Indy NXT crowned its latest champion on Sunday as crucial developments happened in the title battles for GB3, GB4, Formula 4 CEZ and Indy NXT. Feeder Series reviews it all.

By Feeder Series

Three junior single-seater titles could have been decided entering this weekend. Only one ultimately was, but the result could be career-changing for its victor beyond merely taking home a trophy.

With a second-place finish in Indy NXT’s Milwaukee Mile race, Dennis Hauger clinched the Indy NXT title a round early to become the series’ first rookie champion since Kyle Kirkwood in 2021. The Andretti Global driver has also earned a scholarship to fund an Indy 500 entry, an additional IndyCar race and several testing opportunities.

While the gaps in GB3’s title race opened up at Brands Hatch, GB4’s has veritably closed down with one round to go. The same can be said for F4 CEZ, in which championship leader Gino Trappa had his worst weekend of the season in the penultimate round. Itsuki Sato has extended his own advantage in Japanese F4 to 39.5 points as the season reaches its halfway point.

As for the other junior single-seater action, Indian F4 held four races at Madras. Vasilis Apostolidis’ withdrawal from the weekend all but guaranteed a new points leader, and Sachel Rotgé, the series’ scholarship shootout winner, took up the mantle thanks to two wins, a second place and a fourth place. Ishaan Madesh’s race two win helped put him 17 points behind Rotgé, while Shane Chandaria, a further 19 points back in third, became the first Kenyan winner in an FIA–sanctioned championship with victory in race three.

In Nordic 4 and Formula Nordic’s Falkenberg round, Marius Kristiansen won race one and kept the Danish Championship points lead over Sebastian Bach despite the fact that neither one finished race two. In that contest, Victor Snebjørn Poulsen took his first win as 14-year-old Silas Egedal took a podium in his debut weekend, while race three victory later on Sunday went to Magnus Pedersen. Formula Nordic’s Melvin Kalousdian also retired from race two but maintained his advantage over Richard Olson with wins in the other two races.

1. Indy NXT: De Alba leads Andretti 1-2-3 with dominant maiden win as Hauger seals title
2. GB3: Ninovic takes statement victories before Pulling secures first female GB3 podium
3. GB4: Dominant Phelps cuts Guinchard’s championship lead as race three postponed
4. F4 CEZ: Trappa wins race three to set up title decider as Kutskov wins twice on his comeback
5. Japanese F4: Sato extends championship lead with last-gasp overtake

Indy NXT: De Alba leads Andretti 1-2-3 with dominant maiden win as Hauger seals title

Salvador de Alba became Indy NXT’s newest winner and the fifth victor of the 2025 season Sunday, leading Andretti Global teammates Dennis Hauger and Lochie Hughes across the line after 90 laps at the Milwaukee Mile. But the biggest prize of all went the way of Hauger, who clinched the championship in the IndyCar development series with a round to spare by amassing an unassailable 69-point lead over title rival Caio Collet.

“As a rookie this year, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I had a great team behind me, Andretti, pushing me and making me build up the confidence throughout the season,” Hauger said after the race. “From the first round, we’ve been on it. We could have won more, but it’s always nice. This season’s just been incredible.”

Hauger, who clinched Rookie of the Year honours last time out in Portland, already threw down the gauntlet on Saturday, topping practice before going nearly a mile an hour faster than anyone else in qualifying.

That result coincided with Collet’s worst qualifying of the year, which put him seventh in the order for the start. Speaking to Feeder Series, Collet conceded that ‘the potential was not really there’ and that he’d ‘need a lot of luck’ to sustain the title fight.

In the race itself, Hauger got a good start, but his advantage lasted approximately 25 seconds. Second-place starter De Alba used his better run on the outside line at Turns 3 and 4 to pass Hauger on the front stretch, then sustained a gap of just under a second for the next 20 laps.

Collet also lost seventh on the opening lap, but he gained it back in short order by passing Bryce Aron. Collet then overtook Michael D’Orlando on lap eight to slot into sixth and pursue Myles Rowe in fifth, while Aron lost eighth place to James Roe on lap 11 exiting Turn 3.

