It was announced last week that reigning Asian F4 champions and Round 1 winner of the Australian F4 Championship, AGI Sport together with Nicolas Stati, would take on the F4 US Championship.
In a deal with Texas-based Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, AGI’s Stati set the fastest time in final practice, qualified on pole position, and won Race 1.
He started from pole in Race 2, however a braking issue saw Nicolas fall back to finish in third. In the third outing, Stati was involved in a five-car battle that lasted for much of the race. On the final lap he copped a hit in the side at Turn 6 and slipped to third.
“I controlled the race from the beginning—the car was great, and I was able to maintain the lead with a stable gap,” Stati said after the first race.
Fellow Aussie Daniel Quimby who is with the Atlantic Racing Team, scored his first-career podium with his runner-up finish in the first race, and he followed that up with victory in Race 2.
Quimby was part of the five-car battle in the last. He led at times before he lost ground and trailed the four by around 2s in the latter part of the race. Near the end he had an off track excursion at Turn 3 and finished seventh.
The US F4 Championship introduced the second generation JS F422 Ligier with Ligier Storm V4 engine.
“I really like this Ligier JS F422 car. It’s more stable to drive and easier to maintain quick lap times than some of the other cars I’ve driven in championships around the world. The engine sounds really cool. It’s just a lovely car to drive,” Stati added.
Stati leads the championship which heads to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in June for Round 2.
Meanwhile in the Eurocup-3 at the Red Bull Ring for Round 2, Campos Racing’s Noah Lisle put the disappointment of the opening round at Spa, with a fifth after he started sixth, and 10th place from 15th on the grid. He sits 10 in the series before the third round at Portimao in June.
The championship uses the Tatuus F3 T-318 chassis as in the Formula Regional European Championship. However, it is fitted with an updated body kit, a new intercooler and a battery kit. It is also 25kg lighter than the FRECA car and is powered by a 201kw Alfa Romeo-Autotecnica engine.