Cole Medeiros Wins at Home in Canada

Cole Medeiros captured his first-career Formula 4 United States (F4 U.S.) win in Race 2 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) on Saturday afternoon. Leading from flag to flag in an all-green race, Medeiros converted a pole position to a race win at his home track.

Notes of Interest:

• Standing atop the podium at just 15 years old, Ontarian Cole Medeiros captured his first F4 U.S. victory in Race 2 at CTMP while competing in his home province.
• Gastón Irazú extended his points lead with another runner-up result. The Uruguayan also finished second in Race 1 earlier in the day.
• Recording a career best, Fernando Rivera finished third to secure his first podium.
• Ayden Kohut tied his career-best finish with a fourth-place result.
• For the first time in F4 U.S. history, two drivers have won on the same race weekend at CTMP with Zach Fourie winning Race 1 and Cole Medieros taking Race 2. Both drivers are first-time winners in the championship.

After setting the fastest lap in Race 1, Cole Medeiros (No. 77 Firano Motorsports / MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) led the field to the green. Race 1 winner, Zach Fourie (No. 15 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) was supposed to line up second, but failed to leave the pre-grid in the assigned order and instead had to start from pit lane. Per the rulebook, Fourie’s position was left open, giving Medeiros an immediate advantage as soon as the green flag waved. Canadian Caleb Campbell (No. 68 Steele Auto Group / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) filed in behind Medeiros, leaving the two Ontarians to run one-two in their home province. Meanwhile, Uruguayan Gastón Irazú (No. 27 Elia Group / Baly / Canal 4 / Ancap / Champagne Racing Ligier JS F422) settled into third as the three began to break away from the field.

A few laps into the race, Irazú picked off Campbell in Turn 9 and then turned his attention to Medeiros ahead. Meanwhile, behind them, Fourie had worked his way up to fifth. Some of the closest competition in Race 2 was between Fernando Rivera (No. 16 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) and Ayden Kohut (No. 18 The Builders Source / The Genie Company / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422), with Rivera eventually coming out on top.

Despite his pit lane start, Fourie climbed all the way into third. However, his advancement was slowed with a late-race issue that removed him from podium contention.

A last-lap dash saw Medeiros and Irazú charge side by side into Turn 10 and onto the front straight. Taking the checkered, it was Medeiros ahead of Irazù by just 0.547 seconds. Rivera, Kohut and Luca Day (No. 54 Zimperium / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F422) rounded out the top five.

> > REPLAY THE STREAM: Stream Round 13 from CTMP

“I had a great battle with Gastón [Irazú],” said Medeiros as he climbed from his car. “He kept me on my toes, but I ended up coming away with a win. I’d like to thank everyone at MLT Motorsports, my parents, Mac [Clark, driving coach], and everyone else who has gotten me here.”

> > SEE MORE: Round 13 Official Results

F4 U.S. will finish out the Labour Day Weekend Sprints tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. ET. The race will stream live on YouTube.com/@RacingAmericaTV, and live timing and scoring will be available on the Race Monitor app. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

-Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography