Five junior single-seater championships held their season finales over the weekend, and four drivers emerged as newly crowned champions across Europe and the Americas. Feeder Series reviews all the action.

By Feeder Series

Amid the on- and off-track storylines from Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix, you might have missed the seven junior series that held races this weekend – and the drama that ensued in several of them.

Few could top the title-deciding moments in Euroformula Open, in which a four-way battle for the crown winnowed to one champion in extraordinary fashion. GB3 joined Euroformula Open at Monza this weekend in support of International GT Open, in which Levente Révész, a 2024 Euroformula Open competitor, secured the overall drivers’ title.

Spanish F4’s title battle also came to an end this weekend at Valencia, while Japanese F4’s championship battles in both classes will go to the final round at Motegi in a fortnight’s time.

Barber Motorsports Park also held the season finales for FR Americas, F4 US and the Ligier Junior Formula Championship, which are the final races we cover this season in the United States. While F4 US’ Cooper Shipman already secured the crown last month, the other two titles were left undecided until Barber, where two drivers prevailed amidst high drama.

One more feeder series driver was crowned champion this weekend, as Super Formula Lights’ Esteban Masson took the European Le Mans Series LMP2 title alongside Charles Milesi and Ollie Gray at the series finale in Portimão. All eyes then turned to Sunday’s rookie test, with 12 drivers from F2 to F4 level on the entry list. Eurocup-3’s Valerio Rinicella, who won the Asian Le Mans Series’ LMP2 title over the winter, set the second-fastest lap in the LMP2 car, with F3 driver Callum Voisin finishing third in LMP3. Fellow F3 competitor Matías Zagazeta led the LMGT3 class in Spirit of Race’s Ferrari.

1. Euroformula Open: Kucharczyk clinches title by 0.001s in Monza thriller
2. GB3: Fairclough claims overdue first victory in GB3 season finale
3. Spanish F4: Strauven wins title with five races to spare at Valencia
4. Japanese F4: Championship yet to be decided as Sato leaves Autopolis winless
5. FRegional Americas: Sherlock seals title after race one as misfortune strikes rivals
6. F4 US: Popow secures second place overall with two victories at Barber
7. Ligier Junior Formula Championship: Irazú takes title after Szuch earns penalty for collision

Euroformula Open: Kucharczyk clinches title by 0.001s in Monza thriller

Euroformula Open’s 2025 championship wasn’t the closest in terms of points. But the 0.001 seconds by which Tymek Kucharczyk of BVM Racing won race two at Monza – and thus sealed the crown – will surely go down as the tightest title-deciding victory margin in auto racing history.

Yevan David led the early stages of race one from pole. Kucharczyk held second on the opening two laps but fell behind Michael Shin on lap three before slipping to sixth after José Garfias, Enzo Yeh and Everett Stack passed him on lap six. 

Garfias then challenged David on lap 11, exchanging positions with him through sector one before taking the lead a lap later, leaving David to fend off Stack. Shin and Yeh retired after colliding on lap 13, shattering Shin’s title hopes.

The trio spent laps 14 and 15 battling for the lead, but things soured on the 16th and final tour. Garfias misjudged a lunge at Turn 1 and spun David, leaving the Sri Lankan with a rear-right puncture and himself with front-left suspension damage. Stack, third at the time, passed both to take his second win of 2025 ahead of Fernando Barrichello and Kucharczyk, while David and Garfias limped home in sixth and seventh.

David’s determination proved key. His sixth-place finish gave him reverse-grid pole for race two, and once again he led early on as Barrichello and Edward Pearson collided behind him. 

Kucharczyk, who inherited second, overtook David for first on lap five. From there, he had to hold David and Stack at bay, but the biggest threat came from Shin, who had overtaken all three to lead by lap nine.

Kucharczyk and Shin swapped positions multiple times over the next three laps before Shin and Garfias collided at the Roggia chicane on lap 13. The Korean pitted with a puncture, while Garfias stopped between the Lesmos.

That left Kucharczyk and David with three laps to fight for the win – and the title. Kucharczyk could seal it with victory, but David did everything he could to prevent that by stealing the lead at Roggia on the last lap.

