Motor Sport
Seventeen-year-old Invercargill racing driver Alex Crosbie showed plenty of speed at the opening round of the F4 US Championship at Road America in Wisconsin on his debut on American soil this weekend.
Two-time New Zealand Formula Ford Champion Crosbie ended the weekend with two sixth placings and a fourth, only missing the podium by .208 of a second in the final race. Slow starts in the unfamiliar Ligier chassis ultimately cost him as he was among the fastest lap times in each of the three races.
Crosbie’s first laps on the circuit were in testing on Thursday but battery issues in the first session meant he had very little running. He bounced back to record the third best time in the second session.
Official practice was on Friday and once again Crosbie was third fastest on old tyres and with the car still suffering from electrical issues and an engine that was losing water. “I was about 2/10th’s of a second quicker than my team mate Nicholas Stati of Australia who was on new tyres before losing time on the last corner and down the straight.” More running time was lost during the session when the car would not restart after a red flag.
Into qualifying later that day and Alex qualified third. Once again, he was half a second quicker than Stati until the last corner before he lost a few tenths on the way to the flag.
The first race on Saturday was a tough one. From third on the grid Crosbie ended the race sixth after a lonely drive after being hit and spun by another of his team mates, Barrett Wolfe of the United States. Wolfe received a penalty for the incident. “I got hit a few times on the first lap and then I got taken out by Barrett. It took a while to get going and while it was a lonely drive I managed to catch right up to fifth. I was only 1.390 seconds behind at the flag. I also had the second quickest lap of the race just .089 of a second slower than Nicholas who won the race.”
The quick lap time gave Crosbie second spot on the grid for the second race of the round on Sunday morning. “I didn’t get a good start and Nicholas and I were swamped. I received front wing damage on the first lap but finished fourth just .405 of a second behind Stati.” Unfortunately, Alex then received a 30 second penalty for hitting another car during the race which dropped him to sixth place. However, the third fastest lap of the race would see Crosbie third on the grid for the finale.
Crosbie was slow away from the start of the final race, dropping to fifth place. He was part of a five-car train early on and then worked his way to fourth. The four leaders raced virtually nose to tail for the remainder of the race. Crosbie tried some moves to grab third over the final laps but wasn’t able to get the position, crossing the line fourth, just .208 of a second behind Stati in third and just 1.779 seconds behind the winner after almost thirty minutes of racing. He also set the fastest lap of the race with a lap of 2 minutes 13.601 seconds.
“The speed was there, I just need better starts,” said Alex at the conclusion of the weekend. “The track was such a fun track to drive on with so many fast corners and big braking zones.”
It was a tiring weekend for the Southlander with long days at the track with 7am starts before leaving the circuit at 8pm or later each day. At this stage the fields are small as the Ligier chassis is new to the championship this year and more are being built to increase the grid sizes.
Alex thanked Teena Larsen and Garry Orton from Crosslink / Kiwi Motorsport for their help over the weekend and also his engineer Stephen Giles and acknowledged Golden Homes in the Southern Lakes who are supporting his US campaign.
Crosbie returns home this week before travelling back to the US for the next round of the championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio from 20-23 June.
SCHEDULE – F4 US CHAMPIONSHIP
16-19 May 2024: Road America, Plymouth, Wisconsin
20-23 June 2024: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
25-28 July 2024: New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, New Jersey
29 August–1 September 2024: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario
31 October-3 November 2024: Circuit Of The Americas, Austin, Texas