Alex Crosbie claims first podium in United States

Invercargill racing driver Alex Crosbie has taken his first podium in America at Round 2 of the F4 US Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio this weekend.

Crosbie crossed the line in third place after an extremely eventful opening race on Saturday to step onto the podium in just his second weekend in the championship.

Crosbie’s first experience of the circuit was on Thursday. He found the circuit “tricky” initially with its elevation changes and blind corners although he quickly found his speed and heaps of improvement on Friday as he ended the second practice session second fastest, just .146 off the fastest time.

In qualifying on Saturday, he recorded the third fastest time although he acknowledged it could have been better. “I came in with 5 minutes to go as I had no radio at the time. We were second at that point and got pipped to third. With two more continuous laps I could have done a better job.”

Confusion reigned at the start of race one as the front row starters lined up on the wrong side of the grid meaning the first and third qualifiers were actually on the outside of the track so effectively Alex started fourth and that is where he settled initially.

Caption: Alex Crosbie of Invercargill, New Zealand (right) on the podium after finishing third in his Crosslink / Kiwi Motorsport F4 chassis during the opening race of Round 2 of the F4 US Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday. From left Daniel Quimby (second), Nicolas Stati (first), Alex Crosbie (third): Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

As the race progressed Crosbie was pressuring Pablo Benites Jr in third place, Benites Jr defending to the extent that he received a warning for blocking. As the battle raged Connor Roberts caught up and as Alex attempted a pass on Benites Jr Roberts pounced and got past Crosbie to drop him into fifth place. However almost immediately, Roberts and Benites Jr tangled, with Roberts flipping his car. Crosbie, close behind, snuck through the carnage to move into third. The Safety Car was deployed and the race became a one lap dash to the finish as it was called early due to another incident in the field. Alex crossed the line third to join Australians, Nicolas Stati and Daniel Quimby, on the podium.

Race 2 on Sunday morning was cancelled after rain left standing water at various places around the circuit so Crosbie lined up for the final race in third place. The whole field was on wet tyres but as the drivers awaited the delayed start the sun was blazing down. The delay meant that after just two laps the track was dry. Alex held third place in the race for a long time and was running comfortably and catching those in front until his tyres started to go off. Benites Jr got past and so too Roberts before Crosbie before repassed Roberts to cross the line in fourth place.

“The tyres went off as I was catching the front two. The tyres were starting to peel away, losing their edge. I found my rhythm again and began to punch out lap times pushing harder. Overall, it was a good weekend. There was more learning and I want to continue the improvement at the next round of the championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, New Jersey from 25-28 July.

Alex competes in the F4 US Championship with Crosslink / Kiwi Motorsport and his American campaign is supported by Golden Homes in the Southern Lakes. He also acknowledges the support of his parents for his racing.