Kucharczyk waited, and waited, and finally re-passed David around the outside of Parabolica. His attack was timed to perfection. David drew alongside approaching the flag, but Kucharczyk held on to win by just 0.001s over David and 0.070s over Stack.

Alessandro Famularo had reverse-grid pole for race three, but his sluggish start gave Garfias the lead. Behind, Kucharczyk and Shin collided at Turn 2, dropping Shin to 11th and earning Kucharczyk a five-second penalty.

Still, Kucharczyk took first from Garfias on lap three and led until Garfias fought back on lap 10. They battled for first until a mistake under braking at Ascari dropped Kucharczyk to fifth. David and Garfias then began disputing first place, and David prevailed to win from Stack as Garfias was pushed wide at Parabolica on the final tour. Kucharczyk crossed the line third but finished seventh with his penalty, promoting Shin to third.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Yevan David, 1:41.842	Tymek Kucharczyk, +0.694s	Michael Shin, +0.817s
Race 1 (16 laps)	Everett Stack, 27:42.318	Fernando Barrichello, +1.090s	Tymek Kucharczyk, +1.375s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Tymek Kucharczyk, 27:57.019	Yevan David, +0.001s	Everett Stack, +0.070s
Race 3 (16 laps)	Yevan David, 27:47.659	Everett Stack, +0.410s	Michael Shin, +0.693s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Tymek Kucharczyk, 362	Team Motopark, 309	Yevan David, 202
P2	Yevan David, 345	BVM Racing, 227	Everett Stack, 178
P3	Michael Shin, 317	Nielsen Racing, 191	Enzo Yeh, 32
P4	José Garfias, 276	NV Racing, 3	Luca Viisoreanu, 28
P5	Ed Pearson, 227		Preston Lambert, 18
P6	Everett Stack, 226		Gino Trappa, 18
P7	Fernando Barrichello, 212		Francisco Soldavini, 14
P8	Diego de la Torre, 153		Cadi Baptista, 4
P9	Alessandro Famularo, 68
P10	Shawn Rashid, 41

Read the previous round’s report here.

GB3: Fairclough claims overdue first victory in GB3 season finale

Deagen Fairclough took his first win in the GB3 Championship on his way to third in the drivers’ standings following the season finale in Monza. The Hitech driver had five podiums to his name prior to his victory in race two of the weekend, telling Feeder Series that it was ‘a big weight off the shoulders’ to finally stand on the top step.

“There’s been a few mistakes on my behalf and a few incidents that haven’t been in our favour,” Fairclough said.

It was a strong race for both Hitech drivers, as Keanu Al Azhari produced one of the drives of the season to climb from 20th to fourth. The Emirati 17-year-old suffered disappointment in qualifying because of a technical issue, but despite three safety car interruptions, he was still able to gain an impressive number of positions.

“I picked off every move one by one, kept my nose clean, got all the way to the end and managed to finish in P4,” he explained. “I provided a lot of entertainment to everyone here!”

It was Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic, already crowned the 2025 drivers’ champion at Donington Park, who had set the pace for the majority of the weekend, taking double pole in qualifying – the ninth and 10th pole positions of his record-breaking season. Whilst he was able to convert pole into his ninth victory of the season in race one, he could only manage second behind first-time winner Fairclough in race two.

“The weekend has been, obviously, no pressure,” Ninovic told Feeder Series. “Coming into the weekend, I knew I wanted to try and win and get pole, so there was still pressure on [me] to do the job.”

Rodin Motorsport wrapped up the teams’ championship after race one, with Ninovic, Gianmarco Pradel and Abbi Pulling helping the team win the title by 147 points from their closest rivals, Hitech. Pradel passed Fairclough on the penultimate lap to come home third in that race, which was reduced from 13 laps to 10 after a red flag on the original opening lap for a multi-car incident at Turn 1.

Behind Ninovic in the drivers’ standings was Patrick Heuzenroeder, who did enough to hold on to second place in race one despite the best efforts of Fairclough to overtake the Australian. A retirement caused by a broken suspension in race two, however, opened the door for a potential upset in the final race of the weekend.