The order remained largely stable until the sole full-course yellow of the race on lap 47 for Jack William Miller’s crash exiting Turn 2.

At the restart on lap 54, Aron, who had retaken eighth place from Roe on lap 40, was especially feisty, passing both D’Orlando and Collet on the first lap under green-flag conditions before grabbing fifth from Rowe on the inside on the next lap.

Out front, however, De Alba gradually eked out an advantage over Hauger for the remaining 37 laps of the race. Hughes clung to Hauger’s rear this time, but he too eventually fell away.

De Alba stretched his own advantage over Hauger to 2.7 seconds with six laps to go. Hauger halved the gap as De Alba worked his way past the lapped car of Niels Koolen, but it was too late to stop the Mexican driver from taking his maiden Indy NXT victory.

Collet fell to six seconds behind Rowe by lap 75, eventually crossing the line a distant seventh as his title hopes evaporated. Still, he secured second in the standings by pulling a 59-point advantage over Hughes, who is 29 points ahead of Rowe.

In the post-race press conference, Hauger explained the importance of adaptation to his strong campaign in 2025.

“It’s definitely been a big part of us just going out to new tracks this year and being on it straight away,” he told Feeder Series. “I’m good at adapting, but more than anything, it’s just the preparation work we’ve done just the week before and the days before.”

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Dennis Hauger, 47.8777	Salvador de Alba, +0.2839s	Callum Hedge, +0.4121s
Race (90 laps)	Salvador de Alba, 41:00.3665	Dennis Hauger, +1.4693s	Lochie Hughes, +2.5918s

Standings	Drivers	Rookies
P1	Dennis Hauger, 564	Dennis Hauger, 564
P2	Caio Collet, 495	Lochie Hughes, 436
P3	Lochie Hughes, 436	Sebastian Murray, 211
P4	Myles Rowe, 407	Tommy Smith, 189
P5	Salvador de Alba, 374	Hailie Deegan, 185
P6	Josh Pierson, 356	Juan Manuel Correa, 176
P7	Callum Hedge, 346	Liam Sceats, 162
P8	Niels Koolen, 262	Max Taylor, 123
P9	Jack William Miller, 251	Evagoras Papasavvas, 117
P10	Jordan Missig, 249	Nikita Johnson, 55

Read the previous round’s report here.

GB3: Ninovic takes statement victories before Pulling secures first female GB3 podium

Alex Ninovic secured two comfortable victories for Rodin Motorsport ahead of Hillspeed’s Freddie Slater, to move one step closer to the 2025 GB3 drivers’ championship title. Having led by 39 points coming into the sixth round of the season, the Australian increased his margin in the championship to a commanding 71 points, with 180 on offer in the season’s final two rounds.

The Australian dominated both sessions of qualifying to take double pole by 0.523 and 0.411 seconds respectively, both times qualifying with Slater alongside him on the front row and Deagen Fairclough’s Hitech in third.

In race one, the fast-starting Fairclough was the main threat to Ninovic’s lead into the first corner, with the Hitech driver launching past Slater before challenging the Rodin driver on the run to Druids. But as Ninovic fended off Fairclough on the inside, Slater went late on the brakes and around the outside, forcing his way back into second and even briefly challenging Ninovic to no avail.

“I controlled the pace quite well,” Ninovic said post-race after winning the 100th race in the series under the GB3 banner. “[Slater] was pushing quite hard for the first five or six laps, and then I noticed he dropped off a little so I managed to pull a nice gap which would have been hard for him to catch.”

A late safety car following an incident for Jack Sherwood at Stirling’s gave Ninovic late cause for concern, but he never truly came under threat, again stretching his legs out at the front to win by 2.030s from Slater and Fairclough.

It was much of the same in race two, but with Ninovic being unchallenged this time in the opening corners and Slater holding on to second from Fairclough. They once again ran close to one another early on before gaps began to open up mid-race.

“I seemed to do the same lap time pretty much every lap, no matter what driver technique I did or things to extract the most I could out of the package we have,” Slater told Feeder Series.

