F4 - Das dominates season finale, crowned first U.S. Champion

  • gb
11.10.16

Cameron Das swept the championship weekend (7-9 October) at Miami-Homestead Speedway to secure the inaugural Formula 4 United States Championship

FIA, Motorsport, Mobility, Road Safety, F1, WRC, WEC, WTCC, World RX

Despite Hurricane Matthew, the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda competitors battled each other at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend (7-9 October) for the chance to win the $25,000 championship grand prize.

Cameron Das of Brooklandville, Maryland, continued his winning streak during the first round of the F4 U.S. Championship weekend finale. Das captured his sixth consecutive checkered flag at Homestead-Miami, and has now won seven out of the last eight races. He leads the championship chase by 37 points over Konrad Czaczyk of Loxahatchee, Florida.

Das started on pole after qualifying with the fastest lap time earlier in the day. Jim Goughary Jr. of Jupiter, Florida, joined Das in the front row. Czazcyk and Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, would start from the second row.

When the green flag dropped, Das and Goughary shot from the standing grid. Czaczyk would lose momentum off the start line, allowing Robinson to pass. Going into Turn 1, Robinson and Goughary split Das with Goughary risking passing high on the outside bank and Robinson challenging the inside.

Das’ car bogged down, allowing his competitors to pass. Goughary’s high-risk, high-reward move would land him in position one.

“Cameron has a lot to lose here this weekend,” Goughary said. “I knew if I passed him on the outside in Turn 1, he wouldn’t make it very difficult on me, so I did, and it worked.”

Goughary’s black No. 11 Primus Racing car started to lose momentum in Lap 3 due to mechanical issues and he fell back to eighth place. Czaczyk took the lead with Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, in second and Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, in third. Das would fall to sixth.

Das and Goughary were determined not let early race complications stop them from placing on the podium. Both would make miraculous comebacks.

Das was patient as he picked of his fellow F4 U.S. competitors one-by-one until he had Czazcyk back in his sights. Midway through the session, Das used Czazcyk’s draft to overtake him on the straight. Czazcyk tried to catch Das, but the blue and white ZeroChroma JDX Racing F4 car would not succumb its first-place position for the remainder of the race. 

“Konrad was pretty quick, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get rid of him,” Das said. “My biggest advantage of him was that I improved my run out of the hairpin. This allowed me to gradually pull away for the win.”

Goughary made his final move as the white flag was thrown. Drafting off Robinson, Goughary used lapped traffic as a pick to pass Robinson for the final podium position. 

Kirkwood, who finished the race fifth, combated mechanical issues throughout the race, which threw off his pace. He will start on the grid in tenth place for Race 2 on Sunday.

Series newcomers, Allan Miller of Indianapolis, Indiana, piloting No. 51 for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports and Brian Fowler of Cape Coral, Florida, driving for Momentum Motorsports, both experienced their first times behind the wheel of an F4 U.S. car Saturday.

After Hurricane Matthew caused a cancelation of the track test day and condensed the race schedule down to permit for only one 40-minute practice session, the pair received limited seat-time before their first showing. Miller finished 12th and Fowler finished 14th.

Raphael Foricer of Montreal did not finish the race due to mechanical complications.

On the final day of competition in the inaugural Formula 4 United States Championship, Das of won his eighth consecutive race capping off a dominating season to become the first F4 U.S. National Champion.

Das, who won nine of 15 F4 U.S. races this season, swept all three races over the weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway and earned a $25,000 grand prize for leading the season-long points table.

“It feels surreal to be a champion” said Das, who drives for JDX Racing. “I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Konrad Czaczyk of Loxahatchee, Florida, finished second in the season-long points list, while Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, earned third place to round out the podium.

Das, who has dominated the second half of the season, was unbeatable across the weekend with three wins, three pole starts and four fast lap times.

While Das finished the season strongly, it didn’t come without contention from his fellow F4 U.S. drivers.

Das, who started on pole, would make a minor mistake which slowed him down enough for Czaczyk, Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, and Baltazar Leguizamon of Buenos Aires to pass. Robinson and Czaczyk battled for first and would change positions multiple times during the first quarter of the race. The fight between the pair allowed Das to gain ground.

On Lap 3 exiting Turn 2, Czaczyk, in Position 1, took the race line too wide, putting two wheels of his black No. 47 Global Racing Group LAC car on the grass. The error would result in an exciting three-wide run for first in Turn 3 with Robinson on the inside, Czaczyk on the outside and Das between the two. Robinson moved into the lead but not for long.

As Das set his sights on Robinson, the pair raced down the front stretch and Das locked in on the draft set by Robinson. Advancing to Turn 1, Das made his move to sling-shot his ZeroChroma car to the outside of Robinson. Das succeeded with the pass for first and would not concede the position for the remainder of the race, finishing the final round of the season more than eight seconds ahead of the pack.

Leguizamon would overtake Robinson to cross the finish line second for his highest finish of the season, while Robinson finished a nose ahead of Czaczyk for third.

“It was an amazing race,” said Leguizamon, who drives for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports. “I have to thank my team owner Jack Miller for trusting me behind the wheel. He promised me at least a third-place finish today, and here we are in second. This was a great way to finish the season.”

In the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning, Das gained the lead quickly and would not be challenged by the other drivers for the remainder of the session.

Robinson and Czaczyk exchanged position several times before Czaczyk pulled away for second place. Leguizamon would battle with Robinson for the remainder of the season until the two crossed the finish line for a photo finish. Leguizamon beat Robinson by less than three hundredths of a second, which would end Robinson’s chase for championship podium placement.

Fans can view photos and full race results from the grand finale on F4USChampionship.com

 

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Race 1 October 8, 2016

Pos

No.

