A new US racing series for 2016! 

On  November 12 the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Pro Racing division announced the 2106 dates for the inaugural FIA-certified F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda. The world-wide Formula 4 championship was created in 2014 as a single-make category by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). F4 series races were held in 2015 in Australia, Italy, Japan, Britain, Europe, China, and Mexico.

 photo by the author 

The F4 United States Championship will make its debut at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut on May 27 & 28 together with the Pirelli World Challenge GT and GTS events. The next stop on the schedule will at the New Jersey Motorsports Park together with the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series scheduled for June 10-12. 

The series then takes an extended break before racing on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 13-14 on a weekend highlighted by the SCCA Tran-Am NASCAR (national Association of Stock Car Racing) XFINITY Series. 

The SCCA says that mid-season breaks were built into the schedule to allow each team a chance to reset before making their push to end of the season. Teams can examine data from earlier races to optimize both car and driver for a chance to capture the inaugural series championship.

A month later, the F4 race weekend will be at Road Atlanta, September 17-18 shared with HSR’s (Historic Sports Car Racing) fall vintage weekend , before the season concludes at the   Homestead-Miami Speedway paired again with the SCCA Trans-Am Series on October 9-10.

Drivers get three hours of track time every race weekend, including two free practice sessions, one qualifying session and three races. Starting grids and point scoring are in accordance with global F4 series standards. Each race win pays $1,000, and the top points earner for the weekend wins $1,000.

An example of the new entry-level, cost-contained open wheel cars was on display at the Honda display at SEMA 2015 in Las Vegas Nevada.  According to the SCCA, the US series has generated significant interest since its September 2015 launch as the chassis manufacturer Crawford Composites, based in North Carolina run by new Zealand native Max Crawford) North Carolina has sent 92 purchase agreements to race teams, drivers, and driving schools.

photo by the author 

The American-built Crawford carbon-composite chassis will cost $45,000 each and will include a fixed aero package paddle shifters, data acquisition, and a camera. The cars will each be powered by Honda K20 C1 2.0-liter engine sourced from a European 2016 Honda Civic Type R. The Honda engine displaces two liters or 122 cubic inches, used double overhead camshafts and direct fuel injection. Each race engine will produce 158 horsepower, and will carry a one-year lease price of $6,600. 

photo by the author

Pirelli P Zero racing radial tires complete the package, which will be priced at approximately $250 apiece, with a maximum allotment of six tires (three front, three rear) per race weekend. The plan is for Crawford Composites to begin delivery of completed race cars to customers in January 2016.

Details and updates are available at http://www.f4uschampionship.com/

Information for this article was provided by Honda Performance Development and the SCCA.