The main drama happened further back as VRD Racing’s Enzo Tarnvanichkul spun Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari into the barrier at the top of Pilgrim’s Drop on the opening lap, resulting in the latter’s retirement. Neither was deemed to be fully at fault for the incident by the stewards.

In race three, Tarvanichkul took his first win in the GB3 Championship. The Red Bull junior driver started from second on the grid and took the lead from Jack Sherwood around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend on the opening lap. 

“We struggled in the test, and then we’ve gradually been faster,” Tarvanichkul told Feeder Series afterwards. “When we started from the front row, I said, ‘okay, Brands Hatch being Brands Hatch, we need to get the lead immediately,’ [and] luckily I did a good start.”

Tarvanichkul extended his advantage to 3.5s over Sherwood by lap 11, when a safety car was called out for a dramatic incident for third-placed Will Macintyre at Hawthorn Bend. On the restart on lap 14, Fairclough, who had climbed from 10th on the grid to fourth, spun at Hawthorn Bend after being pushed wide by Kai Daryanani. 

A few corners later at Stirling’s, Pradel ran into the back of the Heuzenroeder, who was spun into the gravel and forced to retire. The Rodin driver continued but failed to score after finishing only 17th.

The incident brought out the safety car, which led the field until the final corner. Behind Tarnvanichkul and Sherwood, Abbi Pulling benefitted from the incident between Fairclough and Daryanani to overtake both drivers and climb up to third. The leading trio each earned their first podiums in GB3 with their race three results.

“Starting P4, [I] fluffed the start a little bit, which was fully my mistake,” Pulling told Feeder Series. “But [I] picked up the pieces in the end when the others made mistakes.”

Pulling became the first female driver to achieve a podium in the series since its rebranding to GB3 in 2021 and the first in the championship since Jamie Chadwick won at the same track back in August 2018.

With non-scores for Heuzenroeder, Pradel, Fairclough and Macintyre, Ninovic still extended his championship lead in the third race despite only finishing where he started in 12th place.

Report by George Sanderson

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Alex Ninovic, 1:18.180	Freddie Slater, +0.523s	Deagen Fairclough, +0.630s
Qualifying 2	Alex Ninovic, 1:17.660	Freddie Slater, +0.411s	Deagen Fairclough, +0.760s
Race 1 (18 laps)	Alex Ninovic, 25:59.803	Freddie Slater, +2.030s	Deagen Fairclough, +2.510s
Race 2 (17 laps)	Alex Ninovic, 25:28.594	Freddie Slater, +2.044s	Deagen Fairclough, +4.111s
Race 3 (16 laps)	Enzo Tarnvanichkul, 25:10.177	Jack Sherwood, +0.407s	Abbi Pulling, +0.979s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Alex Ninovic, 362	Rodin Motorsport, 662
P2	Patrick Heuzenroeder, 291	Hitech, 572
P3	Gianmarco Pradel, 276	Hillspeed, 470
P4	Deagen Fairclough, 251	Xcel Motorsport, 446
P5	Will Macintyre, 240	Argenti with Prema, 440
P6	Keanu Al Azhari, 238	JHR Developments, 421
P7	Reza Seewooruthun, 230	Elite Motorsport, 334
P8	Noah Lisle, 228	VRD Racing, 253
P9	Freddie Slater, 203	Fortec Motorsport, 29
P10	Kai Daryanani, 184	Chris Dittmann Racing, 22

Read the previous round’s report here.

GB4: Dominant Phelps cuts Guinchard’s championship lead as race three postponed

Elite Motorsport’s Isaac Phelps took both victories at Brands Hatch to close the gap to Daniel Guinchard in the drivers’ championship to just 21 points. They and Ary Bansal, who is just four points further behind Phelps, will contest four races at Donington Park to decide the drivers’ title.

Phelps’ wins came after a dominant performance in qualifying, in which he secured double pole and finished 0.511 seconds clear of Elite teammate Ary Bansal. He went unchallenged in race one, holding the lead with ease throughout the opening lap and keeping his competition at arm’s length until the end of the race.

