AVONDALE, La. (April 10, 2022) – Nicholas Rivers secured his first career Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) victory in the final race of the weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park. Rivers raced with F4 U.S. in 2020, but took a year off before returning to the series for the season opener this weekend in the No. 24 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4.
Rivers rolled off third when the lights went out at NOLA and quickly set his pace, moving into second-place after the completion of the first lap and overtaking the lead by Lap 3. His race didn’t go without challenges though, as he endured two restarts and a late-race charge from teammate Noah Ping in the No. 65 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4.
Rivers held the top position until Lap 11 when Ping passed him. However, Rivers was able to work past Ping while racing through the esses on the final lap, Lap 13, to sail away toward the checkered flag.
Ping was initially scored second, but dropped to 13th following a stewards decision for causing a collision.
As a result, Lochie Hughes, who initially finished third in his No. 6 Jay Howard Driver Development Ligier JS F4, moved to second on the final results. Alex Berg was officially scored as the third-place finisher in his No. 08 Doran-Kroll Competition Ligier JS F4, earning his first podium of the weekend.
Matt Christensen (No. 45 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4) entered the race as the points leader, but had a rough race after his car had clutch issues following a red flag. As a result, he had to restart the race from the back of the pack on lap 10. Christensen ultimately worked his way past five cars and back up to the 12th position before the checkered flag waved. While provisional results made it look like Christensen would not earn points for the race, he moved into 10th-place on the final results and earned one point toward the championship.
F4 U.S. will return to the track for the Road America SpeedTour, where they will complete Rounds 4-6 at the infamous 4.04-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis., May 19-22. Tickets for the Road America SpeedTour are available at RoadAmerica.com.
View the full field official race results, here: F4 U.S. Round 3 Official Results
