Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport’s Ryan Shehan won both Formula Regional Americas races at Mid-Ohio
Pre-event testing kicked off the track action, and Patrick Woods-Toth was comfortably fastest. He set a 1m19.9s late in the second session to go 0.224 and 0.354 seconds clear respectively of team-mates Titus Sherlock and Shehan.
Two practice sessions followed, and Shehan’s 1m19.135s in FP1 put him on top by 0.011s over Sherlock. Woods-Toth was 0.101s behind in third, with Velox USA/Speed Factory’s FP2 pacesetter Nicolas Ambiado trailing by 0.315s in fourth.
Sherlock had a brake failure in FP2 that led to a high-speed crash, a hopital trip and having to withdraw from the rest of the weekend. Afterwards he said “I’ve been consistently let down by my car” this year.
Woods-Toth returned to the top in qualifying, setting a 1m18.643s to take pole by 0.261s. Shehan edged Ambiado to a front row spot by 0.016s, and Crosslink/Kiwi’s Jett Bowling was the only other driver within a second of the pace.
The lead changed hands immediately at the start of race one, with Shehan streaking away. Woods-Toth started to reel him back in after a few laps, but then Shehan grew his gap again. They eventually finished 0.461s apart, with Ambiado running in third until his car slowed with a technical issue mid-race and he retired in the pits.
Bowling inherited the final podium spot, 11s behind the winner, and IGY6 Motorsports’ Hayden Bowlsbey finished fourth. He started eighth following a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision, and spent many laps pressuring Crosslink/Kiwi’s Nicole Havrda. When he finally got past her, Speed Factory’s Justin Garat followed him straight through but he did not have to worry about him after that as he pulled away.
The fastest laps set race two’s grid, and Ambiado had a chance at redemption by starting on pole. But Shehan leapt past him straight away and stayed in front thereon. Ambiado followed him all the way to finish second, but did not even get near Shehan on a late restart following a caution period, and Woods-Toth was less than a second off victory in third.
Bowlsbey finished fourth, and Bowling was fifth after team-mate Landan Matriano Lim retired mid-race.
Results round-up
Race 1 (23 laps)
1 Ryan Shehan Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 30m40.290s
2 Patrick Woods-Toth Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +0.461s
3 Jett Bowling Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +11.037s
4 Hayden Bowlsbey IGY6 Motorsports +24.734s
5 Justin Garat Speed Factory +28.741s
6 Nicole Havrda Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +35.453s
7 Landan Matriano Lim Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +43.249s
8 Ricco Shlaimoun Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +43.772s
9 James Lawley Atlantic Racing Team +51.546s
10 Kevin Janzen Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +3 laps
Pole: Woods-Toth, 1m18.643s
Fastest lap: Nicolas Ambiado, 1m19.229s
Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Shehan 25m46.622s
2 Nicolas Ambiado Velox USA/Speed Factory +0.452s
3 Woods-Toth +0.790s
4 Bowlsbey +2.044s
5 Bowling +9.594s
6 Havrda +10.688s
7 Lawley +10.913s
8 Shlaimoun +11.210s
9 Garat +16.988s
10 Janzen +18.385s
FL: Woods-Toth, 1m20.612s
Championship standings
1 Shehan 188 2 Woods-Toth 164.5 3 Bowling 90.5 4 Havrda 87.5 5 Titus Sherlock 83.5 6 Ambiado 79 7 Bowlsbey 77 8 Garat 62 9 Cole Kleck 58 10 Theodor Jensen 32