Name

Laps

Best Tm

Hometown

Entrant

Sponsor

1

28

Cameron Das

21

1:25.085

Brooklandville MD

JDX Racing

Zero Chroma

2

47

Konrad Czaczyk

21

1:25.521

Loxahatchee FL

Global Racing Group

LCA

3

11

James Goughary Jr.

21

1:25.473

Jupiter FL

Primus Racing

Primus Racing

4

2

Skylar Robinson

21

1:25.596

Augusta GA

Momentum Motorsports

Momentum Motorsports

5

5

Kyle Kirkwood

21

1:25.781

Jupiter FL

Primus Racing

Primus Racing

6

45

Baltazar Leguizamon

21

1:25.404

Buenos Aires Argentina

MVM

Indy Dental Group

7

24

Benjamin Pedersen

21

1:25.534

Copenhagen Denmark

Global Racing Group

DirtFish

8

25

Darren Keane

21

1:26.020

Boca Raton FL

JDX Racing

Cal Development

9

86

Jackie Ding

21

1:25.754

Shenzen China

Group-A Racing

Huwawei Telecommunications

10

12

Moises de la Vara

21

1:25.553

Guadalajara Mexico

Global Racing Group

UAG

11

7

Blake Mount

21

1:25.942

Littleton CO

JDX Racing

Coca-Cola

12

51

Alan Miller

21

1:27.160

Indianapolis IN

MVM

Blue Marble

13

10

Davis Durrett

21

1:26.413

Indianapolis IN

DRG

Underwood Machinery

14

1

Brian Fowler

19

1:29.640

Cape Coral FL

Momentum Motorsports

Momentum Motorsports

15

34

Austin Kaszuba

18

1:25.363

Burleson TX

GMV Motorsport

Indy Dental Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Race 2 October 9, 2016

Pos

No.

Name

Laps

Best Tm

Hometown

Entrant

Sponsor

1

28

Cameron Das

21

1:24.955

Brooklandville MD

JDX Racing

Zero Chroma

2

45

Baltazar Leguizamon

21

1:25.483

Buenos Aires Argentina

MVM

Indy Dental Group

3

2

Skylar Robinson

21

1:25.426

Augusta GA

Momentum Motorsports

Momentum Motorsports

4

47

Konrad Czaczyk

21

1:25.013

Loxahatchee FL

Global Racing Group

LCA

5

11

James Goughary Jr.

21

1:25.550

Jupiter FL

Primus Racing

Primus Racing

6

5

Kyle Kirkwood

21

 

Jupiter FL

Primus Racing

Primus Racing

7

34

Austin Kaszuba

21

1:25.356

Burleson TX

MVM

Indy Dental Group

8

7

Blake Mount

21

1:25.729

Littleton CO

JDX Racing

Coca-Cola

9

10

Davis Durrett

21

1:26.916

Indianapolis IN

DRG

Underwood Machinery

10

62

Raphael Forcier

21

1:25.736

Montreal Quebec

Group-A Racing

Group-A Racing

11

51

Alan Miller

21

1:26.732

Indianapolis IN

MVM

Blue Marble

12

12

Moises de la Vara

20

1:26.341

Guadalajara Mexico

Global Racing Group

UAG

13

1

Brian Fowler

20

1:29.114

Cape Coral FL

Momentum Motorsports

Momentum Motorsports

14

25

Darren Keane

19

1:25.935

Boca Raton FL

JDX Racing

Cal Developmen

Not classified

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25

Darren Keane

9

11 Laps

 

Boca Raton FL

JDX Racing

Cal Development

86

Jackie Ding

9

11 Laps

 

Shenzen China

Group-A Racing

Huwawei Telecommunications

24

Benjamin Pedersen

1

19 Laps

 

Copenhagen Denmark

Global Racing Group

DirtFish

 

 

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Race 3 October 9, 2016

Pos

No.

Name

Laps

Best Tm

Hometown

Entrant

Sponsor

1

28

Cameron Das

20

1:24.527

Brooklandville MD

JDX Racing

Zero Chroma

2

47

Konrad Czaczyk

20

1:25.017

Loxahatchee FL

Global Racing Group

LCA

3

45

Baltazar Leguizamon

20

1:25.173

Buenos Aires Argentina

MVM

Indy Dental Group

4

2

Skylar Robinson

20

1:24.868

Augusta GA

Momentum Motorsports

Momentum Motorsports

5

11

James Goughary Jr.

20

1:25.201

Jupiter FL

Primus Racing

Primus Racing

6

12

Moises de la Vara

20

1:25.232

Guadalajara Mexico

Global Racing Group

UAG

7

62

Raphael Forcier

20

1:24.894

Montreal Quebec

Group-A Racing

Group-A Racing

8

7

Blake Mount

20

1:25.576

Littleton CO

JDX Racing

Coca-Cola

9

5

Kyle Kirkwood

20

 

Jupiter FL

Primus Racing

Primus Racing

10

51

Alan Miller

20

1:26.150

Indianapolis IN

MVM

Blue Marble

11

10

Davis Durrett

20

1:25.914

Indianapolis IN

DRG

Underwood Machinery

12

34

Austin Kaszuba

20

1:24.879

Burleson TX

MVM

Indy Dental Group

13

1

Brian Fowler

20

1:28.842

Cape Coral FL

Momentum Motorsports

Momentum Motorsports

 

Not classified

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24     Benjamin Pedersen

13

8 Laps

 

Copenhagen Denmark

Global Racing Group

DirtFish

86     Jackie Ding

4

17 Laps

 

Shenzen China

Group-A Racing

Huwawei Telecommunications