT, Formula Regional Japan, Italian F4 and more. Read our recap of the weekend’s action.

By Feeder Series

Of the five series racing this past weekend, four crowned new victors after long waits. Indy NXT’s Myles Rowe, driving for the Abel Motorsport by Force Indy organisation, took his maiden victory with a decisive overtake on points leader Dennis Hauger, in doing so becoming the series’ first Black winner. In what proved a banner weekend for Jamaican-Americans, Alex Powell also won his first two Italian F4 races, and that too came after a year and a half of trying.

FRegional Japan’s newest winner was Kazuhisa Urabe, who defeated Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuki – both Toyota juniors as he once was – in race one to snap a winning streak for the academy dating back to September last year. Arden Motorsport and driver Leon Wilson likewise took their first victories in GB4’s third race at Snetterton. Even in SMP F4, which is not covered in detail here, three new winners emerged in the form of Yaroslav Shevyrtalov, Ivan Pigaev and Egor Stepanov-Kim.

Incidentally, only in the multi-class series were there no new winners. Isaac McNeill and Noah Killion won races in the Gen 2 class in AU4’s second The Bend round as Jensen Marold swept the Gen 1 class. A similar scenario played out in Falkenberg, where Sebastian Bach took all three Nordic 4 victories as Melvin Kalousdian took a hat-trick of his own in Formula Nordic’s simultaneous action.

And if you’re still looking for junior single-seater stars to follow during the week, you’re in luck! Formula E’s rookie test at Berlin takes place today, drawing competitors with hugely varied backgrounds – from F2 title contenders to Italian F4 rookies and everything in between. We went to Monaco earlier this year to find out why more and more young drivers are exploring Formula E and to ascertain whether the series can help solve the bottleneck many find on their way up the motorsport ladder. And keep an eye on our socials for more Formula E content courtesy of Hanne Scheepers, who has been in the Berlin paddock this weekend.

1. Indy NXT: Rowe takes historic maiden win as Hauger takes decisive points advantage
2. FRegional Japan: Suzuki and Umegaki collide, as Urabe takes first win of the season 
3. Italian F4: Powell gets redemption as Nakamura-Berta extends points lead
4. GB4: Bansal doubles at Snetterton as Hilton faces potential suspension
5. AU4: McNeill does the double at The Bend as Killion bounces back with race three win

Indy NXT: Rowe takes historic maiden win as Hauger takes decisive points advantage

Abel Motorsports by Force Indy’s Myles Rowe scored his maiden Indy NXT victory at Iowa Speedway with a late pass on championship leader Dennis Hauger, who eked out a 76-point advantage after a penalty for blocking meant title rival Lochie Hughes finished only 16th.

Severe weather – which spawned a scud cloud near the circuit but not a suspected tornado – forced qualifying on Friday to be cancelled. Entrant points thus set the starting order, putting Andretti Global teammates Hauger and Hughes on the front row. 

As Hauger led lap one, Rowe dispatched Caio Collet for third. The American then pursued Hughes and made a move on the backstretch the next lap, but Hughes was zealous in defence.

Too zealous, race control deemed. The pair had touched – albeit without damage for either – and Hughes was handed a drive-through penalty for the block that led to the contact. 

By that point, Rowe had already passed Hughes down the inside of Turn 1 on lap three and sailed away. Still, Hughes’ penalty, which he served lap 12, put him a lap down and gave Hauger breathing room in the title race no matter how his battle with Rowe developed.

Behind them, Salvador de Alba overtook Josh Pierson for fifth on lap five at Turn 2. Lifted to fourth by Hughes’ penalty, the Mexican chased third-placed Collet, sliding by at Turn 1 on lap 24. Pierson also sought a way past and hung on around the outside of his HMD Motorsports teammate, but he got loose exiting Turn 4 and spun into the infield.

That prompted the first full-course caution on lap 26, but the resumption on lap 30 was short-lived after Juan Manuel Correa and Ricardo Escotto had separate half-spins at Turn 4 at the restart.

