FR Americas: Round no. 4, two Ligier JS F3s locked in battle for the lead in the championship!
29 – 31 July 2022 – Fourth round of the season for the FR Americas Championship. Eleven Ligier JS F3s went at it hammer and tongs in the New Jersey Motorsports Park. The two drivers topping the championship ratings both had good weekends: Raoul Hyman (#27 Ligier JS F3 run by TJ Speed Motorsports) and Dylan Tavella (#14 Ligier JS F3 entered by Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport). The former won race 1 and the latter races 2 and 3 closing the points gap in the provisional classification in the championship.
Friday 29th July - The #14 Ligier JS F3 driven by Dylan Tavella (Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport) topped the only free practice session of the weekend. The driver lying second in the championship clocked the quickest lap in a time of 1:18.245s.
The next day Hyman at the wheel of the #27 TJ Speed Motorsports Ligier JS F3 clinched pole position for the first race of the weekend with his fastest lap of 1:17.845s. A great start to the weekend for the current championship leader.
Race 1: Seventh victory for Raoul Hyman
In the afternoon, Hyman maintained the same searing pace and won the race adding a seventh victory to his laurels. He led from start to finish and took the flag more than 10 seconds in front of Tavella in second place.
“That was hard,” said Hyman after the race. “The degradation on the tire was really high. We started the race running like mid-1:18 laps, at the end I was doing 1:21s, but I was pushing. My engineer was on the radio telling me the wind was increasing, so I would be aware of it, but you could feel it in the car. It was tough out there.”
For the full article, CLICK HERE.
Race 2: Tavella hits back!
Tavella, at the wheel of the #14 Ligier JS F3, was in second place for most of the race until he managed to get the better of Hyman and passed him on the last lap before the chequered flag. He scored his second victory of the season and climbed up onto the topmost step of the podium.
“It was hard the whole time sitting behind [Raoul] with all the dirty air, tire degrading and heat on the tires,” said Tavella from the podium. “I was trying to keep the car cool at the same time, so it was really hard to stay behind him. The whole time I'm trying to think about ‘where do I get him?' He was faster than me in some bits—honestly, he was fast at all the right spots. I was able to get a good run into the start/finish and I just threw it in and hoped that it worked.”
For the full article, CLICK HERE.
Race 3: another first place for Tavella
The driver in the #14 single-seater put on a repeat performance in the final race of the weekend. Tavella made an excellent start and held onto the lead while Hyman his rival in the championship fell back to fourth. But the British driver fought his way up to second and harried the race leader. Despite everything, Tavella hung on and won for the second time on the trot during the weekend.
For the full article, CLICK HERE.
While Hyman continues to lead the championship with a total of 262 points, Tavella's good results have helped him close the gap as he now has 211 points. Everything's still up for grabs with six races to go. The drivers can now take a break in the championship, which will restart on 6th October on the Virginia International Raceway.
For the championship standings, CLICK HERE.
For more info about the Ligier JS F4, CLICK HERE.