Having started the finale in 10th, the 19-year-old dropped back to 14th in the opening laps, before fighting back to take fifth on track. He later received a one-place penalty for crowding Noah Lisle’s JHR Developments car off the track.

“That last race sums it up pretty well for a season. [I was] so close to challenging Alex all the way, [but] a few things didn’t go our way,” Heuzenroeder told Feeder Series. “I’m just unbelievably proud of my efforts this year. I’ve definitely taken a big step up, and that type of race to finish it off, going from 10th to 14th to fifth on track, is quite the rollercoaster but… a sweet ending.”

With Heuzenroeder holding on to second and Fairclough just three points behind in third after coming second in race three, the potential all-Australian top three was dashed. Pradel enjoyed his most successful weekend of the season, taking three third-place finishes, but it was not enough to finish any higher than fourth in the drivers’ standings.

“I should be a lot happier than I am,” he told Feeder Series. “I just did all that I could but wasn’t able to get into that top three [of the championship], unfortunately. I tried everything that I could [in race three] and just couldn’t quite get past the car ahead.”

He described the feeling as ‘pretty bittersweet’ but acknowledged that he played the ‘game of chess’ well when it came to judging how hard to defend and attack in on-track battles.

Race three honours went the way of GB3 debutant Maxim Rehm, who converted reverse-grid pole into his first victory in the series, though he did not score the points. The 18-year-old German was one of two drivers graduating from Italian F4 this weekend and looked comfortable at Formula Regional level, successfully fending off Fairclough and Pradel for much of the final race.

After Fairclough carved through the field to take the lead on lap three from ninth on the grid, the Briton locked up into the Variante Rettifilo two laps later, having to take to the escape road. That mistake handed Rehm the lead of the race, a lead that he never relinquished despite extensive pressure from the 2024 British F4 champion behind him.

“I’ve come into this weekend with not really big expectations if I’m honest, but already in free practice I’ve shown that I have the speed,” Rehm said. “I think it’s just the beginning. Next year, I’m 99 per cent doing the GB3 Championship, so let’s see what we can do.”

Report by George Sanderson

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Alex Ninovic, 1:43.930	Patrick Heuzenroeder, +0.004s	Deagen Fairclough, +0.325s
Qualifying 2	Alex Ninovic, 1:43.406	Noah Lisle, +0.235s	Patrick Heuzenroeder, +0.237s
Race 1 (10 laps)	Alex Ninovic, 18:30.358	Patrick Heuzenroeder, +1.613s	Gianmarco Pradel, +3.240s
Race 2 (12 laps)	Deagen Fairclough, 25:43.310	Alex Ninovic, +0.278s	Gianmarco Pradel, +0.961s
Race 3 (13 laps)	Maxim Rehm, 22:57.388	Deagen Fairclough, +0.636	Gianmarco Pradel, +0.774s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Alex Ninovic, 524	Rodin Motorsport, 913
P2	Patrick Heuzenroeder, 376	Hitech TGR, 766
P3	Deagen Fairclough, 373	Xcel Motorsport, 616
P4	Gianmarco Pradel, 364	Hillspeed, 557
P5	Reza Seewooruthun, 315	JHR Developments, 536
P6	Keanu Al Azhari, 310	Argenti with Prema, 531
P7	Noah Lisle, 287	Elite Motorsport, 381
P8	Lucas Fluxá, 258	VRD Racing, 353
P9	Will Macintyre, 240	Fortec Motorsport, 52
P10	Abbi Pulling, 231	Race Lab, 39

Read the previous round’s report here.

Spanish F4: Strauven wins title with five races to spare at Valencia

Thomas Strauven became Belgium’s second Spanish F4 champion in the opening race of the penultimate round at Campos’ home circuit at Valencia this weekend. The 17-year-old collected his second title in single-seaters, having won the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship earlier this year.

Strauven was fastest in qualifying on Saturday, snapping Campos Racing teammate Jan Przyrowski’s streak of seven pole positions by 0.086 seconds. Behind Strauven and Przyrowski, was MP’s René Lammers, 0.256s behind in third.

