MILLVILLE, NJ – Patrick Woods-Toth won a nail-biting race three at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). Racing wheel-to-wheel with Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 LIQUI MOLY Ligier JS F3) for nearly the entire race, Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) was able to hold off Ambiado’s advances to win the final Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) race of the New Jersey Lottery SpeedTour weekend.
Notes of Interest:
- Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since Round 9 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway six weeks ago.
- With his second-place result, Nicolas Ambiado added another podium to his tally, having finished inside the top-three positions a total of six times, including all three races this weekend.
- Third-place finisher Jett Bowling has secured podiums in each of the last three FR Americas weekends, including Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and New Jersey Motorsports Park.
- With three podiums this weekend—including his first FR Americas win and two runner-up finishes—Nicolas Ambiado was awarded the Omologato Perfectly-Timed Move of the Race and recognized by the stewards for an outstanding performance this weekend. The award includes a bespoke Omologato timepiece.
Race three for FR Americas was wild from the start. Race two winner Ambiado led the field down the starting grid, with Woods-Toth to his outside, but when the lights went out, it was Woods-Toth who got the perfect jump to take control of the field.
Ambiado was under immediate pressure from Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who jumped to the outside after lining up third, but it was a tight squeeze, as Hayden Bowlsbey (No. 22 IGY6 Motorsports / Save22 Ligier JS F3) also tried to make a move on the outside, making it three-wide. The three touched wheels, causing suspension damage on Sherlock’s car and leaving him stranded on the outside of Turn 1. A full-course caution followed as safety crews worked to swiftly remove Sherlock’s Crosslink Kiwi machine, allowing the race to restart just one lap after the safety car picked up the field.
Woods-Toth maintained the lead when the race resumed, getting a clean restart as the green flag waved. With Ambiado in his tracks, mere tenths separated the two frontrunners for nearly the first half of the race. Carrying speed down the frontstretch, Ambiado had a few opportunities to try to find a way around Woods-Toth as they raced toward Turn 1, but Woods-Toth stayed on defense and was able to hold off Ambiado’s challenges.
When the checkered flag waved, Woods-Toth led the way, followed by Ambiado in second and Jett Bowling (No. 02 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) in third. Bowling had started the race in fifth, but the Turn 1 incident on the opening lap gave him the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the situation and earn his fourth podium of the season.
“It’s nice to be back [on the top step],” said Woods-Toth, from the podium. “We worked pretty hard at the last two races and had a little bit of tough luck, but we just had to put it together. Finally, we had a good race today. Nicolas [Ambiado] was super fast all weekend. When he was out front [in Race 2], we couldn’t even see him anymore. This race was a tough race. I had to pull all my karting defense moves, but it turned out well for us in the end. I have to thank the team at Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, Orlando, FSMQ, Ron Fellows, my family, my friends and everybody that supports me.”
FR Americas visits Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for its penultimate round of the 2024 championship on August 29-September 1. Live timing and scoring can be accessed on the Race Monitor app, and additional news and updates about F4 U.S. are available on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
Woods-Toth finished third place in the opening two races of the weekend in New Jersey.
- By Ashleigh Aungst/A2B Strategies for FR Americas
