ALTON, Va. (October 8, 2022) – In a dramatic Race 1 for Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) at the Andy Scriven Memorial weekend at the Mission Foods VIR SpeedTour, Jason Alder brought home the victory to score his second win of the 2022 season in a race that stayed green the entire way on Saturday morning.
With below-normal temperatures this morning, the race director opted for a rolling start rather than the series’ traditional standing start. Pole sitter Raoul Hyman (No. 27 Bethesda Holdings Limited / Solomon Capital Enterprises / Oaklands / Kinross Ligier JS F3) initially jumped out to the lead, but contact as he drove into Turn 1 sent the driver spinning and relegated him toward the back of the field. Jason Alder (No. 77 Drive for Diabetes Awareness / HAKUN Ligier JS F3) initially inherited the point position before Mac Clark (No. 25 Future Star Racing Ligier JS F3) overtook him in the Hog Pen to officially lead the first lap. With less than 15 minutes remaining in the race, Clark dropped a wheel while racing through Turn 3, which allowed Alder to once again inherit the lead and he never looked back.
Nick Persing (No. 29 OPI Commercial Builders Ligier JS F3) was consistent throughout the race, running in Alder’s tire tracks. When the checkered flag waved, he was initially scored in second, but a post-race penalty resulted in a 30-second penalty, which relegated him to a seventh-place finish.
Ryan Yardley (No. 78 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) secured his fourth podium finish of the season.
The real drama was in the points battle as championship point leader Hyman had to fight through the field following his incident on lap one. Dropping as low as ninth, Hyman had made it as high as the fifth position before another off-track excursion left him in the Turn 11 tire barrier and unable to cross the finish line. Meanwhile, Dylan Tavella (No. 14 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who entered the weekend second in points, was scored with a third-place result following Persing’s penalty.
“I knew that the conditions this morning would be quite difficult with the track being so cool,” said Jason Alder after climbing from his car. “Overall, I’m super happy with the result. Our car strategy is looking great for the rest of the weekend. We didn’t put a new tire on, so we’re looking good for Race 2 and Race 3 later.
A full run-down of the provisional results from Race 1 are available, here.
FR Americas returns to the track today at 4:10 p.m. ET for Race 2 from the Andy Scriven Memorial weekend at the Mission Foods VIR SpeedTour. Before the lights go out for that race, fans—especially our young fans—are invited to The Gallery’s front porch at 3 p.m. ET where drivers from FR Americas will be reading children’s books aloud in honor of the late Andy Scriven.
Be sure to tune in for the live stream of Race 2 at 4:10 p.m. ET on the SpeedTour TV YouTube page, or follow FR Americas on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates. Race Monitor will have live timing and scoring.