Green-flag conditions resumed on lap 34, and the field made it through the first two corners that time before Davey Hamilton Jr spun at Turn 1. De Alba also conceded third to Collet after tapping the right-rear of Tommy Smith’s lapped car.

At the final restart at the end of lap 37, fifth-placed Jack William Miller got a slow launch and fell behind Niels Koolen and Callum Hedge. Boxed in as cars jockeyed feverishly for position, Abel’s Miller sank to 14th by the end of lap 40.

His descent proved decisive 20 laps later. Rowe had been closing on Hauger, but only when they went to lap Miller did the race turn on its head. Hauger took the high line and found himself stuck behind Miller; Rowe, sensing opportunity, steamed past Hauger around the outside of Turn 3 on lap 62, much as Hughes did to win last month at Gateway. From there, Rowe never looked back, pulling out a nearly two-second gap before crossing the line 1.3927s in front.

De Alba also repassed Collet for third on lap 69 as Koolen took a career-best fifth place. Ten cars finished on the lead lap, the last being Max Taylor, who gained nine places from the back of the grid.

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Cancelled
Race (75 laps)	Myles Rowe, 28:05.6116	Dennis Hauger, +1.3927s	Salvador de Alba, +2.1477s

Standings	Drivers	Rookies
P1	Dennis Hauger, 414	Dennis Hauger, 414
P2	Lochie Hughes, 338	Lochie Hughes, 338
P3	Caio Collet, 320	Sebastian Murray, 140
P4	Myles Rowe, 287	Juan Manuel Correa, 126
P5	Salvador de Alba, 258	Liam Sceats, 126
P6	Josh Pierson, 243	Tommy Smith, 124
P7	Callum Hedge, 217	Hailie Deegan, 119
P8	Jordan Missig, 176	Evagoras Papasavvas, 117
P9	Niels Koolen, 169	Max Taylor, 57
P10	Jack William Miller, 169	Nikita Johnson, 55

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Japan: Suzuki and Umegaki collide, as Urabe takes first win of the season 

TOM’S’ Tokiya Suzuki and Kiyoshi Umegaki once again stood in the spotlight at Suzuka this weekend, but this time a collision overshadowed their strong performances and ended their academy’s nine-race-long win streak in the series. 

Umegaki took pole for both races, beating B-Max Racing’s Kazuhisa Urabe in the first session by 0.232s. Suzuki qualified a season-lowest fourth, but he came second in the second session, 0.541s behind Umegaki.

The first race took place on Saturday afternoon and Urabe instantly jumped to first as Umegaki, as well as Ponos Racing’s Kento Omiya in third and Suzuki in fourth, got away slowly. Urabe and Umegaki went side by side into the first two corners, with Urabe coming out ahead. Umegaki ran wide on the exit of Turn 2 and dropped to fourth behind Omiya and Suzuki. 

Later on the opening lap, Omiya made a mistake at Spoon and ran wide, allowing Suzuki to get by. Umegaki followed at Turn 16.

Urabe’s lead over Suzuki remained just under one second, but it became clear that Umegaki in third was faster than both. He kept on putting pressure on Suzuki, who had to defend multiple times. 

The first safety car was called out on lap six for an incident involving Fujita Pharmacy Racing’s Hideki Irie at Degner 2. The race restarted on lap nine, but a second safety car was called after Jia Zhanbin spun and stalled at the exit of the Hairpin.

The race restarted for the final time on lap 12, and Urabe built a bigger gap to the TOM’S drivers behind him. Behind the leading group, Aiwin’s Yutaka Toriba spun Hitotsuyama Racing’s Anna Inotsume at the Hairpin, while Nilzz Racing’s “Yuki” had to take avoiding action. Rn-sports’ Yu Oda profited and jumped from eighth to fifth. 

On the final lap, Umegaki attacked and passed Suzuki at Spoon Curve to snatch second position. 