“It was a good confidence boost,” Phelps told Feeder Series. “To turn up to quali and have the pace that we had was amazing for me.”

Further back, Hillspeed’s Leandro Juncos made contact with KMR Sport’s Alex O’Grady at Druids hairpin on the opening lap, with Juncos receiving a one-place penalty after the race to drop him behind the Irishman into sixth.

Douglas Motorsport’s Dayton Coulthard and Arden Motorsport’s Leon Wilson then collided at Graham Hill Bend, with the latter being sent spinning across the grass. Both retired because of the damage they sustained.

The race was then red-flagged shortly before its scheduled conclusion following an accident for Luke Hilton at Sheene Curve. The top four finished as they started, with Phelps taking victory ahead of Elite teammate Bansal, Guinchard and Alexandros Kattoulas in the third Elite car.

In race two, Phelps once again held the lead but faced a challenge from Guinchard around the outside of Hawthorn Bend on the first lap. The Elite driver held on, but Guinchard dropped down to third as Phelps’ teammate Bansal made a textbook switchback move to take advantage of Guinchard’s lost momentum and elevate himself to second at the following corner. They crossed the line in that order.

“There was a potential for three-wide [at Pilgrim’s Drop] but there was not enough space,” Bansal told Feeder Series. “I held back a bit and tried to get the cutback because Guinchard was on the outside.… I knew Isaac would push him wide and I was able to get the cutback and stay there.”

Earlier on the opening lap, American drivers Ava Dobson of Arden Motorsport and Jason Pribyl of ADM made contact at Druids, causing front wing damage for the latter that ultimately led to his retirement. The stewards decided Dobson was solely to blame, awarding her a five-place grid penalty for her next race.

Despite losing second to Bansal in race two, Guinchard was pleased with the Brands Hatch weekend as a whole.

“We maximised what we could with the pace we had,” Guinchard told Feeder Series. “I had a go in race two, on the first lap, but it wasn’t quite enough. But, we still retained the championship lead, which is the important thing.”

The third race of the weekend was postponed following a heavy accident involving Max Murray – the younger brother of Indy NXT driver Sebastian Murray – and Katrina Ee in a Ginetta Junior Championship race on Sunday morning. The postponed GB4 race will be contested with the same grid at the final round at Donington Park in October, with Stefan Bostandjiev set to start from pole.

Report by George Sanderson

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Isaac Phelps, 1:24.108	Ary Bansal, +0.511s	Daniel Guinchard, +0.550s
Race 1 (10 laps)	Isaac Phelps, 14:32.333	Ary Bansal, +1.733s	Daniel Guinchard, +2.741s
Race 2 (13 laps)	Isaac Phelps, 18:26.984	Ary Bansal, +9.334s	Daniel Guinchard, +9.803s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Daniel Guinchard, 341	Elite Motorsport, 720
P2	Isaac Phelps, 320	Hillspeed, 554
P3	Ary Bansal, 316	Fortec Motorsport, 485
P4	Alex Kattoulas, 268	Douglas Motorsport, 455
P5	Alex O’Grady, 231	KMR Sport, 352
P6	Jack Taylor, 219	Graham Burton Racing, 295
P7	Enzo Hallman, 207	Arden Motorsport, 287
P8	Leandro Juncos, 207	Pace Performance, 252
P9	Thomas Ingram Hill, 207	Fox Motorsport, 99
P10	Leon Wilson, 184	ADM, 92

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 CEZ: Trappa wins race three to set up title decider as Kutskov wins twice on his comeback

Gino Trappa won race three in the second-to-last round of the F4 CEZ season at Slovakia Ring to take the title fight against Max Karhan to the final round at Brno in two weeks’ time. The only other race winner this weekend was returnee Kirill Kutskov, who inherited race one victory from Trappa before winning race two outright.

Nicolás Cortés started on pole for race one but fell to fourth after a bad getaway. Trappa therefore inherited the lead and held the advantage in the opening stages. Behind him, Cortés overtook Kutskov for third at Turn 3 the following lap as he began closing on teammate Javier Herrera.

