Lacey wraps up American campaign in style

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 9 November 2023

Aussie teenager Jesse Lacey wrapped up his rookie overseas campaign in the F4 United States Championship with a podium at COTA, but it was so close to being more.

Racing at the home of the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, Lacey showed strong speed in his Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport machine.

The Melbourne product finished sixth in the first two races, with the latter particularly impressive after being spun early.

The final race was the highlight with Lacey starting fifth and surging to second with around eight minutes to go.

He then hunted down a 3s deficit on USF4 champion Patrick Woods-Toth and snatched the lead on the final lap at turn 13, but only after contact was made at the proceeding corner and a drag race down the back straight.

This setup a thrilling side by side battle across the final four corners and Woods-Toth waited until the final left-hander to wrestle it back from Lacey.

After a gripping battle, Lacey had to settle for second and fell just 0.017s short of victory.

Despite the near miss he still recorded his sixth podium of the year in second place.

These results ensured he finished fourth in the championship and just three and a half points away from third.

Lacey was pleased to come away from an up and down round with a consistent set of results and finish the season on a positive note, but believed the move that saw the win stolen from him could have been a touch contentious.

“It is a strong way to finish the season,” Lacey wrote on social media.

“We started fifth after I could not put the lap together and the first race was a tough one.

“From starting third to getting hit back to dead last (25th) I stormed through the field and finished sixth.

“This was pleasing because it showed we had the pace to go for it.

“(In race three) I drove three seconds back to take the lead on the last lap and got passed out of track limits.

“So we took second by 0.017s and ended up fourth in the championship.

“I cannot thank everyone at Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport for all their help this season, without them it would not have been possible.”

Lacey will step straight into preparations for 2024 by testing a Formula Regional car.

Image: Supplied

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION or subscribe HERE

Latest podcast: When Ford wins, you win!

Have we finally reached parity in Supercars with two Ford wins on one weekend, or was it just the nature of the track? It’s a no-holds-barred discussion with Auto Action’s Andrew Clarke, Bruce Williams and Paul Gover. #Supercars #F1 #AutoAction

Listen to our latest podcast episode here or on your podcast app of choice.

Recent Stories

array ( 0 => WP_Term::__set_state(array( 'term_id' => 660, 'name' => 'International', 'slug' => 'international', 'term_group' => 0, 'term_taxonomy_id' => 660, 'taxonomy' => 'category', 'description' => '', 'parent' => 0, 'count' => 2874, 'filter' => 'raw', 'cat_ID' => 660, 'category_count' => 2874, 'category_description' => '', 'cat_name' => 'International', 'category_nicename' => 'international', 'category_parent' => 0, )), 1 => WP_Term::__set_state(array( 'term_id' => 11, 'name' => 'Latest News', 'slug' => 'latest-news', 'term_group' => 0, 'term_taxonomy_id' => 11, 'taxonomy' => 'category', 'description' => '', 'parent' => 0, 'count' => 16700, 'filter' => 'raw', 'cat_ID' => 11, 'category_count' => 16700, 'category_description' => '', 'cat_name' => 'Latest News', 'category_nicename' => 'latest-news', 'category_parent' => 0, )), 2 => WP_Term::__set_state(array( 'term_id' => 2029, 'name' => 'ZZZ-Email', 'slug' => 'email', 'term_group' => 0, 'term_taxonomy_id' => 2029, 'taxonomy' => 'category', 'description' => '', 'parent' => 2031, 'count' => 7257, 'filter' => 'raw', 'cat_ID' => 2029, 'category_count' => 7257, 'category_description' => '', 'cat_name' => 'ZZZ-Email', 'category_nicename' => 'email', 'category_parent' => 2031, )), 3 => WP_Term::__set_state(array( 'term_id' => 2031, 'name' => 'ZZZ-RSSFeeds', 'slug' => 'zzz-rssfeeds', 'term_group' => 0, 'term_taxonomy_id' => 2031, 'taxonomy' => 'category', 'description' => '', 'parent' => 0, 'count' => 6612, 'filter' => 'raw', 'cat_ID' => 2031, 'category_count' => 6612, 'category_description' => '', 'cat_name' => 'ZZZ-RSSFeeds', 'category_nicename' => 'zzz-rssfeeds', 'category_parent' => 0, )), )