INDIANAPOLIS (June 16, 2024) – In a tight battle with his Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport teammate, Patrick Woods-Toth edged out Ryan Shehan to take the win in Race 3 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. The race rounded out a successful debut weekend at the famed Brickyard for Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas).
Notes of Interest:
- Patrick Woods-Toth earned his fourth victory of the season with today’s win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
- With podiums in all three races this weekend, including a win in Race 2, Ryan Shehan leaves Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the championship points lead.
- Jett Bowling secured his second-career podium after earning his first podium during Sunday morning’s Race 2.
- Anthony Autiello returned to FR Americas for the first time since NOLA Motorsports Park and scored points in all three of this weekend’s races with three top-10 finishes.
- With three podiums this weekend—including a third-place finish in Race 2—Nicole Havrda was awarded the Omologato Perfectly-Timed Move of the Race and recognized by the stewards for an outstanding performance this weekend. The award includes a bespoke Omologato timepiece.
Recording the fastest lap in Race 2, Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) once again led the field down the starting grid with Ryan Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) to his outside. The two raced wheel to wheel toward Turn 1 before Woods-Toth pulled ahead to pace the field. While Shehan stayed tight on his rival’s rear wing, the real action was happening further back in the field. Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) had started the race at the back of the grid after a mechanical failure took him out of contention while leading Race 2 earlier in the day. Clearly on a mission, the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport driver had moved all the way to eighth from his 14th starting position by the end of the first lap, and climbed to fifth by the completion of the second circuit.
The field was slowed as two cars made contact with each other, and then with the tire barrier in Turn 6. With an extended cleanup period, the field was shown the red flag and pulled down pit lane while the safety crew worked to clear the incident. The situation teed up a restart with a 10-minute shootout to the checkered flag.
On the restart, Woods-Toth once again pulled ahead, with Shehan in his wake. Behind them, cars were four wide with Sherlock, Jett Bowling (No. 02 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), Hayden Bowlsbey (No. 22 IGY6 Motorsports / Save22 Ligier JS F3) and Theodor Jensen (No. 1 JENSEN Global Advisors Ligier JS F3) all making a run at the third position. Bowling initially pulled ahead, but was passed by Jensen seconds later. Sherlock made his way around Bowling, and pulled tight on Jensen’s gearbox. For the next three laps, Jensen and Sherlock raced nose to tail until Sherlock finally made his way next to Jensen as they entered Turn 10. With Sherlock going wide on the exit of the corner, Jensen was forced into the grass and relegated to the sixth position.
With the field spreading out as the clock ticked down, Woods-Toth led the pack across the yard of bricks to secure the race win. Shehan was the second car to cross the line, with Sherlock third. Coming off his first-career podium earlier in the day, Bowling finished fourth, while Nicole Havrda (No. 6 Valley Kitchens Ltd / Colonial Countertops Ltd Ligier JS F3) crossed the bricks in fifth.
Following the race, the stewards reviewed an incident involving Sherlock and ruled that the driver forced another competitor off the track. As a result, they issued a five-second penalty, which dropped Sherlock to sixth in the official results. Meanwhile, Bowling was promoted to third to earn his second-career podium.
READ MORE: Race 3 Official Results
“It was a pretty straightforward Race 3—just get a good start and stay in the lead,” said Woods-Toth from atop the podium. “It was pretty hot, especially when we were in the pits, but luckily, we had some fans that were blowing some air on us. I just managed the tires, managed the engine, and it was a really good race. I’d like to thank the team at Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, Orlando, FSMQ, Ron Fellows, my family, my friends and everyone. It was a good day.”
FR Americas takes on Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for its next round, June 20-23. A live stream of the Mid-Ohio SpeedTour will be available on YouTube.com/SpeedTourTV. Live timing and scoring can be accessed on the Race Monitor app, and additional news and updates about FR Americas will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