On lap 11, Cortés caught Herrera and passed him for second at the same spot, but on corner exit, the pair collided, sending Cortés spinning out of the race. Herrera fell to third just before the deployment of the safety car, which led the field across the line.

Trappa won on track, but a five-second penalty for a safety car procedure infringement dropped him to 12th. Herrera originally finished third but dropped to seventh after getting a two-second penalty for track limits. Kutskov, who crossed the line second, inherited the win, with the penalties elevating Karhan and Hady-Noah Mimassi to the podium.

Mimassi jumped polesitter Kutskov at the start of race two and led the opening stages while Kutskov had to fend off Karhan to keep second. The Canadian led until lap nine, when Kutskov retook first place and began inching away.

Up ahead, Kutskov took his second win in a row ahead of Mimassi, who kept Karhan at bay for second. Benett Gáspár matched his season-best result of fourth with a last-lap pass on Trappa, who crossed the line fifth but dropped to eighth after receiving a five-second penalty for contact with Simon Schranz earlier in the race. Schranz, who had been on course to finish fourth, finished 11th after his late off.

Andreas Lo Bue started on pole for race three but fell to fourth at the start as Herrera took the lead ahead of Mimassi. Gáspár’s rear wing broke on its own in the final sector of lap one, forcing him to pit the following lap to retire from the race.

Following a safety car period on lap two for Mathilda Paatz’s stranded car, Schranz and Cortés collided at Turn 3, sending the Mexican down the order as Lo Bue took to the gravel to avoid him.

Having started 12th, Trappa climbed to second by lap three, took the lead on lap seven and never looked back. He secured his sixth win of the season ahead of Herrera and Karhan, who overtook Kutskov for third on the final lap.

Karhan, who came into this weekend 54 points behind Trappa, now enters Brno only 35 behind. With 75 points on offer in the season finale, only Trappa and Karhan remain in title contention. Herrera and Mimassi jumped the absent David Walther to slot into third and fourth respectively in points.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Nicolás Cortés, 2:04.978	Gino Trappa, +0.093s	Javier Herrera, +0.198s
Race 1 (12 laps)	Kirill Kutskov, 26:49.748	Max Karhan, +0.639s	Hady-Noah Mimassi, +1.025s
Race 2 (12 laps)	Kirill Kutskov, 25:10.833	Hady-Noah Mimassi, +1.026s	Max Karhan, +1.382s
Race 3 (12 laps)	Gino Trappa, 26:34.171	Javier Herrera, +3.184s	Max Karhan, +8.636s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Gino Trappa, 266	Jenzer Motorsport, 568
P2	Max Karhan, 231	Maffi Racing, 248
P3	Javier Herrera, 127	Renauer Motorsport, 216
P4	Hady-Noah Mimassi, 114	Mathilda Racing, 70
P5	David Walther, 113	Zengő Motorsport, 47
P6	Nicolás Cortés, 99	Real Racing, 37
P7	Mathilda Paatz, 70	Janik Motorsport, 27
P8	Simon Schranz, 66	F4 CEZ Academy, 26
P9	Bart Harrison, 65	AS Motorsport, 17
P10	Kirill Kutskov, 62	JMT Racing, 3

Read the previous round’s report here.

Japanese F4: Sato extends championship lead with last-gasp overtake

Kageyama Racing’s Itsuki Sato and B-Max Racing’s Kotaro Shimbara shared the wins at the series’ only Suzuka visit this year. 

Shimbara was fastest in qualifying and took pole by 0.143 seconds over championship leader Sato. OTG Motor Sports’ Kenta Kumagai came a career-best third, 0.231s behind Shimbara. Shimbara also set the fastest second-fastest time, 0.234s ahead of Ponos Racing’s Horachi and 0.248s ahead of Sato. 

Shimbara held the lead on the opening lap of the first race, but Sato had a decent start and positioned himself to the inside of Shimbara in Turns 1 and 2. Shimbara, however, held the inside line for Turn 3 and kept his lead safe. A safety car was called when the field entered the final sector as Independent Class driver Kazutaka Miura was stuck in the barrier at Turn 3. 

