Photo: FRegional Americas
Titus Sherlock won two races out of three in Formula Regional Americas round two at Road America, but Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport team-mate Ryan Shehan took the championship lead.
Pre-event points leader Patrick Woods-Toth topped practice by 0.488 seconds over Velox USA’s Nicolas Ambiado, then in qualifying set a 2m03.803s to take race one pole by 0.46s over team-mate Sherlock, with Ambiado 0.697s behind in third.
The front row pair ran side-by-side through several corners on lap one before Sherlock ran out of room and dropped behind Ambiado. On lap three he reclaimed second place after more side-by-side action, but by that point Woods-Toth was already off in the distance.
The lead stood at 5.2s when a caution period was required on lap nine after Jett Bowling spun into the barriers exiting Canada Corner, where Hayden Bowlsbey had previously spun off.
Racing resumed with one lap to go, and Woods-Toth held off Sherlock to win. Ambiado was third, and Ryan Shehan passed Nicole Havrda for fourth. Ricco Shlaimoun spun at turn five so finished last, and Landan Matriano Lim finished 10th rather than seventh due to a five-second penalty for forcing another driver off-track.
Race one’s fastest laps set race two’s grid, putting Woods-Toth on pole again ahead of Sherlock, Bowlsbey, Ambiado and Shehan.
Sherlock made several attempts at getting the lead on lap one, eventually doing so at turn five in a three-wide move with Ryan Shehan only to then fall back behind Woods-Toth while Shehan dropped from the lead to seventh.
On lap two Sherlock went off at turn five, but by lap five was challenging Woods-Toth again. After plenty of side-by-side running he got ahead at turn six, then immediately pulled away.
Woods-Toth went off at turn 11 and then pitted on lap eight, putting him a lap down and handing second to Shehan who had swept his way back up the order. Sherlock won by 8.073s, and Havrda completed the podium after Ambiado was penalised for jumping the start.
Bowlsbey finished fifth despite several offs, and Kevin Janzen was 11th after spinning twice.
Setting the fastest lap meant Sherlock earned pole for race three, ahead of Shehan, Woods-Toth and Bowlsbey.
Shehan tried passing him at turn one but went off, and only challenged Sherlock once more after a mid-race caution period caused by Bowling spinning out.
Woods-Toth was third until he spun off after Kink corner on lap seven, causing another caution period that the race ended under. Ambiado had been fourth but went off at the start of lap seven, meaning Havrda made the podium again.
Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Patrick Woods-Toth Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 32m05.918s
2 Titus Sherlock Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +0.215s
3 Nicolas Ambiado Velox USA/Speed Factory +1.123s
4 Ryan Shehan Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +2.228s
5 Nicole Havrda Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +2.955s
6 Justin Garat Speed Factory +3.010s
7 Hayden Bowlsbey IGY6 Motorsports +5.553s
8 James Lawley Atlantic Racing Team +6.722s
9 Kevin Janzen Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +9.856s
10 Landan Matriano Lim Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +10.466s
Pole: Woods-Toth, 2m03.803s
Fastest lap: Woods-Toth, 2m03.981s
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Sherlock 22m55.187s
2 Shehan +8.073s
3 Havrda +18.527s
4 Ambiado +20.840s
5 Bowlsbey +24.646s
6 Jett Bowling Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +24.877s
7 Garat +29.327s
8 Lim +35.402s
9 Ricco Shlaimoun Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +37.692s
10 Lawley +44.562s
FL: Sherlock, 2m04.218s
Race 3 (9 laps)
1 Sherlock 29m27.799s
2 Shehan +0.594s
3 Havrda +1.259s
4 Garat +1.913s
5 Lim +2.850s
6 Bowlsbey +3.366s
7 Ambiado +3.863s
8 Schlaimoun +4.832s
9 Janzen +5.623s
10 Lawley +6.456s
FL: Sherlock, 2m05.122s
Championship standings
1 Shehan 95 2 Sherlock 92 3 Woods-Toth 86 4 Cole Kleck 58 5 Havra 54 6 Ambiado 49 7 Bowlsbey 47 8 Garat 42 9 Bowling 28 10 Lim 21