F4: Aussie beats Americans to US F4 crown

Race 2

With the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) drivers’ championship title on the line at Circuit of The Americas, Lochie Hughes (No. 6 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / Pelican Ligier JS F4) took the win in Race 2 on Thursday afternoon. Fighting back from a sixth-place finish in Race 1 (see below), Hughes scored maximum points to enter the final race of the weekend in control of the standings.

“That was a pretty fun race,” said Hughes recounting the event. “We started P6, so we just chipped away at it one by one, trying to get to the front. I was surprised with the pace we had. We made a few changes on the car after Race 1 and they worked quite well. The car felt really well. We were able to just hit our marks and work our way forward. I caught up to Bryson (Morris) and passed him into Turn 1, and then led the rest of the race from there.”

Rolling off sixth, Hughes was on a mission from the drop of the green flag. Picking up two positions on the opening lap, Hughes moved into third by the completion of lap two and into second one lap later. All that was left in front of Hughes was championship rival Bryson Morris (No. 39 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4). Hughes caught Morris entering Turn 1 while working lap five, completed the pass and never looked back.

Meanwhile, Noah Ping (No. 65 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4), the other driver still in contention for the championship, faced adversity despite starting from the pole position. As the field worked lap seven, Ping had dropped to the fifth position before contact sent him into a gravel trap. Unable to continue or complete 90% of the laps, his finish was not classified in the event.

The provisional results showed Hughes leading Morris to the checkered flag, followed by Andre Castro (No. 8 Future Star Racing Ligier JS F4). However, in a stewards’ decision after the race, it was determined that Morris crossed the blend line at pit exit to gain a position. A five-second penalty was assessed, which dropped Morris to seventh in the final running order. As a result, Castro moved up to second on the final results, and Alex Berg (No. 08 Penn Elcom / Lordco / Cedar Coast / Kirby Studios / L.A. Prep Ligier JS F4) finished third.

The decision also affected the championship standings, as Morris dropped to 30 points behind Hughes, which locked Hughes in as the 2022 F4 U.S. champion.

A full rundown of the official results from Race 2 are available here

Race 3

Lochie Hughes, the 2022 Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) Drivers Point’s Champion, finished the championship weekend at Circuit of The Americas with a win in Race 3 of the Mission Foods Austin SpeedTour. With his championship confirmed late Saturday evening as the results of Races 1 and 2 went official, Hughes’ Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD) team changed his car number this morning, and the Australian native pulled into victory lane on Hankook tires, driving the No. 1 JHDD / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / Pelican Ligier JS F4.

“That was awesome,” said Hughes after climbing from his car. “We already wrapped up the championship, so I wasn’t worried about that; I was just focused on getting the win. It was tricky conditions. It had been raining all morning, but the track was a lot drier than I thought. We all went out on wets, but the track was dry. I did the best I could, and we pulled away from everyone. All thanks to the team for the great car, and what a great season. I can’t ask for more. [Winning the championship] means a lot. I didn’t race the last two years. I was stuck at home during COVID and didn’t have the budget to go racing. To win the championship is unbelievable.”

With rain showers throughout the morning, the race director declared Sunday’s Race 3 a “wet weather race,” so rain tires were mandated for the entire field. Starting from the pole, Hughes immediately took control of the race as soon as the lights went out, but an incident on the backstretch led to an early full-course yellow. A quick cleanup and clean restart allowed the race to remain green once it got restarted. After the restart, Hughes continued to pace the field, keeping Jacob Loomis (No. 24 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4) in his rearview mirror. Meanwhile, Andre Castro (No. 8 Future Star Racing Ligier JS F4) had to fight back from the fifth position after falling back from his second-place starting spot.

As the checkered flag waved, Hughes led Loomis, with Castro finishing third.

Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport teammates Gabriel Fonseca (No. 76 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) and Ryan Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) rounded out the top five, and helped Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport secure the 2022 Team Championship.

After the race, Artie Flores (No. 22 Gonella Racing / Flexi Ligier JS F4) was awarded a bespoke Omologato timepiece as the winner of the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of the Race for a great weekend and a successful end to the season.

A full rundown of the official results from Race 3 are available, here.