Formula 4 U.S. championship debut pushed back to July

The F4 U.S. Championship was originally scheduled to support Pirelli World Challenge at Lime Rock Park this weekend. However this date was scrubbed and now the original second event, at New Jersey Motorsport Park, is to be postponed.  

Instead, SCCA Pro Racing has announced the season will start at Mid-Ohio on July 1-3. 

The FIA regulations require a minimum of 12 cars for each championship event, and although that number could have been met, Crawford Composites' manufacturing schedule had allotted only one car per team. Teams like JDX, a race team from Colorado with three drivers entered in the series, would have had to rotate the seat time between its driver, or have two of its drivers sit out the entire race weekend.

“The decision to postpone the race was a decision we ultimately made in consultation with the team owners and partners,” said Derrick Walker, SCCA Pro Racing president and CEO. “After talking to each team owner individually, the consensus was that they didn’t want to even consider New Jersey if each driver was not yet able to compete due to the late arrival of race cars.

“All the teams are supportive of the decision. We appreciate the loyalty they have shown us and want to do this right.”

Debuting the F4 U.S. Championship at Mid-Ohio means the track will now feature two race weekends for the series. Mid-Ohio was already scheduled to host the F4 U.S. Championship on Aug. 12-13, supporting NASCAR Xfinity Series and SCCA Trans-Am. For its debut it joins three other SCCA-sanctioned series – Formula F, F2000 and Atlantic – at Mid-Ohio.

“It’s going to be an absolutely great weekend,” Formula Race Promotions co-owner Al Guibord said. “Open wheel fans are going to see all levels of cars from the new F4 U.S. Championship to the pinnacle Atlantic Championship. Our series has been racing at Mid-Ohio for a decade now. The history and pedigree of the track makes exciting opportunity for our drivers and the F4 competitors.”

 The F4 U.S. Championship will reschedule the New Jersey races as the FIA regs demand at least a five-event championship.