Strauven remained up front at the start of the first race, leading from Przyrowski, as Ean Eyckmans passed his teammate Lammers for third position ahead of Turn 1. 

The top 10 positions remained unchanged until the end of the race, and Strauven collected his eighth win of the season. That result sealed him the title, as Lammers came home just fourth behind Przyrowski and Eyckmans. It was the fifth time Strauven, Przyrowski and Eyckmans found themselves on the podium together this season.

With the grid of the second race based on the second-fastest times from qualifying, Strauven, Przyrowski and Lammers started from the top three positions. Strauven again got away well, but his teammate did not. Przyrowski defended well to avoid losing more than one position, but he could not hold off the fast-starting Lammers. 

Alfio Spina and Nathan Tye found themselves stuck in the gravel trap at Turn 5 on the opening lap. That incident, along with a collision that saw Wiktor Dobrzański’s car mount Emma Felbermayr’s, resulted in a safety car deployment. 

The race resumed on lap three, but there were once again no changes in the points positions. Strauven won the second race of the weekend, ahead of Lammers and Przyrowski. 

Strauven, Lammers and Przyrowski also occupied the top three positions in the second qualifying, which took place before the second race on Sunday but set the grid for the third race. 

Lammers from second had a better start than Strauven and drew alongside him on the run to Turn 1. Strauven left Lammers with minimal room, but he could not hold the Dutchman behind. Przyrowski attempted an overtake on Strauven on the outside of Turn 2 but ran wide on exit and dropped behind MP’s Reno Francot. 

As in the previous races, there were no more position changes at the front, and Lammers took his fourth win of the season. Strauven came home second with the fastest lap, and Francot took his third third-place finish in Spanish F4 this year to round out the podium. 

Strauven was not the only champion crowned this weekend. With sixth place in race three, Eyckmans sealed the rookie championship, having previously won the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout in 2024 to earn a paid-for seat in the series. 

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Thomas Strauven, 1:33.690	Jan Przyrowski, +0.086s	René Lammers, +0.256s
Race 1 (20 laps)	Thomas Strauven, 31:37.996	Jan Przyrowski, +2.585s	Ean Eyckmans, +5.039s
Qualifying 2	Thomas Strauven, 1:33.787	René Lammers, +0.031s	Jan Przyrowski, +0.140s
Race 2 (15 laps)	Thomas Strauven, 27:00.528	René Lammers, +0.683s	Jan Przyrowski, +2.528s
Race 3 (20 laps)	René Lammers, 31:40.637	Thomas Strauven, +4.238s	Reno Francot, +6.623s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Thomas Strauven, 345	Griffin Core by Campos, 470	Ean Eyckmans, 195
P2	René Lammers, 220	MP Motorsport, 384	Noah Monteiro, 87
P3	Ean Eyckmans, 195	KCL MP Motorsport, 157	Niklas Schaufler, 65
P4	Jan Przyrowski, 188	Campos Racing, 136	Vivek Kanthan, 63
P5	Reno Francot, 115	Rodin Motorsport, 101	Christopher El Feghali, 51
P6	Juan Cota, 111	Drivex, 62	Miguel Costa, 15
P7	Nathan Tye, 100	T-Code by Amtog, 54	Santino Panetta, 6
P8	Noah Monteiro, 87	TC Racing, 15	Francisco Monarca, 6
P9	Niklas Schaufler, 65	Monlau Motorsport, 6	Kaiden Higgins, 1
P10	Vivek Kanthan, 63	DX Racing Team, 1	Kyuho Lee, 1

Read the previous round’s report here.

Japanese F4: Championship yet to be decided as Sato leaves Autopolis winless

TGR-DC Racing School’s Tokiya Suzuki reduced the gap to Itsuki Sato in the drivers’ championship from 32.5 to 23.5 points at the penultimate round at Autopolis after winning the first race and finishing ahead of championship rival Itsuki Sato in both races.

