F4 U.S.: Noel Leon wins the championship in Austin, Texas
22 - 24 October 2021 – The 2021 season of the F4 U.S. Championship reached its climax on the Circuit of the Americas at the same time as the USA F1 Grand Prix. Noel Leon in the #19 Ligier JS F4 entered by DEForce Racing has been crowned 2021 champion. Jason Alder (#77) and Nico Christodoulou (#22) each won a race giving their team Velocity Racing Development a double victory.
Thirty-three Ligier JS F4s arrived at the famous Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the final round of the championship run at the same time as the United States F1 Grand Prix. On Friday 23 October Jason Alder (#77, Velocity Racing Development) in third place in the title chase set the fastest time in the free practice session in 2m17.513s.
On Saturday, the #22 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4 driven by Nico Christodoulou clinched pole position for the first race of the weekend. He set the fastest lap in 2m16.886s from Noel Leon (#19, DEForce Racing), the championship leader and Mac Clark (#26, Gonella Racing) in second place in the overall classification. But Christodoulou was hit with a penalty and had to start the race from the pit lane so Leon inherited first place on the grid. “It's good to race with so many cars [33 Ligier JS F4s] and to be here on F1 weekend”, said the driver of the #19 Ligier JS F4. “The championship is tight. I have a lead of just 5 points. It's going to be difficult, not impossible, but difficult to win the championship.”
The start to race 1 was given on Sunday 24 October. Tension was at an all-time high with four drivers in contention for the title: Noel Leon (#19), Mac Clark (#26), Jason Alder (#77) and Nico Christodoulou (#22). Alder starting from fourth place quickly fought his way into the lead. He then judged a restart perfectly and it helped him open up a gap over his rivals and win the first race with three seconds in hand over Leon. “Race 1 really couldn't have gone much smoother,” smiled the driver of the #77Ligier JS F4. “The VRD [Velocity Racing Development] guys do a great job getting the car to where I need it to be to do my job. I'm looking forward to doing the exact same thing again in Race 2 that we were able to do in Race 1.”
After setting the fastest lap in race 1, Nico Christodoulou in the #22 Ligier JS F4 started from pole for race 2. Behind him came Jake Bonilla (#2, Jensen Global Advisors), Noel Leon, Mac Clark and Jason Alder. After his sixth place in the first race Christodoulou was no longer in the running for the title. Despite this the young driver finished his season in style by winning the last race by almost two seconds from Leon.
Thus rookie driver Noel Leon in the #19 DEForce Racing Ligier JS F4 won the 2021 F4 U.S. Championship. He showed bullet-proof consistency harvesting his first victories right from the opening round of the championship. “The race weekend went just as planned,” he explained. “We had a really conservative weekend. We didn't need to win the race, we were just out to gather points and that's what we did. It's been a hard year [in F4 U.S. competition]. There's a lot of talent in the field, so there were a lot of race winners - [Jason] Alder, Nico [Christodoulou], Mac [Clark] – it wasn't easy to win races. It was more about consistency.”
By clinching the 2021 title Leon has been awarded a cash bonus that will enable him to take part in the 2022 FR Americas Championship. Mac Clark finished second in the overall classification in front of Jason Alder.
To consult the full weekend's results, CLICK HERE.
Photo Credit: Gavin Baker