AUSTIN, Texas (November 3, 2022) – Jason Alder returned to victory lane at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) for the second year in a row with Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas). The victory in Race 2 of the Mission Foods Austin SpeedTour marked his third win of the season.
“That was tricky, especially being on the older tires,” said Alder after climbing from the car. “The track’s getting warmer and it’s getting greasy. Keeping it on the racetrack was the name of the game, and I’m glad we were able to do exactly that—even with that restart in there. There were definitely challenges to overcome, but it was a good race.”
With the fastest lap in Race 1, Alder started from the pole position in his No. 77 Drive for Diabetes Awareness / HAKUN Ligier JS F3. His teammate, Raoul Hyman (No. 27 Bethesda Holdings Limited / Solomon Capital Enterprises / Oaklands / Kinross Ligier JS F3), started second, but quickly took over the lead. Alder settled in behind, but had an opportunity to regain the lead when a mechanical failure struck Hyman’s machine on lap five.
The race restarted with just over 10 minutes to go, leaving Alder with one last restart to endure as Dylan Tavella (No. 14 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) applied pressure. With Alder able to pull a gap, the battle soon became between Tavella and Nick Persing (No 29 OPI Commercial Builders Ligier JS F3). Running third, Persing was able to study Tavella’s braking zones and began plotting his attack. On the white flag lap, he went for it, overtaking the second position and sailing off toward the checkered flag.
As they crossed the line, it was Alder in first, followed by Persing in second and Tavella in third. Ryan Yardley (No. 78 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) and Oliver Westling (No. 2 Jensen Global Advisors Ligier JS F3) rounded out the top five.
With only four of 11 laps completed, Hyman was not classified in Race 2, marking only his second non-podium finish of the season.
A full run-down of the official results from Race 2 are available, here.
Tomorrow at 11:55 a.m. CT, the lights will go out for the final time of 2022, as FR Americas competes in Race 3 at the Mission Foods Austin SpeedTour. Follow FR Americas on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates, or watch Race Monitor for live timing and scoring.