Suzuki was fastest in qualifying, taking pole by 0.010 seconds ahead of B-Max Racing’s Tosei Moriyama and 0.233s ahead of Sato. 

Suzuki kept his lead at the start of the first race, but alongside him Moriyama had a bad getaway and dropped to fourth. Sato jumped from third to second, and Toyota junior Masana Muto converted his season-best qualifying result of fourth into third position at the start. 

The safety car was called out at the end of lap one, as Kageyama’s Ryusho Nakazato’s car was still being recovered after he stalled at the start. 

The race resumed at the end of lap three, and Kageyama’s Ryo Shirasaki passed the B-Max’s of Moriyama and Kotaro Shimbara at Turn 1 to elevate himself to fourth. 

Shirasaki remained close to Muto ahead in the remaining 10 laps, but he never found himself in a position to attack. Suzuki won for the fourth time this season, 6.675s ahead of Sato and Muto, who was Toyota’s first rookie on the podium since 2023 rookies Yuki Sano and Shunji Okumoto. 

With the second fastest times of qualifying setting the grid of the second race, Moriyama started from pole ahead of Shirasaki and Sato. Race one winner Suzuk started from only seventh position.

Shirasaki had the best start on the damp track to take the lead, while his teammate attacked Moriyama for second. The pair ran side by side into Turn 4 and Moriyama pushed Sato wide, which dropped the points leader to sixth position. 

Among the trio that passed him was Suzuki, who was fighting for fourth position himself. He attacked and passed Ponos Racing’s Ryota Horachi into Turn 10, while Sato behind profited from Horachi’s trip across the kerbs to make his way past as well.

There were no further position changes in the top eight until the end of the race. Shirasaki won his second race of the season, 5.969s ahead of Moriyama and 6.632s ahead of Momose.

With the races separated by class, the Independent Class held two races, each ahead of the Champion classes races. “Kentaro” and Nobuhiro Imada shared the wins, and they are separated by just half a point going into the final round. “Dragon” remains in contention, 15 points behind “Kentaro”, after he finished fourth in the first race and retired from the second race. 

The teams’ championship is also yet to be decided, but the chances that TGR-DC RS can overturn the 49.5-point gap to Kageyama Racing with 50 remaining points at Motegi are minuscule.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying, Champion Class	Tokiya Suzuki, 1:53.535	Tosei Moriyama, +0.010s	Itsuki Sato, +0.233s
Qualifying, Independent Class	‘Kentaro’, 1:55.650	Nobuhiro Imada, +0.413s	Yasuhiro Shimizu, +0.444s
Independent class race 1 (13 laps)	‘Kentaro’, 25:10.663	Nobuhiro Imada, +1.506s	Masayuki Ueda, +7.765s
Champion class race 1 (13 laps)	Tokiya Suzuki, 27:25.144	Itsuki Sato, +6.675s	Masana Muto, +8.625s
Independent class race 2 (10 laps)	Nobuhiro Imada, 30:57.616	Yasuhiro Shimizu, +1.547s	‘Kentaro’, +2.565s
Champion class race 2 (13 laps)	Ryo Shirasaki, 24:50.793	Tosei Moriyama, +5.969s	Syo Momose, +6.632s

Standings	Champion Class		Independent Class
	Drivers	Teams	Drivers	Teams
P1	Itsuki Sato, 212.5	Kageyama Racing, 238.5	‘Kentaro’, 190.5	B-Max Racing Team, 244.5
P2	Tokiya Suzuki, 189	TGR-DC RS, 189	Nobuhiro Imada, 190	Field Motorsport, 190.5
P3	Ryo Shirasaki, 137.5	HFDP with B-Max Racing Team, 137	‘Dragon’, 175.5	Rn-sports, 163
P4	Kotaro Shimbara, 96	Ponos Racing, 91	Masayuki Ueda, 108	Buzz Racing, 91
P5	Syo Momose, 88	B-Max Racing Team, 85	‘Ken Alex’, 91	Akiland Racing, 71
P6	Tosei Moriyama, 85	OTG Motor Sports, 50.5	Isao Nakashima, 91	Eagle Sports, 60
P7	Ryota Horachi, 73	TGM Grand Prix, 25	Makio Saito, 70	Helm Motorsports, 50
P8	Kiyoshi Umegaki, 59	Drago Corse, 17	Shoichiro Akamatsu, 56	Bionic Jack Racing, 29
P9	Kenta Kumagai, 50.5	Akiland Racing, 15	William Sakai, 37	Team 5Zigen, 14
P10	Ryuma Sako, 29	Helm Motorsports, 4	‘Ikari’, 29	DayDream Racing, 9.5

