ALTON, Va. (September 20, 2025) – Christian Brooks dominated in his Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) debut to take the victory in Race 1 at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) on Saturday afternoon. The race was not without challenge, as a series of restarts left him to defend his position, and his teammate Brady Golan (No. 80 Attire / Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) put up a valiant fight. When the checkered flag waved, it was Brooks (No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) who crossed the line first to claim his first FR Americas win at the same circuit where he won his first Formula 4 United States Championship race six years ago. Golan finished second, while Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Rayne Nutrition / Ronald McDonald House Charities / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) was third.
One of the biggest storylines of the day was points leader Bruno Ribeiro (No. 01 Alfa Cem / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3). After starting the race in third, Ribeiro was running second when his car slowed on the circuit to bring out the full-course caution. Unable to continue, Ribeiro was not classified on the official results, scoring no points for the round. Meanwhile, Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who ranked second in the championship standings entering the weekend, finished fourth, which allowed him to take the points lead. With Sherlock claiming third-place points, he also passed Ribeiro in the standings.
Notes of Interest:
- Christian Brooks scored his first-career victory during his series debut at VIR. He is the sixth driver to win an FR Americas race this season.
- Brady Golan claimed his third podium of the year, returning to the box for the first time since Round 6 at Road America.
- Titus Sherlock earned his 10th podium of 2025 with a third-place finish in today’s race.
- Bruno Ribeiro was unable to finish today’s event. With zero points scored, both Nicolas Ambiado and Titus Sherlock were able to pass him in the standings. Ambiado is the new points leader, while Sherlock trails by 4.5 points, leaving Ribeiro eight markers out of the points lead.
- Today’s race was the first time Toney Driver Development finished one-two in an FR Americas race, and also marks the first time they’ve had two drivers place on the podium.
“This car is pretty similar to the INDY NXT car that I drove previously, and the Toney Driver Development guys did a really good job of getting me up to speed,” said Brooks atop the podium. “They show a lot of confidence in me, which I think gives me some confidence in myself, too. Huge thanks to Nathan Toney and all the TDD boys, they did an amazing job and it just feels good to be back. Brady [Golan] was doing an amazing job on every restart—you know there’s a zone for the restart, so you can’t go as early as I would like to, and honestly, he timed all of them perfectly. I’m glad it came out this way, but he gave me a good fight.”
FR Americas is back on track tomorrow at 4:25 p.m. E.T. for Race 2 from the VIR SpeedTour. The race airs live on SPEED SPORT 1 and will also stream on SpeedTour.TV. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
