Photo: US F4
Hunter Yeany strengthened his lead at the top of the United States Formula 4 championship with a hat-trick of wins at Sebring.
After delays due to standing water, it was Jose Blanco-Chock who set pole position in an attempt to rescue his title hopes.
But it wasn’t to be for the Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport driver as he was forced to start race one from the back of the grid due to an issue with his steering wheel.
The race was soon under a full course yellow, and subsequently a red flag, after Dylan Tavella lost control and – when sliding off track – collected Josh Sarchet.
When the race resumed, Spike Kohlbecker led ahead of Erik Evans, debutant Race Liberante and Yeany. Later Nico Christodoulou spun and required assistance, resulting in another FCY.
But at this restart Yeany caught the leaders napping and took the lead. Blanco-Chock charged through the field to take second, with Evans claiming his maiden podium in third.
Blanco-Chock was on pole for race two and built a early lead of a 1.5 seconds over Yeany.
Kohlbecker was forced into the pits with a brake issue from fifth place, after being in close contention with Evans and Jeremy Fairbairn for the podium.
Yeany soon set about closing down Blanco-Chock, and set fastest lap in the process. On the penultimate lap he took the inside line heading into Turn 1, and diced with the Puerto Rican, who went off track on the last lap and effectively handed Yeany victory.
Tavella and Cade McKee were 12s back in second and fourth.
Yeany started race three from pole but he couldn’t pull away as a FCY was needed to move Evans, whose car had been stopped by a mechanical issue. Debutant Vincent Khristov meanwhile ended in the pits with a damaged nose, and his team-mate Kohlbecker retired.
At the restart Christodoulou made a hard impact with the barriers, and that forced the race to go back under FCY to the finish. Yeany won, ahead of Tavella, McKee, Fairbairn and Blanco-Chock.
Tavella has a 90-point lead, and could win the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway next month.
Results round-up
Race 1 (10 laps)
1 Hunter Yeany Velocity Racing Development 32m47.465s
2 Jose Blanco-Chock Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +0.042s
3 Erik Evans Velocity Racing Development +0.194s
4 Jeremy Fairbairn Primus Racing +1.408s
5 Spike Kohlbecker Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +2.324s
6 Cade McKee Iron Rock Motorsports +2.485s
7 Hayden Bowlsbey Alliance Racing +2.952s
8 William Myers Group-A Racing +8.696s
9 Varun Choksey Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +9.036s
10 Vincent Khristov Crosslink/Kiwi Motorport +10.447s
Pole: Blanco-Chock, 2m13.153s
Fastest lap: Blanco-Chock, 2m14.894s
Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Yeany 31m36.461s
2 Dylan Tavella Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +12.445s
3 McKee +13.615s
4 Evans +13.680s
5 Fairbairn +25.738s
6 Nico Christodoulou DEForce Racing +26.345s
7 Nicholas Rivers Group-A Racing +32.125s
8 Myers +32.699s
9 Ronan Murphy Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +36.873s
10 Khristov +37.275s
FL: Yeany, 2m13.343s
Race 3 (11 laps)
1 Yeany
2 Tavella +1.464s
3 McKee +2.199s
4 Fairbairn +3.246s
5 Blanco-Chock +5.056s
6 Josh Sarchet DC Autosport +6.154s
7 Race Liberante Rjay Racing +7.158s
8 Choksey +9.059s
9 Murphy +9.538s
10 Will Holtz Alliance Racing +10.689s
FL: Yeany, 2m15.591s
Championship standings
1 Yeany 234 2 Tavella 144 3 Blanco-Chock 113 4 Kohlbecker 107 5 McKee 93 6 Sam Paley 63 7 Rivers 58 8 Evans 38 9 Christodoulou 37 10 Fairbairn 36