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Americas: Sherlock seals title after race one as misfortune strikes rivals

Titus Sherlock sealed the FRegional Americas championship with a race to spare at Barber Motorsports Park, profiting from his rivals’ misfortune in race one before making a last-corner pass to defeat Brady Golan by just 0.064 seconds.

Sherlock topped qualifying but earned a five-place grid penalty for using two new sets of tyres in practice. His penalty promoted Bruno Ribeiro, one of his title rivals, to pole position.

Luckily for Sherlock, Nicolás Ambiado, his other championship rival, received a five-place penalty of his own for causing a collision at the previous round.

Ambiado was due to start 10th, but as white smoke billowed from his car on the pre-grid, it became clear that his race was over, his championship hopes now in Sherlock’s hands.

The initial start was called off after Lincoln Day stalled. There was a rolling start instead, and Ribeiro sailed away as Brady Golan behind him locked up entering Turn 2.

Sherlock rose to third after a few corners and quickly began chasing Golan, even drawing alongside entering the hairpin on lap two. That was effectively an attempt for the lead, as Ribeiro slowed later that lap and sank to fourth.

Ribeiro pitted the next lap, leaving him with no hope of scoring points and clearing the way for Sherlock to win the title.

The Crosslink Motorsport driver had fallen away from Golan by then, but second place was more than enough to take championship honours. Cooper Shipman, making his FR Americas debut after securing the F4 US crown last month, finished third.

Jett Bowling led Golan from pole in race two as Sherlock and Shipman battled for third. After one lap, the two champions had already caught Golan, but any potential battle was neutralised by a caution period for Kevin Janzen’s stationary car.

The race restarted at the end of lap three, and Shipman drew alongside Sherlock again at the hairpin before completing the pass into Turn 7. Barrett Wolfe’s crash moments earlier, however, caused a second, more lengthy safety car period.

When the race resumed with just under 15 minutes remaining, Golan promptly pulled alongside Bowling and swept around him into Turn 1. Sherlock also got a good restart and ran alongside Shipman, ultimately outdragging him exiting the hairpin and grabbing third into Turn 7.

Sherlock overtook Bowling for second at the same spot a lap later and began pursuing Golan. For the last 10 minutes, they ran nose to tail, with Bowling and Ribeiro in tow.

Everything changed on the final lap. Bowling locked up at the chicane and spun, conceding third to Ribeiro and fourth to last-place starter Ambiado. The Chilean then gained another place when Ribeiro suddenly slowed and parked up at Turn 13 with suspension damage.

All the while, Sherlock smelled victory – and pounced at the last opportunity. On the outside through the penultimate corner, Sherlock got good traction on exit and dove to the inside at the final corner to pass Golan, winning with the smallest gap all season.

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Titus Sherlock, 1:19.391	Bruno Ribeiro, +0.066s	Brady Golan, +0.297s
Race 1 (19 laps)	Brady Golan, 29:56.481	Titus Sherlock, +0.552s	Cooper Shipman, +6.494s
Race 2 (18 laps)	Titus Sherlock, 30:17.126	Brady Golan, +0.064s	Nicolás Ambiado, +7.799s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Titus Sherlock, 291.5	Kiwi Motorsport, 602	Bruno Ribeiro, 230
P2	Nicolás Ambiado, 250	Crosslink Motorsports, 422	Brady Golan, 198
P3	Bruno Ribeiro, 230	Atlantic Racing Team, 298.5	Connor Roberts, 137
P4	Jett Bowling, 205	Toney Driver Development, 279	Nicolas Stati, 82
P5	Brady Golan, 198	Momentum Motorsports, 23.5	Barrett Wolfe, 62.5
P6	Connor Roberts, 137	Jensen, 6	Jake Pollack, 42
P7	James Lawley, 123.5		Alex Benavitz, 29
P8	Nicolas Stati, 82		Lincoln Day, 21
P9	Barrett Wolfe, 62.5
P10	Christian Brooks, 50