The race continued on lap four without any changes at the front. On lap seven, TGM Grand Prix’s Leon Ochiai spun at 130R. He was almost taken out by Drago Corse’s Yuta Suzuki, who likewise spun into the gravel. The safety car had to be called out to recover his stricken car. 

The race became a one-lap shootout when it resumed on lap 11, and Sato immediately put Shimbara ahead under pressure. He attacked him around the outside of Turns 1 and 2 and held the oh so important inside line for Turn 3 to secure the lead. Sato therefore won the race ahead of Shimbara and TGR-DC’s Tokiya Suzuki, having held off a last-lap attack from Horachi at Spoon. 

Post-race, Horachi’s and Suzuki’s respective teammates Ryuma Sako and Kiyoshi Umegaki received 40-second time penalties for dangerous driving, dropping from ninth and 11th to 24th and 25th.

The top three remained unchanged at the start of the second race, with Shimbara leading from Horachi and Sato. Again, a first-lap safety car was called for Independent Class driver Hachiro Osaka, who got stuck in the gravel at Turn 3. 

The race continued on lap three with Sato overtaking Horachi for second in a manoeuvre typical for this weekend – around the outside of Turns 1 and 2. Horachi was relegated further on the following lap when B-Max Racing’s Syo Momose attacked him into the final chicane and passed him around the outside of Turns 1 and 2. 

On lap six, TGR-DC’s Takahiro Kikuchi spun Ochiai at the hairpin, causing the current F110 Cup champion to retire on the spot and requiring another safety car deployment. Kikuchi returned to the pits for a front wing change. 

The race restarted for the final time on lap nine without any changes at the front. The safety car came out for the third time on lap 10 for an incident involving Independent Class drivers Nakashima and Saito at 130R. 

Shimbara won his first race of the season at his manufacturer’s own circuit, ahead of Sato and first-time podium finisher Momose. B-Max Racing’s “Dragon” and Nobuhiro Imada shared the wins in the Independent Class. 

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying, Champion Class	Kotaro Shimbara, 2:08.212	Itsuki Sato, +0.143s	Kenta Kumagai, +0.231s
Qualifying, Independent Class	“Dragon”, 2:10.928	“Kentaro”, +0.012s	“Ken Alex”, +0.155s
Race 1 (11 laps)	Itsuki Sato, 29:57.519	Kotaro Shimbara, +0.511s	Tokiya Suzuki, +1.424s
Race 2 (11 laps)	Kotaro Shimbara, 29:46.555	Itsuki Sato, +0.828s	Syo Momose, +1.324s

Standings	Champion Class		Independent Class
	Drivers	Teams	Drivers	Teams
P1	Itsuki Sato, 123.5	Kageyama Racing, 134.5	“Dragon”, 112.5	B-Max Racing Team, 140.5
P2	Tokiya Suzuki, 84	HFDP with B-Max Racing Team, 94	“Kentaro”, 100.5	Field Motorsport, 100.5
P3	Kotaro Shimbara, 78	TGR-DC RS, 84	Nobuhiro Imada, 97	Rn-sports, 99
P4	Ryota Horachi, 59	Ponos Racing, 65	Isao Nakashima, 58	Buzz Racing, 57
P5	Ryo Shirasaki, 58.5	B-Max Racing Team, 57	“Ken Alex”, 57	Akiland Racing, 42
P6	Tosei Moriyama, 57	OTG Motor Sports, 20.5	Masayuki Ueda, 49	Helm Motorsports, 39
P7	Syo Momose, 55	Drago Corse, 16	Makio Saito, 42	Eagle Sports, 28
P8	Kiyoshi Umegaki, 33	Akiland Racing, 11	William Sakai, 26	Bionic Jack Racing, 14
P9	Ayato Iwasaki, 23	Helm Motorsports, 4	Shoichiro Akamatsu, 24	Team 5Zigen, 14
P10	Kenta Kumagai, 20.5	Team 5Zigen, 2	Go Shimizu, 20	Dr.Dry Racing Team, 3

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: Paul Hurley / Penske Entertainment