Photo: FR Americas
There were three different winners in Formula Regional Americas’ three races at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Patrick Woods-Toth was the pacesetter in qualifying, but a heavy crah at turn two late in the session meant his fastest lap was deleted. However his second-best effort was still good enough for pole, by just 0.036 seconds over team-mate Titus Sherlock, with Nicolas Ambiado and Jett Bowling qualifying third and fourth.
Sherlock passed Woods-Toth straight away at the start of race one, and Bowling overtook Ambiado.
By lap three there was 1.1s between the top two, and their team-mate Nicole Havrda spun down to last place. She would retire a few laps later.
Sherlock had grown his gap to 1.7s by lap seven, then Woods-Toth brought it back down to a second by lap 12. The leader responded, pullnig 1.8s clear three laps later, but then he was reeled in again and Ambiado was also eyeing victory.
He had attempted to pass Woods-Toth at turn one on lap 13, as James Lawley spun down to last, and got close to snatching second on lap 19 too.
Just 1.5s covered the top three in the closing laps, and on the last lap Ambiado got the move done. Woods-Toth went onto the grass as he was passed, and their battle meant Sherlock won by 1.276s.
Ambiado set the fastest lap, which put him on pole for race two. He converted it into a dominant 10.17s victory, with Sherlock finishing second after passing Bowling and Woods-Toth on lap one.
Woods-Toth cleare Bowling for third on lap two, and Crosslink’s Landan Matriano Lim took fifth from IGY6 Motorsports’ Hayden Bowlsbey mid-race but had his mirrors filled thereon.
Ambiado again set the fastest lap, which meant he got to start from pole for race three.
Woods-Toth streaked past Ambiado at the start, and Sherlock got stuck between him and Bowlsbey at turn one which resulted in contact then going off and retiring.
A caution period was required, and after the restart Ambiado intensely pressured Woods-Toth until lap nine when he dropped back by a second. By lap 11 he was back on his tail, and attempted moves at turn one on three of the next four laps.
Woods-Toth continued to soak up the pressure, and victory moved him into the championship lead since pre-event points leader Ryan Shehan was absent from the event.
Results round-up
Race 1 (25 laps)
1 Titus Sherlock Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 30m36.182s
2 Nicolas Ambiado Velox USA/Speed Factory +1.276s
3 Patrick Woods-Toth Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +2.130s
4 Jett Bowling Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +3.581s
5 Hayden Bowlsbey IGY6 Motorsports +12.770s
6 Landan Matriano Lim Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +31.880s
7 Ricco Shlaimoun Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +1m16.837s
8 James Lawley Atlantic Racing Team +1 lap
Ret Nicole Havrda Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport
Pole: Woods-Toth, 1m15.190s
Fastest lap: Ambiado, 1m15.735s
Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Ambiado 25m23.508s
2 Sherlock +10.170s
3 Woods-Toth +11.917s
4 Bowling +16.507s
5 Lim +20.441s
6 Bowlsbey +20.857s
7 Havrda +49.320s
8 Lawley +51.756s
9 Schlaimoun +54.138s
FL: Ambiado, 1m15.146s
Race 3 (19 laps)
1 Woods-Toth
2 Ambiado +0.616s
3 Bowling +5.020s
4 Bowlsbey +10.921s
5 Lim +16.285s
6 Lawley +38.052s
7 Shlaimoun +40.376s
8 Havrda +48.662s
Ret Sherlock
FL: Ambiado, 1m15.929s
Championship standings
1 Woods-Toth 219.5 2 Ryan Shehan 188 3 Ambiado 140 4 Bowling 129.5 5 Sherlock 126.5 6 Bowlsbey 107 7 Havrda 97.5 8 Justin Garat 62 9 Cole Kleck 58 10 Lim 56