But Suzuki came back. He passed Umegaki around the outside of 130R and had the inside line going into the final braking zone of the race. Umegaki then switched to the inside at the last moment – and misjudged his braking point, colliding with Suzuki.

Umegaki crossed the line in third, behind first-time winner Urabe and Omiya, who slipped through for second. Suzuki was unable to continue and was classified eighth. The stewards awarded Umegaki a 40-second time penalty for the incident, demoting him to seventh and promoting Oda to third.

The second race on Sunday afternoon proved far less chaotic. Umegaki from pole equalled Suzuki on three wins after what he said was ‘the best start [he had] ever had’, while Suzuki and Urabe retained second and third positions for the rest of the race.

Omiya, who started from pit lane because of a pre-race tyre change, fought through the field to fourth within just 10 laps. 

In the masters’ class, Toriba’s win streak was interrupted in the first race as “Yuki” took the flag first, but he returned to the top step in the second race.

Report by Finjo Muschlien 

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Kiyoshi Umegaki, 1:57.470	Kazuhisa Urabe, +0.232s	Kento Omiya, +0.628s
Qualifying 2	Kiyoshi Umegaki, 1:57.009	Tokiya Suzuki, +0.541s	Kazuhisa Urabe, +0.728s
Race 1 (13 laps)	Kazuhisa Urabe, 31:22.380	Kento Omiya, +2.517s	Yu Oda, +7.003s
Race 2 (13 laps)	Kiyoshi Umegaki, 25:51.885	Tokiya Suzuki, +3.810s	Kazuhisa Urabe, +9.872s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Masters
P1	Tokiya Suzuki, 120.5	TOM’S Formula, 143.5	Yutaka Toriba, 130.5
P2	Kiyoshi Umegaki, 120	Ponos Racing, 94.5	“Yuki”, 67
P3	Kento Omiya, 94.5	B-Max Racing Team, 92	“Akita”, 63
P4	Kazuhisa Urabe, 86	Ragno Motor Sport, 44	Shoichiro Akamatsu, 30
P5	Lin Chenghua, 44	Aiwin, 40	“Yugo”, 20
P6	Yutaka Toriba, 40	Rn-sports, 39.5	Yuki Tanaka, 15
P7	Yu Oda, 39.5	Hitotsuyama Racing, 31
P8	Anna inotsume, 31	Fujita Pharmacy Racing, 21
P9	Jia Zhanbin, 21	Abbey Racing, 18
P10	Hideaki Irie, 21	Nilzz Racing, 10

Read the previous round’s report here.

Italian F4: Powell gets redemption as Nakamura-Berta extends points lead

Italian F4’s 2025 season passed its halfway point at Mugello, and championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta extended his lead to 59 points after claiming victory in race one. Alex Powell then changed his luck by taking his first two wins in the series in races two and three, while the returning Reno Francot put on a show by making podium appearances in each. 

Sebastian Wheldon, who entered the round 29 points behind Nakamura-Berta, topped both practice sessions but failed to secure pole position. Nakamura-Berta was fastest in qualifying one, while Powell secured his first poles of the season by setting the fastest and second-fastest laps in qualifying two as Nakamura-Berta came only ninth.  

Nakamura-Berta kept the lead from Gabriel Gomez into San Donato as race one got underway, while Powell overtook teammate Emanuele Olivieri for third behind.

The safety car came out for the first time on lap four following an incident between David Cosma Cristofor and Guy Albag, who stopped on track with a rear-left puncture. Track action resumed on lap six, and the field enjoyed green-flag conditions until Andrea Dupé’s car was sent into the gravel at Bucine on the 11th lap.

Contact between Luca Viisoreanu and Oleksander Savinkov at Turn 1 brought out a local yellow flag, but the race’s final two laps otherwise proceeded smoothly as Nakamura-Berta held off Gomez and Powell for victory. 

Polesitter Powell maintained the lead of the pack at the start of race two, while Francot, who started second, was overtaken at the first corner by Zhenrui Chi and Wheldon. The Dutchman then reclaimed third from Wheldon with a move into San Donato on the third lap.

