Sherlock, Golan wins FR Americas openers at NOLA

Titus Sherlock took his fifth career victory on Saturday morning at NOLA Motorsports Park, winning in the Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) season opener. After finishing fourth in the championship standings last season, Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) looks to contend for the title with his Crosslink Motorsports team in 2025.

Sherlock is one of three Crosslink Motorsports competitors in the FR Americas field. His teammate, Barrett Wolfe, finished third.

Nicolas Ambiado earned the seventh podium of his career and first of the season in today’s season-opening race. Ambiado switches from his family-owned Velox USA team to race under the Kiwi Motorsport banner this season.

Barrett Wolfe secured his first-career podium in his FR Americas debut. The 21 year old spent the off season racing in New Zealand as part of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

Ambiado set a new track record for FR Americas during yesterday’s qualifying session to start from the pole in today’s event.

Track conditions were especially challenging on Saturday morning after rain passed through the area overnight, leaving areas of puddling around the 2.75-mile circuit. Race director Scott Goodyear declared the event a wet race, but gave the seasoned FR Americas field the choice of starting on racing slicks or rain tires. The field was split on the decision, with the first five starters electing slicks, and sixth-place starter Sherlock as the first to select rain tires.

After two formation laps, the field filed down the starting line with Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 Velox USA Ligier JS F3) in the point position. To his outside was Bruno Ribeiro (No. 01 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who had been quick all weekend, but got narrowly edged out by Ambiado during the closing minutes of qualifying. As the lights went out, Ambiado jumped to the lead, while Riberio stalled on the starting block, forcing the drivers behind him to take evasive action.

Brady Golan (No. 80 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) had a great jump from his fifth-place starting position, darting ahead to take the race lead as the field barreled toward Turn 1. Ambiado filed into second, while Sherlock used the treaded tires to his advantage, climbing to third during the opening turns. Racing hard deep in the pack, Ribeiro and Connor Roberts (No. 46 Apexspeed.com / Entropy Cellars Ligier JS F3) had contact, spinning Ribeiro across the track and bringing out the full-course caution.

Golan led the field to the green flag as the race resumed a few minutes later, but Sherlock wasted no time, making a move to take the lead in Turn 1 on the restart. Sherlock’s teammate, Barrett Wolfe (No. 13 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3), also took advantage of his rain tires to move through the field on the restart, passing both Golan and Ambiado to move into second. Meanwhile, Ambiado made his way around Golan as the drivers once again settled into a rhythm while trying to navigate the damp track.

The caution flag waved one more time when Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) got stuck in Turn 2 after dropping two wheels off the racing surface. Safety crews got him back on track with just enough time for competitors to make a one-lap dash to the checkered flag. As the green and white flags waved, Sherlock once again pulled ahead of the field, while Wolfe followed in his wake. Ambiado charged to the outside of Wolfe as they raced through Turn 3, setting himself up to dive to the inside and complete the pass as they worked through Turn 4.

As they crossed the finish line, it was Sherlock, followed by Ambiado and Wolfe. Alex Benavitz (No. 5 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) finished fourth, while Lincoln Day (No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) took fifth.

“It’s been such a tough weekend so far, with hardly any practice for us. We took the gamble in the end—most of our competition was on slicks, but it turned out to work,” said Sher;lock. “I couldn’t be more thankful to the whole Crosslink crew. We really persevered through it, and I’m grateful to get the first win in the first race.”

Race 2: Golan spins and wins

Brady Golan went from spinning to winning in Formula Regional Americas Championship’s (FR Americas) Race 2 at NOLA Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon. The victory marked the first-career win for both Golan (No. 80 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and his Toney Driver Development team, who made their series debut during the 2024 season finale at Circuit of The Americas.

Race 2 was wild from the start, with polesitter Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 Velox USA Ligier JS F3) pulling off in Turn 1 during the formation laps. With some assistance to get moving again, the Chilean made his way down pit lane to start the race from there, while the rest of the field drove down the starting grid. Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) was out front, albeit starting from the second position, with Barrett Wolfe (No. 13 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3), Alex Benavitz (No. 5 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3), Lincoln Day (No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and Golan (No. 80 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) lining up behind him.

As the 17-car field rolled off the starting grid, Ambiado brought up the rear from pit lane. Meanwhile, Sherlock settled in out front and almost immediately began opening a gap over second-place Wolfe. Behind them, Benavitz and Golan were fighting for third when a mistake by Golan between Turns 5 and 6 spun him around. Continuing in the right direction and losing just a few positions in the incident, Golan was seventh as he reached full speed.

With the front two spread out, the best racing was that for the third position. Benavitz had both Bruno Ribeiro (No. 01 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) and Daniel Quimby (No. 42 Atlantic Racing Team Ligier JS F3) hot on his tracks. Both drivers eventually made their way around Benavitz, while Golan continued his climb behind them.

As the race neared its halfway point, Ribeiro was in attack mode looking to overtake second-place Wolfe. The two crossed the start/finish line wheel to wheel and began racing two wide. The battle allowed both Quimby and Golan to pull to their gearboxes, and it soon became a four-way battle for second. Sherlock was more than 6.5s ahead before he entered pit lane with smoke coming from his car. With the Race 1 winner safely pulling to a stop and exiting the vehicle, the on-track action continued as Golan snuck around Wolfe to overtake the lead just before the safety car deployed with crews working to retrieve Sherlock’s car.

The race resumed with just under five minutes left on the clock, giving drivers another chance at improving their positions. Ambiado stayed tight on Golan’s gearbox but was unable to complete the pass as Golan defended his lead. The two were side by side on the white flag lap, but a full-course yellow froze the running order, leaving the field to take both the yellow and checkered flags.lts

“That was amazing,” said Golan after climbing from the car. “We had a spin on — what was it? Lap two or three? To come back and win it is incredible. I have to thank all the guys at Toney Driver Development and Attire for making this dream come true.”

FR Americas will contest their final race of the NOLA SpeedTour tomorrow at 11am CT. The race will air live on SPEED SPORT 1, and also be available to stream live on SpeedTour.TV.