AVONDALE, La. (April 13, 2024) – Cole Kleck kicked off his 2024 campaign in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) competition with a victory at NOLA Motorsports Park. Kleck (No. 11 DD Autosport / International Mechanical Ligier JS F3) made a charge through the field after lining up fifth on the grid to take his first-career victory in the season-opening race.
Notes of Interest:
- Cole Kleck earned his first-career win and his second-career podium in FR Americas with today’s performance in Race 1 at the NOLA SpeedTour.
- Patrick Woods-Toth earned his first-career podium in his first-career start after winning the 2023 Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.) driver championship and earning a scholarship to compete in the 2024 season of FR Americas.
- Nicolas Ambiado earned his first-career podium in FR Americas competition. The 16-year-old spent last season running his Ligier JS F3 in SVRA while waiting to meet the age requirements of FR Americas competition.
Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) started the race from the point position, but Kleck had a great jump off the starting block, pulling to the inside as they entered Turn 1 and quickly moving into the third position. By Turn 2, he was battling side by side with second-place starter Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 TLink / Allegro Ligier JS F3), and by Turn 4, he overtook the second position. Kleck entered Turn 6 door to door with then-leader Woods-Toth, but by the exit of the corner, he completed the pass. A pair of full-course cautions left Kleck to defend his position during restarts, but with a fast car, he easily cruised to victory. Woods-Toth crossed the line second, with Ambiado following in third. Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) finished fourth in his career-first FR Americas race, while Ryan Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), a two-time winner at NOLA Motorsports Park, crossed the line in fifth.
READ MORE: Race 1 Official Results
“We got a little unlucky with the red flag in qualifying and trying to get clean laps in, but my dad and I do practice starts whenever we have time. So, we shot off the line well, came out third in Turn 1, and then battled for second exiting the turn. We got Patrick in Turn 6 [to take the lead]. I want to say great job to Patrick, too. It was amazing racing with all of us drivers. I want to thank God, my family, Darren with DD Autosport, and everyone back at home. I’m just so blessed to be here with all these drivers.”
FR Americas kicks off the action at NOLA Motorsports Park tomorrow with Race 2 at 8 a.m. CT. Race 3 will follow later in the day, with lights out scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. Tickets for the day are available at the gate or online at SpeedTour.net/NOLA. Kids ages 12 and under, as well as active-duty military, police and fire with a valid military or work ID, are admitted free.
All feature races will be available to stream on the SpeedTourTV YouTube page. Live timing and scoring can be accessed on the Race Monitor app, and additional news and updates from the season-opening weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Photos by Gavin Baker Photography.