The first safety car intervention came on the next lap, when contact between Elia Weiss and Albag exiting San Donato sent the former into the side of Viisoreanu. The German’s car sustained such damage that he had to withdraw from race three. So too did Emily Cotty, whose incident with Nathanaël Berreby on the main straight on lap 14 forced the race to conclude behind the safety car.

Despite a light drizzle later in the race, the order remained constant, and Powell, Chi and Francot made up the podium. Nakamura-Berta started from ninth position but had already climbed up to sixth by the end of lap one, ultimately finishing there behind Wheldon and Gomez.

A moist track but dry weather greeted drivers for race three Sunday morning, which saw no retirements, penalties or safety car interventions.

When the lights went out, Nakamura-Berta tried to defend into the first corner, but Francot took second from him down the inside as Wheldon also overtook the slow-starting Gomez. The pair kept fightinguntil lap four, when, with one final overtake around the outside of the main straight and down the inside into San Donato, Gomez regained fourth place.

Wheldon then sank through the field, being passed by Maximilian Popov and Luka Sammalisto in a three-wide moment at San Donato on lap eight and Chi two laps later. Wheldon had to let six further drivers through in the final seven laps and settled for a non-score in 14th, putting him on the back foot in the battle for the title as Nakamura-Berta finished third behind Powell and Francot. 

Report by Francesca Brusa

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 1:48.484	Gabriel Gomez, +0.260s	Emanuele Olivieri, +0.373s
Qualifying 2	Alex Powell, 1:48.347	Reno Francot, +0.360s	Sebastian Wheldon, +0.428s
Race 1 (15 laps)	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 31:57.788	Gabriel Gomez, +0.775s	Alex Powell, +1.698s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Alex Powell, 36:25.350	Zhenrui Chi, +0.662s	Reno Francot, +2.247s
Race 3 (17 laps)	Alex Powell, 31:55.245	Reno Francot, +5.208s	Kean Nakamura-Berta, +5.396s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 213	Prema Racing, 477	Salim Hanna, 212
P2	Sebastian Wheldon, 154	US Racing, 266	Zhenrui Chi, 177
P3	Gabriel Gomez, 154	R-ace GP, 208	Marcus Sæter, 144
P4	Alex Powell, 113	Van Amersfoort Racing, 131	Artem Severiukhin, 139
P5	Emanuele Olivieri, 94	Jenzer Motorsport, 88	Dante Vinci, 112
P6	Salim Hanna, 88	PHM Racing, 36	Oleksandr Bondarev, 106
P7	Maksimilian Popov, 81	Real Racing, 14	David Cosma Cristofor, 101
P8	Luka Sammalisto, 72	Maffi Racing, 9	Aleksander Ruta, 82
P9	Zhenrui Chi, 71	Technorace, 0	Bader Al Sulaiti, 68
P10	Tomass Štolcermanis, 60	Viola Formula Racing, 0	David Walther, 55

Read the previous round’s report here.

GB4: Bansal doubles at Snetterton as Hilton faces potential suspension

Elite Motorsport’s Ary Bansal became the first driver to take consecutive victories in the 2025 GB4 Championship season with lights-to-flag wins in the first two races of the weekend. Still, Daniel Guinchard left with an intact 36-point lead after Bansal retired from the final race with damage to his right-front suspension from an opening-lap collision with Luke Hilton.

The Douglas Motorsport driver was awarded three penalty points for causing the collision, which occurred when he misjudged his braking at Oggies and collected Bansal. The penalty takes Hilton’s tally to 12 within a calendar year, which means his case will be referred to the UK national court for judicial review. The court may apply further penalties up to and including a suspension from competition, which was until 2023 the standard punishment for such an offence.

Hilton also received a five-place grid penalty for his next event, increased from the regular three-place penalty as a result of his involvement in three further incidents of contact this season.

