Photo: FRegional Americas
Formula Regional Americas made its first ever visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, racing on the circuit’s road course.
Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport’s Ryan Shehan was fastest in practice, then in qualifying Patrick Woods-Toth led a 1-2-3 for the team. He set a 1m22.982s to take pole by 0.063 seconds over Shehan, with Titus Sherlock 0.536s behind.
Nicolas Ambiado (Velox USA/Speed Factory) and Theodor Jensen (Jensen Global Advisors) were also within a second of pole.
Jensen passed Ambiado for fourth on the opening lap of race one, and Shehan briefly thought about making a move on Woods-Toth at turn seven. There was 0.7s between them at the end of the lap, and the gap remained at that size until lap seven when Woods-Toth grew it to 1.2s.
After Crosslink’s Nicole Havrda dropped from eighth to 10th on lap four, there was little overtaking as the field spread out. Sherlock lost third on lap 10 by pitting due to a loose rear wing, with Jensen inheriting the position.
Woods-Toth won the 21-lap race by 1.188s over Shehan and took the points lead from him, with Jensen 29.036s behind and only 0.284s ahead of Crosslink’s Jett Bowling after going side-by-side on the last lap.
Ambiado had held fourth until lap 16, when a wide moment allowed Bowling to get past, and Speed Factory’s Justin Garat took sixth from Crosslink’s Landan Matriano Lim in the race’s second half. Havrda gained back a place by passing team-mate Ricco Shlaimoun.
Race one’s fastest laps set race two’s grid, putting Woods-Toth on pole ahead of Shehan and Sherlock. Defensive driving kept Woods-Toth in the lead on lap one, as Sherlock passed Shehan at turn seven. Momentum Motorsports’ Anthony Autiello spun at turn one, leading to a caution period despite him rejoining and pitting.
Sherlock took the lead at turn seven on the restart lap, and Shehan sent Woods-Toth into a half-spin on the grass exiting the next corner. He was soon leading, as Sherlock suddenly slowed at the end of the lap and then stopped at the pit exit.
Bowling and Garat moved into second and third, but Garat then dropped to 11th and Havrda occupied the final podium spot.
Another caution period on lap eight caused by Atlantic Racing Team’s James Lawley getting beached in the gravel eradicated Shehan’s five-second lead, and on the lap 12 restart Ambiado got past IGY6 Motorsports’ Hayden Bowlsbey for fourth despite contact. Jensen soon followed him through.
Ambiado chased down Havrda, and on the final lap passed her only to then spin and for his engine to set on fire. Shehan won by 6.082s over Bowling and reclaimed the points lead, with Havrda holding off Jensen for third. Woods-Toth recovered to sixth and set the fastest lap, earning him race three pole.
He turned that into another win over Shehan, and Garat was initially third ahead of Bowling and Ambiado. On lap two Ambiado dropped to last, but gained back places when Shlaimoun and Lim crashed out.
That led to red flags on lap five, and after a lap behind the pace car there was seven laps of racing action. Bowling immediately passed Garat, then three others did too as Jensen got into third ahead of Sherlock.
Third became sixth when Jensen was forced off on lap nine of 11, with Bowling and Havrda moving into fourth and fifth. Garat and Bowlsbey were seventh and eighth until crashing at turn one on the last lap.
Results round-up
Race 1 (21 laps)
1 Patrick Woods-Toth Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport 29m29.857s
2 Ryan Shehan Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +1.188s
3 Theodor Jensen Jensen Global Advisors +29.036s
4 Jett Bowling Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +29.320s
5 Nicolas Ambiado Velox USA/Speed Factory +33.712s
6 Justin Garat Speed Factory +42.141s
7 Landan Matriano Lim Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +44.780s
8 Nicole Havrda Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +46.669s
9 Ricco Schlaimoun Croslink/Kiwi Motorsport +49.504s
10 Anthony Autiello Momentum Motorsports +1 lap
Pole: Woods-Toth, 1m22.982s
Fastest lap: Woods-Toth, 1m23.450s
Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Shehan 29m39.381s
2 Bowling +6.082s
3 Havrda +8.766s
4 Jensen +8.982s
5 Hayden Bowlsbey IGY6 Motorsports +12.916s
6 Woods-Toth +13.112s
7 Garat +13.492s
8 Schlaimoun +14.301s
9 Ambiado +1 lap
10 Autiello +2 laps
FL: Woods-Toth, 1m23.083s
Race 3 (11 laps)
1 Woods-Toth 17m07.492s
2 Shehan +0.761s
3 Titus Sherlock Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +3.518s
4 Bowling +5.747s
5 Havrda +7.719s
6 Jensen +8.241s
7 Ambiado +13.751s
8 James Lawley Atlantic Racing Team +24.662s
9 Kevin Janzen Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport +24.893s
10 Autiello +42.407s
FL: Woods-Toth, 1m24.577s
Championship standings
1 Shehan 147 2 Woods-Toth 144 3 Sherlock 94.5 4 Havrda 75.5 5 Bowling 70 6 Ambiado 64 7 Cole Kleck 58 8 Bowlsbey 53 9 Garat 50 10 Jensen 35