Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Cooper Shipman and Gaston Irazu both took double Formula 4 wins at New Jersey Motorsports Park last weekend.
Kiwi Motorsport’s Shipman achieved the feat in United States F4, which only attracted seven entries in second-generation cars.
It was MLT Motorsports’ Alex Popow who set the pace in practice and qualifying, which was red flagged. Popow went 0.202 seconds quicker than Crosslink Competition’s Kekai Hauanio before the session ended, and Shipman was third fastest but one of three drivers to get five-place grid penalties. That meant his team-mate Demitri Nolan was promoted to third on the race one grid, and Toney Driver Development’s Luke Powers lined up fourth despite being slowest by some margin.
Race one was dramatic, with Hauanio squeezing to the inside of Popow at turn two then the poleman going off at the chicane on lap one and dropping to seventh. Nolan crashed out of second at turn two on lap two, and both a caution period and red flags were triggered.
Race control continued with the former, then made the track green again on lap five. Shipman, who had inherited second, was immediately alongside Hauanio but went off at turn one and dropped to fifth.
LC Racing Academy’s Caleb Campbell was now second, but Kiwi’s Clemente Huerta took the position from him at turn one a lap later.
Campbell then had Popow and Shipman on his tail through lap seven. Shipman overtook Popow at the chicane, Popow dived back past and they squabbled until Popow had a huge crash at turn two on lap eight.
Another caution period was needed, and on the lap 12 restart Huerta went down Hauanio’s inside for the lead but then went off at turn one. Campbell hugged the inside line and emerged with the lead, with Shipman rising to second.
He was 0.046s ahead at the end of the lap, and Shipman nosed ahead as they began lap 14 but had to make it stick with the outside line at turn one. Hauanio pressured Campbell after that until the chequered flag was weaved at the end of lap 16 due to Powers crashing and losing his rear wheels.
Half-points were awarded, and a 30s penalty for causing a collision demoted Campbell to fourth.
Shipman’s fastest lap put him on race two pole, which all drivers attended after car repairs.
Hauanio swept around the outside of turn one to go from third to first on the opening lap, and a few corners later Campbell went off and dropped down the order. Huerta also had a huge off late in the lap, and Hauanio began lap two a second clear of Shipman, who had a big gap to Campbell and Popow.
Campbell rode the inside and outside kerbs at turn one and was sent spinning off once he tried turning in, and a caution period was called just before he got his car moving again.
He was with the pack when racing resumed on lap four, and Hauanio weaved to defend his lead. Hurerta and Campbell got up to fourth and fifth, then Campbell crashed again on lap six and another caution period began.
The next restart was on lap 10, and Hauanio weaved again. Points leader Shipman was able to go around his outside at turn one a lap later and then pulled away to win. Huerta inherited third after Popow got a five-second penalty for impeding.
In the Ligier Junior Formula Championship, Irazu topped practice then Champagne Racing team-mate Roman Felber beat him to pole by 0.294s.
Felber jumped race one’s start and quickly built a big lead while Irazu was slow off the line and fell down the order. He had recovered to fourth by the end of lap one, and began lap three just behind Berg Racing’s Harbir Dass who he squeezed down the inside of for second. He had 1.5s to then make up on Felber, and the gap ebbed and flowed until lap 10 when he brought it down to 0.652s.
Irazu was on Felber’s tail on lap 15 of 22, but he defended well to stay ahead until a lock-up on lap 20 cost him the lead.
An incident dropped Dass down the order mid-race, then Champagne’s Cash Felber was third until retiring three laps from the end. Berg’s Drew Szuch finished third, too far back to benefit from Roman Felber’s five-second penalty.
There was contact at the start of race two and Irazu went from first to fourth as Dass led Roman Felber and Szuch. Irazu finally reclaimed a place on lap five before a caution period began due to a double crash, and when racing resumed on lap 10 he was on the leaders’ tails. Dass blocked Felber into turn one and Irazu snatched second, and with a late lunge there on lap 13 he cleared Dass for the lead. Cash Felber soon made his way into second, and Roman Felber squeezed past Dass on the last lap.
Race three was cancelled for both championships.
Results round-up
US F4
Race 1 (16 laps)
1 Cooper Shipman Kiwi Motorsport 29m34.513s
2 Kekai Hauanio Crosslink Competition +1.954s
3 Clemente Huerta Kiwi Motorsport +8.134s
4 Caleb Campbell LC Racing Academy +31.644s
5 Luke Powers Toney Driver Development +1 lap
Ret Alex Popow MLT Motorsports
Ret Demitri Nolan Crosslink Competition
Pole: Hauanio, 1m18.884s
Fastest lap: Shipman, 1m19.031s
Race 2 (19 laps)
1 Shipman 31m05.719s
2 Hauanio +1.279s
3 Huerta +9.233s
4 Popow +10.414s
5 Powers +15.857s
6 Nolan +30.649s
Ret Campbell
FL: Shipman, 1m18.998s
Championship standings
1 Shipman 173.5 2 Hauanio 156.5 3 Popow 129 4 Huerta 107.5 5 Campbell 97 6 Nolan 63 7 Ty Arbogast 53.5 8 Powers 15 9 Conor Grant 14
Ligier JFC
Race 1 (22 laps)
1 Gaston Irazu Champagne Racing 29m53.568s
2 Roman Felber Champagne Racing +5.866s
3 Drew Szuch Berg Racing +12.127s
4 Max Mokarem Momentum Motorsports +14.588s
5 Daniel Cara Cara Origin Motorsports +20.956s
6 Ava Hanssen Ava Hanssen Racing +27.613s
7 Zach Fourie Kiwi Motorsport +33.303s
8 Michael Fatutta Champagne Racing +41.555s
9 Harbir Dass Berg Racing +1 lap
10 Luca Day LC Racing Academy +1 lap
Pole: Felber, 1m20.459s
Fastest lap: Irazu, 1m20.127s
Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Irazu 31m04.828s
2 Cash Felber Champagne Racing +1.531s
3 R Felber +3.871s
4 Dass +5.120s
5 Szuch +5.469s
6 Beckham Jacir LC Racing Academy +9.293s
7 Cara +15.603s
8 Hanssen +16.005s
9 Mokarem +18.017s
10 Jordyn Martin LC Racing Academy +38.570s
FL: R Felber, 1m21.239s
Championship standings
1 Irazu 190 2 Szuch 148 3 Cara 126.5 4 C Felber 111.5 5 Dass 106.5 6 Jacir 65 7 Mokarem 57 8 R Felber 57 9 Pablo Benites 55 10 Hanssen 53