LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 25, 2023) – Augie Soto-Schirripa earned his first-career win in Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) competition. Marking the first F4 U.S. win for International Motorsport, Soto-Schirripa overtook the lead exiting the first turn on the first lap and never looked back in a race that stayed green from lights to checkers.
Michael Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) started the race from the pole position after opening the weekend with a win in yesterday’s Race 1. Just behind him was Soto-Schirripa (No. 24 International Motorsport Ligier JS F4), who started the race from the second position. When the lights went out, Soto-Schirripa got a clean start to overtake the lead as they exited the first corner. Alex Berg (No. 08 MySim.ca / Rohde & Liesenfeld / Easy Drift / Penn Elcom Online / Dae Systems Ligier JS F4) gridded in the third position, but by Turn 4, he looked inside Costello to overtake the second spot. While the top three broke away, a pack of five cars started battling it out for the fourth position. Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Ligier JS F4), Tanner DeFabis (No. 5 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4), Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4), Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) and Lewis Hodgson (No. 30 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) raced nose to tail and side by side. Woods-Toth emerged the leader of the group, while Cará and Sherlock continued to duke it out for the fifth position until lap 6, when Sherlock finally completed the pass on Cará to round out the top five.
On Lap 9, Costello pulled to the inside of Berg as they entered Turn 4 to reclaim the second position. With Berg facing wear of his Hankook tires, the driver found himself taking more pressure from behind as the laps progressed.
As the race marched toward its halfway point, Soto-Schirripa pulled out to a 1.466-second lead. Costello continued his focus forward, slowly chipping away at Soto-Schirripa’s lead and moving as close as 0.448-seconds when the checkered flag waved. Meanwhile, Woods-Toth and Sherlock continued to battle for the third position. Sherlock overtook Woods-Toth to hold onto third for two laps, but Woods-Toth once again moved past Sherlock to claim the third position by lap 16, and remained there for the rest of the event.
When they crossed the finish line, it was Soto-Schirripa leading the way, followed by Costello and Woods-Toth. Meanwhile, Sherlock and Berg rounded out the top five.
READ MORE: Race 2 Official Results
“This win was a long time coming,” said Soto-Schirripa from the podium. “This was our second F4 U.S. race for us as a team, so it exceeded our expectations and we are really happy. After we had that contact in Race 1, we figured that we’d put in a quali lap so we could start Race 2 well, and it worked! Like I said, we’re really, really happy, and I think this sealed the deal for us to go to New Jersey .”
Notes of Interest:
The victory marked the first-career F4 U.S. victory for driver Augie Soto-Schirripa and the International Motorsport team.
Soto-Schirripa is competing in just his second F4 U.S. race weekend after joining the championship at Road America last month.
Costello earned his second podium of the weekend after winning yesterday’s Race 1.
After entering the weekend as the points leader, Woods-Toth missed the podium in Race 1, but rallied in Race 2 to earn his first podium finish of the weekend.
Three teams were represented on the podium, with Soto-Schirripa competing for International Motorsport, Costello for Jay Howard Driver Development and Woods-Toth for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport.
WATCH THE STREAM: F4 U.S. Race 2 at Mid-Ohio
Photos by Gavin Baker Photography.
