Seventeen-year-old prodigy Alex Crosbie is back at home and working in the family business following a whirlwind six months while he contested the US F4 Championship in a Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422.
“It was a really good experience,” Crosbie commented. “It’s a lot different over there. It is quite competitive and everyone is pushing as hard as they can. It’s more aggressive. It is probably similar to the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship which I competed in against international drivers at home last summer but much more aggressive compared to our local domestic racing.
“It was amazing how big the track set ups were and the trucks and transporters over there. Here at home a lot of guys still have small trailers to move their cars around.”
The Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport team ran cars in F4 Junior, F4 and Formula Regional.
“At Texas we had eighteen cars. The team was friendly, the engineers all work with each other but the drivers are very, very, competitive. The F4 car was good power wise but it was a shame we had no standing starts in the series as the F4 car has a long first gear. In comparison the Formula Regional car has better power and brakes.”
Crosbie had no problem naming his highlight – his first win on US soil at New Jersey in Round 3 of the championship. The worst? “The first race at Round 4 in Canada.”
Crosbie arrived at the round just three points behind the second placed driver, Australian Daniel Quimby, but an engine failure on the formation lap of the first race of the round cost him dearly in the championship battle. He ended the championship fourth overall just 4.5 points off third with two wins and six podiums in a fine debut season in the championship.
Crosbie’s favourite circuit of the five he raced at in the championship was the demanding 3.41mile, 20 turn, Circuit Of The America’s (COTA) in Texas.
“The circuit, used for the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix, has so much run-off and is wider and longer than what I am used to. The first part of the lap is fantastic,” he adds.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Mid-Ohio featured a lot of elevation not seen at many New Zealand circuits and Crosbie says the challenge was learning where to place the car before you can see over the rise.
While he flew in and out around each race Crosbie did have a little time to take a look around in the United States, which he had never visited before.
“I was there two to three days before the New Jersey round and spent a day and a half in New York while after that round I spent two days in Washington DC. There is a real different culture over there.”
Words & Images: Supplied
