SCCA Pro Racing

April 16, 2024 – Winners in the new Ligier JSF4 program during the opening weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park, the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport FR Americas effort earned two victories and several podium results in Avondale, Louisiana. Leading the way was reigning F4 United States Championship title winner Patrick Woods-Toth who earned a pole position and three podium results including his first series win while Ryan Shehan scored three top-five finishes and a win in race three.

Qualifying would open the on-track action on Saturday as the results of the only qualifying session set the grid for race one later that afternoon. Races two and three grids were set from the previous race’s fastest lap. 2023 F4 US Champion Patrick Woods-Toth led the way earning his first career FR Americas pole position in his series debut with 2023 FR Americas Vice Champion Ryan Shehan in third. With three drivers in the top-five and seven in the top-ten, it was a dominating performance for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport. Complete qualifying results are listed below. 

Qualifying Results:
1st - Patrick Woods-Toth
3rd – Ryan Shehan
4th - Titus Sherlock
7th - Jett Bowling
8th - Landan Matriano Lim
9th - Alex Benavitz 
10th - Nicole Havrda
11th - Ricco Shlaimoun
12th - Kevin Janzen 

In the first wheel-to-wheel action of 2024, it was a trio of top-five results for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport and the first time they were not on the top step of the podium in 19 races. Woods-Toth led the way converting his pole position into a second-place result to stand on the podium. Behind him, it was Titus Sherlock and Ryan Shehan who finished fourth and fifth respectively to kickstart their 2024 campaigns as they led female driver and reigning Formula Pro USA F3 Champion Nicole Havrda who crossed the line seventh. Ricco Shlaimoun started his 2024 season with a top-ten result finishing ninth while Jett Bowling, Alex Benavitz, Kevin Janzen, and Landan Matriano Lim would turn to race two to better their race one results.

It did not take long for reigning F4 Champion Patrick Woods-Toth to get his first FR Americas victory as he claimed the checkered flag in only his second series start and earned Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport their first win of the 2024 season. Similar to race one, three team drivers were in the top-five as Shehan continued his presence at the pointy end of the grid in fourth, and Bowling rebounded from a disappointing result in the first race to finish fifth in race two. Havrda bettered her result from race one improving from seventh to sixth on the result sheets for a successful start to her racing season with Sherlock, Janzen, Matriano Lim, Benavitz, and Shlaimoun finishing further down the order than they would have liked with one more chance at solid performance in race three.

It was some of the best results of the weekend in race three for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport drivers as Shehan, who earned multiple victories in 2023, found his to the winner’s circle gaining 25 points toward his championship efforts. Woods-Toth capped off a three-podium weekend by finishing second to make it a one-two finish for the Texas-based team and leaves New Orleans as the point leader. Jett Bowling narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place result as Matriano Lim, Shlaimoun, Janzen, and Sherlock all finished in the top-ten. Havrda’s race was cut short with an issue three laps from the checkered flag while Benavitz had a gearbox issue and could not start the third and final race of the weekend. 

“Good weekend for us to start the season but we are hungry for more,” explained Teena Larsen. “We want to keep the form going from 2023 with the focus on race wins, podium results, and of course the end of the year championship, but also progressing our drivers.” 

Next up for the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport FR Americas program will be a trip to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin May 16-19.  

For more information on Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, please contact RTD Media via email to Mike@RTD-Media.com.

- Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport PR