Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, claimed the first race of last weekend (12-14 August), while Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, won Race 2 as the second event of the Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda kicked off Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Robinson, who was just added to the F4 U.S. roster by Momentum Motorsports last week, had a big day, winning Race 2 after finishing second in the opening race of the weekend.

“The racing in this series has been really competitive,” Robinson said. “We are going to push for win number two, but we can only control what we can control. I’m going to strive to get the best results I can set to achieve. My team will be working hard, too, so I know everything will turn out great.”

Robinson started on pole in Race 2 after Konrad Czaczyk of Loxahatchee, Florida, withdrew from the round due to damage to his car from Race 1. Jackie Ding of Shenzen, China, another first time F4 U.S. entry, sat in position two and took the lead on lap seven. After a race-long battle, a bad exit out of turn two from Ding left just enough space for Robinson to make an inside move going into turn four, overtaking on the final lap of the 30-minute contest.

“The whole race was a dog fight,” Ding said. “I made a rookie mistake and let Skylar pass by me. I thought that I could fight my way back, but in the end, he was faster.”

Austin Kaszuba of Burleson, Texas, found himself on the podium for the first time placing third in Race 2 for GMV Motorsports. Kaszuba started sixth on the grid and slowly picked off the three competitors in front of him until held steady in third.

“We had our work cut out for us,” Kaszuba said. “There were a lot of fast guys in front. We raced clean and fair and that’s all that matters.”

Kirkwood proved himself a victor during tough racing conditions, emerging as the winner of the first race of the day for the F4 U.S. Championship.

“The track conditions were really scary at times,” said Kirkwood. “This was my first time competing in the rain in a full sized car. I really had to keep focused too because Skylar and I were neck-to-neck at times. He made a mistake late in the race that allowed me to pull away and cross the finish line uncontested.”

Rainfall early in the race caused the first wet race in F4 U.S. history to be called. Competitors were radioed to the pits to switch to Pirelli rain tires after the formation lap.

Due to the wet conditions, F4 U.S. drivers completed their first rolling start of the season. A standing start is the traditional start for the series unless weather or other on-track circumstances prohibits the drivers from doing so.

The field was under a full course yellow until 18 minutes into the race. Weather conditions produced several off-track incidents causing the delay in green flag racing.

Robinson and Ding joined Kirkwood on the podium. Robinson took home an impressive second-place finish even after making a 360-degree turn on the track late in the race. Ding would cross the finish line third but would finish the race fourth after a penalty was issued for passing James Goughary Jr. of Jupiter, Florida, under a yellow flag.

The final race of the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course may have ended in yellow, but the excitement during the weekend finale left spectators on their feet. 

Cameron Das of Brooklandville, Maryland, shot out of the standing start from his pole position, gaining a substantial lead over his competitors. Das, driving the metallic blue and white JDX Racing Zero Chroma F4 U.S. car, went the entire race uncontested and capitalized on his first-place position.

“It feels great to see victory circle,” Das said. “All the hard work we put in this weekend really paid off. We worked on the car a lot and saw big improvements. I just needed to stay consistent, put good laps in and stay on track. We were extremely happy with the end results.”

While Das set the pace for Race 3, it was the field behind him that caused exhilarating spectating. With seven minutes left in the 30-minute round, Raphael Forcier of Montreal and Austin Kaszuba of Burleson, Texas, went into turn one battling for position. Kaszuba, who was on the outside of Forcier, cut in closer to defend his line, leaving a gap of space for Benjamin Pedersen to make a high-risk, high-reward move that if done successfully, would catapult him four positions forward.

“I was a couple positions behind Austin and Raphael,” Pederson said. “I saw the two of them battling and took that advantage to get a good run out of turn one.”

In a thrilling display of open-wheel racing, three F4 U.S. drivers went three wide in the Keyhole with Forcier on the inside of the turn, Pedersen on the outside and Kaszuba in the middle. As the competitors tried to straighten out of the turn, there was only room for one competitor and no one in the group would give up their track position. Forcier made incidental contact with Kaszuba, causing a ping-pong ball effect into Pedersen. Pedersen went up onto two wheels into the wall before it tilted back over right-side-up. The incident would cause a full course yellow and Forcier and Pedersen would not return to the race. All competitors involved in the incident were not injured and the race concluded in yellow.

Friday podium finishers Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, and Jackie Ding of Shenzen, China, struggled in Race 3. Robinson started seventh on the grid and finished the race 12th after experiencing difficulties late in the race. Ding stalled on the start, leaving him in last place. Ding tried to play catch-up the entire race, but his Race 3 top-10 hopes ended after spinning into the gravel. Ding was extracted with front end damage and did not return the race. He finished 15th.

The F4 U.S. competitors meet again at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, from August 26-28 for the third event of the season.