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 US: Popow secures second place overall with two victories at Barber

Alex Popow took his first F4 US victories since the season opener at NOLA Motorsports Park to seal second place in the standings, 3.5 points ahead of rival Kekai Hauanio and 32.5 points behind dominant champion Cooper Shipman.

Having secured the title last time out at VIR, Shipman elected to skip the final round of the season and step up to FR Americas. He ceded his seat to Ligier Junior Formula Championship graduate Zach Fourie, who promptly put the car second in qualifying, albeit 1.154 seconds behind Popow.

Race conditions would be another matter entirely, but Popow’s road to victory became significantly smoother after Fourie spun on the formation lap and had to start from pit lane.

WIth nobody alongside him for the rolling start, the MLT Motorsports driver bolted and pulled out a gap of 1.357 seconds over Caleb Campbell on the opening lap. Campbell had stolen second place around the outside of Turn 1 on the opening lap, but the next time around, Hauanio stuck to the inside, got a better run and retook the position.

That move left Campbell vulnerable to the pursuing Clemente Huerta, who spent the next 15 minutes hounding the LC Racing Academy driver. The overtaking move never came, however, as Campbell spun at Turn 12 and fell a lap down.

The race continued under local yellows, with Huerta now close behind Hauanio. Fourie recovered to a distant fourth, 26.838 seconds behind dominant winner Popow.

Popow and Huerta had the front row for race two, with Hauanio third. The Venezuelan bolted as the green flag flew, while Hauanio swept past Huerta around the outside of Turn 2. Campbell started fourth but hit the puddle on the outside of Turn 1 and spun in front of the pack, dropping to ninth. 

By mid-distance, Huerta and Fourie were on the tail of Hauanio. On lap 10, as Huerta had several looks approaching the hairpin, Fourie decided to capitalise and took third place away around the outside. Huerta reclaimed the position at the same place the next time by via the inside line.

Huerta tried again and got by momentarily at the hairpin on lap 15 as Hauanio went wide. Still, the Crosslink Motorsports driver got a strong exit from the corner to retake second place into the chicane.

Two laps later, Fourie got a better run out of Turn 3 and snatched the final podium position as the cars crested the hill. The South African couldn’t quite catch back up to Hauanio, who finished 0.722s ahead of him. Popow took yet another dominant victory, this time by an even bigger margin of 14.559s after 21 laps. 

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Alex Popow, 1:25.420	Zach Fourie, +1.154s	Kekai Hauanio, +1.184s
Race 1 (21 laps)	Alex Popow, 30:15.635	Kekai Hauanio, +11.590s	Clemente Huerta, +12.116s
Race 2 (21 laps)	Alex Popow, 30:31.437	Kekai Hauanio, +14.559s	Zach Fourie, +15.281s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Cooper Shipman, 298.5	Kiwi Motorsport, 507	Cooper Shipman, 298.5
P2	Alex Popow, 266	Crosslink Motorsports, 388.5	Alex Popow, 266
P3	Kekai Hauanio, 262.5	MLT Motorsports, 272	Kekai Hauanio, 262.5
P4	Clemente Huerta, 155.5	LC Racing Academy, 148	Clemente Huerta, 155.5
P5	Caleb Campbell, 148	Toney Driver Development, 67	Caleb Campbell, 148
P6	Demitri Nolan, 126	RASE Motorsports, 59.5	Demitri Nolan, 126
P7	Luke Powers, 67	Scuderia Buell, 24	Luke Powers, 67
P8	Ty Arbogast, 53.5		Oliver Savoie, 38
P9	Oliver Savoie, 38
P10	Zach Fourie, 27

Read the previous round’s report here.

