Irazú, Szuch win in Ligier JFC at NOLA

Gastón Irazú rebounded from a grid penalty to earn his first-career Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) victory in his series debut during the season-opening race at NOLA Motorsports Park. After setting the second-quickest time in qualifying, Irazú (No. 42 Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) rolled off seventh for the first race of the year after receiving a grid penalty for a tire infraction during official practice. Proving his strength in overcoming challenges, the PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship recipient powered through, easily claiming the victory in Race 1.

Uruguay native Irazú’s victory also marked the first win for Champagne Racing, who first joined the Ligier JFC grid during the 2024 season finale at Circuit of The Americas.

Daniel Cará earned his first Ligier JFC podium; the Texan previously raced the Ligier JFC chassis during the 2023 season when it was still utilized in F4 U.S. competition.

Harbir Dass earned his third-career podium in Ligier JFC competition. He finished eighth in the standings last year and returns this season to chase the F4 U.S. scholarship, which is awarded to the championship-winning driver.
Irazú and Dass are both members of the PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship 2025 class. In total, there are five drivers on the Ligier JFC grid that are receiving assistance from the scholarship program.

The drama started before the lights went out, as polesitter Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Wines/WorkHub Ligier JS F4) had a false start followed by a stall. The field scurried around him with third-place starter Harbir Dass (No. 23 Northcoast Medical Group / Dass Psych LLC/Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) jumping out to the early lead. His Berg Racing teammate, Drew Szuch (No. 28 Berg Racing Ligier JS F4), filed in behind him after both drivers overtook second-place starter Augusto Paschetta (No. 27 Scuderia Buell Ligier JS F4). Szuch pulled up next to Dass entering Turn 1 and completed the pass to overtake the top spot just before a full-course caution slowed the field.

A restart a few laps later once again gave Dass a shot at overtaking Szuch—something he was successful at as Szuch drove wide through a turn. Behind them, seventh-place starter Irazú was also climbing through the field. Pulling up to battle with Cará and Paschetta, Irazú used the restart lap to move all the way up to third before turning his focus to the Berg Racing teammates, Szuch and Dass. The race was just passing its halfway point as Szuch hit a bump, jarring his car and knocking the engine cover loose. In a perfect storm scenario, the cover hit the car’s master switch and shut off power to Szuch’s vehicle. With Szuch slowing on the circuit, Irazú easily pulled in to second.

With Irazú closing in on Dass, the two raced side by side for a bit, before the Uruguayan ultimately completed the pass entering Turn 13 with just under 10 minutes left on the clock and never looked back. A few minutes later, polesitter Cará was also able to make his way around Dass as they raced through Turn 1, and from there, it was clear sailing to the finish line for each of the top three.

Taking the checkered flag, Irazú led Cará and Dass. Paschetta finished fourth and Cash Felber (No. 11 Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) earned his first-career top-five finish.

“It was a very great race,” said Irazú after climbing from the car. “I’m very happy for the win today. We had a penalty yesterday, but we proved that we can win. I have to thank my father and my Champagne Racing team.”

Race 2: Szuch joins Berg Racing, wins in season-opening weekend

Drew Szuch earned his first-career win in the Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) on Saturday afternoon at NOLA Motorsports Park. Rebounding from a freak accident in Race 1 where a loose engine cover hit the master switch and cut power to his car, Szuch (No. 28 Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) drove from fifth to first in a drive of determination.

After competing in Ligier JFC last season for his family-owned team, Szuch teamed up with Berg Racing to make a run at the 2025 Ligier JFC Championship. Saturday’s victory marks the first of Szuch’s career, and the second time he’s finished on the podium. Prior to Race 2, Szuch’s best career finish was a second-place result at COTA.

Gastón Irazú earned his second-career podium after winning Race 1 earlier in the day.

Harbir Dass earned back-to-back third place finishes on Saturday at NOLA.
Max Mokarem drove through the field from a last-place starting position to finish the race in sixth with his Momentum Motorsports team.

With Szuch’s victory, Berg Racing earned its first win since July 2023, when the team visited New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Victory Lane while competing in F4 U.S. Championship.

Race 2 at NOLA Motorsports Park saw many of the same frontrunners that contested for the victory in Race 1. Gastón Irazú (No. 42 Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) led the field down the starting grid with Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Wines/WorkHub Ligier JS F4) to his outside. Irazú pulled out to an early lead, while the Berg Racing teammates, Harbir Dass (No. 23 Northcoast Medical Group / Dass Psych LLC/Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) and Szuch, who started third and fifth, respectively, raced through the field. Dass reached Irazú’s gearbox by the time the field completed their third circuit on the 2.75-mile track.

Making a pass for the lead the following lap, it wasn’t long before Dass fell back into Irazú’s grasp as the Uruguayan once again took control of the field. With Irazú out front, Szuch settled in to second. The minutes ticked down as the race neared its halfway point, which is when Szuch pulled around the outside of Irazú entering Turn 3 and dove to the inside of Turn 4 to complete the pass.

While Irazú stayed on the rear wing of Szuch, he couldn’t find the right opportunity to overtake the lead before the safety car deployed to retrieve a car stuck deep in the grass. Without enough time to restart the event, the safety car led the field to the checkered flag, with Szuch winning, Irazú finishing second and Dass in third. Polesitter Cará finished fourth and PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship winner Augusto Paschetta (No. 27 Scuderia Buell Ligier JS F4) was fifth.

“This was a perfect way to get redemption ,” said Szuch. “We’ve been so hooked up all weekend. The Berg Racing car has been running great, the team’s been working great and I’m so glad that we can finally represent what we’re capable of. It was a good race; it was a lot of fun. The track was still pretty sketchy because there were a couple damp spots out there, so you really had to watch out. I just knew that you have to make every pass count in this series, because you never know when you’ll get a safety car or what will happen. I have to thank the team, of course. It’s my first weekend with Berg Racing, and I’ve been just so happy with how we’ve done. They’ve been really good to me.”

Ligier JFC will contest their final race of the NOLA SpeedTour Sunday at 9am CT. The race will air live on SPEED SPORT 1 and also be available to stream live on SpeedTour.TV.