F4 U.S. Championship Releases 2018 Schedule At PRI Show
 |
| USF4 on the Homestead road course |
The momentum of the 2017 powerhouse-schedule continues with Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda hosting 17 races and expanding its official series tests from one to three in 2018. F4 U.S. opens its third season at Virginia International Raceway in April, traveling with North America’s largest top production car-based racing championship, Pirelli World Challenge, for the first time and will return to closeout its season at Circuit of the Americas in October with Formula 1 during the United States Grand Prix.
The schedule announcement was made today during a press conference held at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Indianapolis.
The entry-level, cost-contained open-wheel series has gained interest from teams and drivers from across the world since its 2016 unveiling, averaging 32 cars per race weekend in 2017.
“New teams from around the world have purchased cars to compete in 2018, creating even more competition within the field," said SCCA Pro Racing Vice President Steve Oseth. “Even with the addition of F3 Americas, we anticipate the F4 U.S. grid size to maintain the high numbers we saw in 2017."
The F4 U.S. Championship, utilizing the FIA Formula 4 homologated Crawford F4-16 chassis and Honda K20 C1 2.0-liter engine, makes its first official 2018 stop at MSR Houston January 13-14 during an official series test. The Championship then heads to NOLA Motorsports Park March 31- April 1 for its last preseason test before making its 2018 race-debut at VIR with PWC April 27-29.
The tight turns and intense elevation changes of Road Atlanta will challenge the F4 U.S. field during the Formula Drift weekend May 10-12. The series breaks from race-weekend action and travels to the newly FIA-accredited Pittsburgh International Race Complex June 11-12 for the final series test of the season. The schedule picks back up at the end of the month as F4 U.S. visits Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Formula Race Promotions June 28-July 1.
The next two events take the series back to Pittsburgh International Race Complex with TransAm Aug. 3-5 and to New Jersey Motorsports Park Sept. 14-16 with FRP.
The Championship concludes at COTA with F1 during the USGP Oct. 19-21.
During the press conference, Oseth detailed the restructuring of the end-of-season championship.
“SCCA Pro is waiving the F4 U.S. championship fee which means all entered drivers will now be eligible to earn SCCA Pro championship and FIA Super License points in 2018," Oseth said. “The top-10 drivers at the end of the season will receive a cash prize instead of just the top-three and the overall champion will receive a $100,000 scholarship to advance to F3 Americas."
The conference ended with the announcement that the FIA World Council published this week that no major changes will be made to the F4 chassis until after 2023.
For more information on the 2018 schedule and teams can be found at F4USChampionship.com.
F4 U.S. 2018 Schedule
Jan. 13-14 MSR Houston Series Test
March 31-April 1 NOLA Motorsports Park Series Test
April 27-29 Virginia International Raceway with Pirelli World Challenge
May 10-12 Road Atlanta with Formula Drift
June 11-12 Pittsburgh International Race Complex Series Test
June 28-July 1 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Formula Race Promotions
Aug. 3-5 Pittsburgh International Race Complex with TransAm
Sept. 14-16 New Jersey Motorsports Park with Formula Race Promotions
Oct. 19-21 Circuit of the Americas with Formula 1