First career F4 win in FPUSA Rd 7, followed by back-to-back victories in Rd 8
Photo by Mike Doran Photography
It was a great weekend during our first race at our home track, Sonoma Raceway. While we had raced here many times at the Karting facility, this was the first time racing on the main track. Kyle only had one test day to learn the track about a week ago, so although we call this a home race, it really was another new track to learn in a very short amount of time.
Qualifying
The format of this weekend was a little different. Two qualifying sessions were held, and the fastest time from either session was used to determine the starting grid for both races. Kyle did a great job in the first qualifying session, getting pole in F4, but just missed pole by a tenth of a second, so fellow competitor Ryan McElwee started in front of Kyle for both races.
Round 7
39 cars faced off in Round 7. Kyle ran a good race with a fast time of 1:40.835 which was a little off his best qualifying time of 1:39.847, but his consistency and smart decisions ultimately won him the race. In the start, he was able to gain some positions by choosing the right line through turn 2 and managed to sneak past McElwee. However, Ryan was able to catch Kyle in lap 2 and the pair traded positions. Kyle fought back and managed to get around Ryan in Lap 5 and was able to hold that position for the remainder of the race. There was a tense moment when Ryan almost got past Kyle in turn 11, but Kyle kept his line and managed to retain the position and pulled off his first career F4 win. Kyle ended this race in P16 out of 39 cars.
Round 8
Another car was added to Round 8 which brought the field to 40. Pretty much all of the cars should have been faster than Kyle's F4 with more horsepower or lower weight, but he managed to be very competitive throughout the race. He improved on his time to 1:40.187 and race craft is eventually what got him to first in his class. Ryan started ahead of Kyle and maintained his lead through the first 8 laps, but in lap 9, Kyle made a textbook double pass into turn 11 as they were both coming up on a slower Formula Mazda. Kyle broke deep and presented himself alongside Ryan heading into the turn, and kept his momentum to get past the Formula Mazda. For the remaining 8 laps, Kyle was able to push forward another couple spots and ended this race in P15 out of the 40 cars.
It was a great way to end the weekend, securing his first two F4 wins in dramatic fashion. While we had a small field in F4, it was great that he still had to earn the win against competitive drivers.
See the FPUSA Round 7-8 Event Page for full results.