With Bansal winning races one and two, championship leader Guinchard saw his lead reduced to 25 points even with third- and second-place finishes in the first two races. Following the Elite driver’s retirement in race three, Hillspeed’s Guinchard opened up the gap after coming home seventh.

“For it being Elite’s strongest track, we came out with a really positive weekend overall,” he told Feeder Series. “We thought it might have been quite difficult, but overall really happy with the results.”

Saturday featured the highest temperatures GB4 drivers had faced so far this season, with highs approaching 25ºC. That, combined with the limited overtaking opportunities, made for an extra challenge for drivers this weekend.

“We knew it was going to be hard here to overtake after the first lap, so it was just bringing it home, saving the tyre a little bit [and] not cooking it too much,” Guinchard said. “The whole car was getting so hot, just because it’s so hot here.”

Guinchard enters the final three rounds with 252 points, with the Elite Motorsport trio of Bansal, Isaac Phelps and Alexandros Kattoulas behind on 216, 206 and 196 points respectively.

Phelps had started from second in the first two races and finished there in race one, but he dropped back at the start of the second race after ‘not doing a good enough job on the clutch and the throttle’. Having fended off Kattoulas’ attacks in the first half of the race, he hounded Hilton but could not create a gap, ultimately finishing fourth. Hilton in third joined Bansal and Guinchard on the podium for the first time this season.

“We just had to defend for our lives,” Hilton told Feeder Series. “We didn’t have the performance over Elite, but I know I had a good car so I could do something with it, and I made magic happen!”

In race three, Leon Wilson took his and Arden Motorsport’s first wins in the GB4 Championship just days after team co-founder Christian Horner’s sacking from the Red Bull Racing F1 outfit.

The Yorkshireman – who retired from race two after a clash with Leandro Juncos – started third on the grid but immediately jumped Alex Berg at the race start to take second before the first turn. Heading into the Wilson hairpin, he launched a move down the inside of polesitter Jack Taylor and took the race lead.

“There wasn’t really a gap and then it opened up,” Wilson told Feeder Series afterwards. “I’ve got to go for it or we wouldn’t have won! It had to be done on the first lap [because] I knew there was going to be a safety car coming at some point.”

The safety car in question came following Bansal and Hilton’s incident, resulting in just a four-minute, three-lap sprint to the finish and only seven laps of racing total in a shortened 16-minute race. The race start had already been delayed and a second formation lap required after Graham Brunton Racing’s Callum Baxter ground to a halt on the initial formation lap.

Editor’s note, 14 July 2025, 15:21 CEST: This report has been amended to clarify the sequence of events and potential punishments that follow a driver’s receiving 12 penalty points.

Report by George Sanderson

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Ary Bansal, 1:46.938	Isaac Phelps, +0.012s	Leandro Juncos, +0.239s
Race 1 (10 laps)	Ary Bansal, 18:15.496	Isaac Phelps, +0.642s	Daniel Guinchard, +1.727s
Race 2 (10 laps)	Ary Bansal, 18:17.967	Daniel Guinchard, +0.438s	Luke Hilton, +3.304s
Race 3 (7 laps)	Leon Wilson, 17:31.119	Jack Taylor, +0.511s	Alex Berg, +3.015s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Daniel Guinchard, 252	Elite Motorsport, 498
P2	Ary Bansal, 216	Hillspeed, 376
P3	Isaac Phelps, 206	Douglas Motosport, 353
P4	Alexandros Kattoulas, 196	Fortec Motorsport, 284
P5	Alex O’Grady, 168	Graham Burton Racing, 257
P6	Enzo Hallman, 166	KMR Sport, 252
P7	Alex Berg, 125	Arden Motorsport, 184
P8	Leandro Juncos, 124	Pace Performance, 170
P9	Leon Wilson, 121	Fox Motorsport, 82
P10	Jack Taylor, 121	ADM, 66

Read the previous round’s report here.