Ligier Junior Formula Championship: Irazú takes title after Szuch earns penalty for collision

Gastón Irazú secured the Ligier Junior Formula Championship title with a race to spare at Barber Motorsports Park after a post-race penalty for Drew Szuch gave the Uruguayan an insurmountable points advantage.

Szuch, who entered the round 23 points behind Irazú, had pole for race one and got a strong start, while Cash Felber fended off Beckham Jacir, who had passed Irazú off the line.

Szuch led until he reached Turn 14, where Felber overtook him. Szuch attempted to fight back at Turn 1 but backed out, in doing so cutting across the front of Jacir’s car.

With his momentum checked, Jacir lost positions to Irazú and Ava Hanssen, while Roman Felber joined the battle and dove to the inside under braking. As he did so, Hanssen spun Jacir and ran over his front wing, bringing out a full-course caution.

Green-flag conditions resumed the next lap, but Ronan Bray’s spin brought out the yellows within a few corners. Still, Irazú had just enough time to pass Szuch into the hairpin. 

The next restart proved the race’s turning point. Roman Felber dove to Szuch’s inside at Turn 1, pushing him to the edge of the asphalt. Szuch clung to his line as Irazú drifted towards the inside for the Turn 2 right-hander, but the pair touched, sending Irazú spinning and dropping both down the order. Felber also lost three places after running wide.

Cash Felber therefore led Pablo Benites, with William Rohan third before Roman Felber repassed him the next lap at Turn 3. Rohan then dipped a wheel in the grass at Turn 4, losing two more spots.

Meanwhile, Irazú overtook Taisei Murakami and Hanssen, running without a front wing, in the four laps after his incident, putting him one place behind Szuch. They each overtook Rohan before the flag to come home sixth and seventh.

At the time, Szuch was 21 points behind Irazú, but a 30-second post-race penalty for the mid-race collision dropped him to 10th. Irazú’s five-second jump-start penalty put him eighth, but he still gained three points on Szuch to create an unassailable 26-point buffer.

Roman Felber had pole position for the wet race two, but he pitted on the formation lap. Cash Felber thus led, fending off Harbir Dass through the opening corners before the Berg Racing driver ran wide and ceded second to Jacir.

Irazú passed Benites for fourth exiting the final corner and closed up to Dass the next lap. He made another overtake into Turn 1, and Benites likewise attempted to capitalise but made contact with Dass, sending him off track and to the rear of the pack. The Argentine earned a 30-second penalty for the contact.

Having closed up to Felber, Jacir made the move stick at Turn 1 on lap four and created a 13-second lead, which evaporated when a full-course caution came out with eight minutes remaining for Roman Felber’s spin at the hairpin. The race never resumed, with Cash Felber, Jacir and Irazú taking the podium positions.

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Drew Szuch, 1:28.600	Cash Felber, +0.114s	Gastón Irazú, +0.257s
Race 1 (16 laps)	Cash Felber, 29:21.024	Pablo Benites, +1.137s	Roman Felber, +1.502s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Beckham Jacir, 29:46.759	Cash Felber, +0.985s	Gastón Irazú, +2.790s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Gastón Irazú, 215	Champagne Racing, 467	Gastón Irazú, 215
P2	Drew Szuch, 182	Berg Racing, 337.5	Cash Felber, 169.5
P3	Cash Felber, 169.5	Cará Origin Motorsports, 126.5	Beckham Jacir, 116
P4	Harbir Dass, 150.5	Scuderia Buell, 113	Roman Felber, 115
P5	Daniel Cará, 126.5	Momentum Motorsports, 100	Max Mokarem, 87
P6	Beckham Jacir, 116	LC Racing Academy, 82	Ava Hanssen, 75
P7	Roman Felber, 115	Ava Hanssen Racing, 75	Zach Fourie, 31
P8	Max Mokarem, 87	Crosslink Motorsports, 33	Luca Day, 15
P9	Pablo Benites, 77	Kiwi Motorsport, 24	Michael Fatutta, 13
P10	Ava Hanssen, 75	Jensen, 11	Kelsey Pinkowski, 5

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: Filippo Perotti