June 25, 2024 – With three series in action this past weekend, Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport descended on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with their goals set high. Leaving the weekend with at least one win in three different series, including five in total, the team earned a podium sweep in FR Americas, pole positions, fast lap honors, and more as Ryan Shehan (FR Americas) and Kekai Hauanio (Ligier JSF4) led the way on the results sheet.
FR Americas
Starting the weekend with eight drivers, Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport went down to seven after a crash for Titus Sherlock forced him to withdraw from the weekend. With the event running as planned, Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport would put four drivers in the top-five of FR Americas qualifying, including a front-row lockout with Patrick Woods-Toth and Ryan Shehan. Jett Bowling and Nicole Havrda earned the fourth and fifth-fastest laps of the session, with Ricco Shlaimoun, Kevin Janzen, and Landan Matriano Lim in seventh, tenth, and 11th.
With only two races on the weekend, Shehan would quickly become the driver to beat as his double victory netted him enough points to move into sole possession of the championship point lead. In a Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport podium sweep in race one, Shehan led Woods-Toth and Bowling across the line for a 1 – 2 – 3 finish. With three drivers on the podium, the Texas-based program put all seven drivers in the top-ten, with Havrda in sixth, Matriano Lim in seventh, Shlaimoun in the eighth position and Kevin Janzen in P10.
Shehan made it two-for-two on the weekend, taking the second race win as Woods-Toth added his second podium result, finishing third. Bowling backed up his podium result on Saturday with a top-five finish on Sunday as he narrowly beat Crosslink Kiwi teammate Havrda to the line as she finished sixth. Shlaimoun matched his result from the day prior in the eighth position, with Janzen doing the same in tenth, just ahead of Matriano Lim.
F4 U.S.
With a strong showing in the FR Americas program, The F4 United States trio of Nicolas Stati, Alex Crosbie, and Barrett Wolfe accumulated one pole position, one win, three podium results, and five top-five finishes over the weekend. Stati led the way with the outright pole position in qualifying and turned that into a win in race one. Stati added a P2 finish on Sunday when he flexed his muscles over the weekend. Alex Crosbie earned the team’s next best results with a P3 qualifying effort and a podium result in the first of two races. Keeping his machine in the top-five, Crosbie added a fourth-place result Sunday to his third-place finish Saturday. Barrett Wolfe struggled in qualifying as he was pushed back to seventh when the session ended but moved forward in the first wheel-to-wheel race. Finishing fourth in race one, Wolfe finished seventh in race two.
Ligier JS F4 Series
Two more wins came from the Ligier JSF4 program as they would battle in three races over the weekend. Kekai Hauanio took the pole position in qualifying and grabbed three podium results, including victories in races two and three to go with his second-place finish in race one. Bacon Zelenka and Brad Majman both added podium finishes over the weekend with Zelenka’s best result of third in race one on his way to a trio of top-five finishes. Majman progressed throughout the weekend, finishing seventh in race one and sixth in race two. He found his way to the podium in race three and finished third. Demitri Nolan continued his development in open-wheel racing with a solid qualifying effort in ninth and one top-ten finish in race two.
“It is a large program and a lot to manage, but when you have great results, it is all worth it,” explained Teena Larsen. “Five wins and 13 podium results as we earned at least one win in each series, a couple of pole positions, and a podium sweep. On to the next one.”
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport will be back on track in just over one month’s time at the New Jersey Motorsports Park over the July 25-28 weekend.
For more information on Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, please get in touch with RTD Media via email to Mike@RTD-Media.com.
– Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport PR