PLYMOUTH, Wis. (May 21, 2022) – Matt Christensen won his first race in Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) competition on Saturday afternoon in Race 1 at Road America.
After rolling off second in his No. 45 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4, Christensen initially fell in line behind Lochie Hughes in the No. 6 Jay Howard Driver Development, CSU One Cure, Lucas Oil, Pelican Ligier JS F4. Christensen kept the pressure on Hughes and was able to overtake the top spot before the completion of lap 1.
After a brief safety car period, the field was restacked to give another chance at the top spot. Christensen held the lead early, but a four-way battle ensued and it was Hughes who overtook the point position before completing lap 4.
As the laps ticked by, Christensen continued to apply the pressure on Hughes. It all came down to the last lap as the two raced side-by-side and Christensen ultimately made the pass on Hughes in Turn 13 to lead the field to the checkered flag.
“It was a really good fight with Lochie,” said Christensen as he climbed from the car. “I got him at the start in Turn 5 on lap 1, and then he passed me back. Then he pulled a little gap, then like he said he started to make mistakes and I just bounced him on the mistakes and caught him and then made that last lap pass.”
Alex Berg (No. 08 Doran-Kroll Competition Ligier JS F4) finished third, earning his second podium finish of the season, followed by Nicholas Rivers (No. 24 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4) in fourth and Louka St-Jean (No. 98 Jay Howard Driver Development, CSU One Cure, Lucas Oil, Pelican Ligier JS F4) in fifth.
Full results are available here: F4 U.S. Official Results – Race 1 at Road America
F4 U.S. returns to the track tomorrow for Race 2 at 10:40 a.m. CT, followed by Race 3 at 4:20 p.m. CT. A live feed of the Road America Jumbotron is available on SpeedTour TV’s YouTube page at YouTube.com/SpeedTourTV, and will air both races on Sunday.