AU4: McNeill does the double at The Bend as Killion bounces back with race three win

The AU4 Championship returned for round two at The Bend, where Isaac McNeill extended his lead in the Gen 2 class with another strong weekend as Noah Killion’s race three win vaulted him into second overall, ahead of Harrison Duske. 

McNeill topped the first qualifying session, 0.0404 seconds ahead of Killion. In qualifying two, Duske topped the timesheets by 0.0635 seconds, again over Killion. 

McNeill was able to maintain his lead from the opening lap as Duske inherited second place when Killion stalled off the line. Cohen Kokotovich gained a position after overtaking Imogen Radburn for third, as Nick Filipetto, last on the grid, overtook both his fellow Masters class driver Lawrence Katsidis and rookie De’argo Stewart, who promptly returned the favour a few laps later. 

Killion surged past the Gen1 Mygale cars to climb to sixth after two laps. He continued on his upward trajectory throughout the race, overtaking Burton on lap four, Radburn on lap five, Kokotovich on lap 14 and finally Duske on the penultimate lap to finish second. A five-second penalty for creeping at the start before his stall, however, dropped Killion to fourth.

Brock Burton, sixth on the grid, spun on the formation lap for race two, throwing gravel onto the track at the first two turns. Killion started race two from pole ahead of Duske and McNeill, and all three got away cleanly at the start. McNeill grabbed second from Duske into the first turn before making a lunge into Turn 6 and taking the lead from Killion on exit.

After one lap, Jensen Marold in his first-generation Mygale managed to overtake Georgia Morgan in the Gen2 Tatuus for seventh, and the AGIs of Kokotovich and Radburn overtook Duske on the next lap, demoting him to fifth. 

Throughout the race, Killion attempted multiple divebombs on McNeill, taking the lead after AGI’s JesseJames Samuels beached his car near Turn 3 on lap four, prompting a safety car period. With less than two minutes to go, Burton pitted from sixth with an apparent issue. 

Killion took the chequered flag first, with McNeill and Radburn close behind – but Killion had overtaken McNeill under the safety car. He was thus handed a five-second penalty, giving McNeill his second win of the round and promoting Radburn to second. 

Duske started race three ahead of Killion and McNeill, but Killion overtook the polesitter in the opening lap. Radburn, who qualified sixth, was taken out at Turn 1 but managed to climb back from last to reach fifth place. Having led from lap one, Killion secured a dominant victory, finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of McNeill in second as Duske filled out the podium.

Marold continued his dominant run with another three victories. He remains undefeated in the Gen1 class, ahead of Koby Wilson, who sits second in the championship. Wilson secured second-place finishes in all three races in his class, while Samuels took third in race one and Andrew Fitzpatrick took third place in races two and three.

Report by Anabelle Bremner

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Isaac McNeill, 1:18.6581	Noah Killion, +0.0404s	Harrison Duske, +0.0458s
Qualifying 2	Harrison Duske, 1:18.4900	Noah Killion, +0.0625s	Isaac McNeill, +0.1854s
Race 1 (18 laps)	Isaac McNeill, 26:41.2880	Harrison Duske, +4.6416s	Cohen Kokotovich, +6.7290s
Race 2 (14 laps)	Isaac McNeill, 26:37.7038	Imogen Radburn, +0.6419s	Noah Killion, +0.6929s
Race 3 (18 laps)	Noah Killion, 26:39.5516	Isaac McNeill, +9.8830s	Harrison Duske, +16.5913s

Standings	Gen 2 Drivers	Gen 1 Drivers
P1	Isaac McNeill, 127	Jensen Marold, 160
P2	Noah Killion, 101	Koby Wilson, 108
P3	Harrison Duske, 98	Andrew Fitzpatrick, 87
P4	Imogen Radburn, 89	De’Argo Stewart, 62
P5	Cohen Kokotovich, 59	JesseJames Samuels, 53
P6	Brock Burton, 52	Chloe Lane, 52
P7	Georgia Morgan, 36	Lawrence Katsidis, 30
P8		Nicholas Filipetto, 20

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: Aaron Skillman / Penske Entertainment