Southland’s Alex Crosbie won his maiden Formula 4 United States Championship in a thrilling opener at New Jersey Motorsport Park overnight.
The Kiwi teenager was triumphant in a race-long battle with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport teammate Nicolas Stati for the victory.
Barrett Wolfe completed the podium, making for a Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport sweep of the podium.
“It was definitely a hard race,” said Crosbie from atop the podium. “Nicholas [Stati] made it difficult to get past and I couldn’t run away with it. I just felt too much pressure from him, but it was definitely a great, clean race, and we had a lot of fun.
“I’d like to thank my team—Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport—my engineer Matt, my mechanic Juan, everyone at home who’s supporting me, and of course my sponsor, Golden Homes New Zealand.”
Stati qualified on the pole for the opener, topping his Kiwi rival by two-tenths.
Fourth-place starter Pablo Benites Jr. seized the initiative off the start, running around the outside at Turn 1 to take the lead ahead of Stati and Crosbie.
Benites Jr. remained at the front for the opening 10 minutes but faced intense pressure from the challengers. Stati and then Crosbie worked back through to claim first and second, respectively.
Once in front, the two teammates were inseparable, never remaining more than 1 second apart and switching the lead multiple times over the final 20 minutes.
The Southlander eventually emerged as the leader and held on for a 0.490-second win.
Benites Jr. crossed the line third but was relegated to fifth when stewards determined the #44 car failed to make minimum weight, which elevated Wolfe to the final podium spot.
The F4 US Championship returns for Race 2 at New Jersey Motorsport Park at 3.05 am NZST on Monday, ahead of the finale at 8.25 am.
Racing can be followed on a free live stream on SpeedTour TV’s YouTube channel.
Header Image: F4 US Championship
