“ Stepping up to the
F3 car [at COTA]
was definitely a big
learning experience”
HUNTER YEANY
was teammates with some of
the kids as well; he knows how
all of them race, so I knew what
to expect before I went into the
races. on the sim 24/7 before
each race, just trying to find out
every little thing to make me go
faster and working out really
hard in the gym – anything
that makes me better.”
If there’s one thing Yeany
knows, it’s how to find speed. In
the end, Yeany, the youngest
F4 champion in the world,
claimed his F4 title by leading
79 laps in 15 rounds, finishing
the season with eight wins
and six additional podiums. He
also notched five pole-position
starts and captured the overall
fastest times at three of the
five circuits during the season.
“It was a great season inF4, but this is just the startingpoint of my racing career,”Yeany concludes. “I still have along way to go before I reachmy final goal of F1. I’d reallylike to just go over thereand show everybody whatAmericans can do and that wecan race like the Europeans.
That’s what I’m looking
forward to right now – the
chance to go over there and
race against all those kids.”
“I’m really looking forward
to [the 2021 race season]
because now I know a little
bit about [FR Americas],
how everybody races in the
series, and I know some of
the tracks,” Yeany adds. “I’ll
probably be practicing.”
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
(LEFT) With t wo wins sandwiching a third-place finish during the VIR triple header, theweekend was the continuation of a solid startto the 2020 season for Hunter Yeany.
DRIVERS’
CHAMPIONSHIP (top 5)
Hunter Yeany 285 (points)
Jose Blanco 228
Spike Kohlbecker 203
Dylan Tavella 201
Cade McKee 117
Mid
-
Oh
io
V
IR1
VIR2
VIR3
Barber1
Barber2
Barber3
Barber4
Sebring1
Sebring2
Sebring3
Homestead1
Homestead2
Homestead3CO TA1CO TA2CO TA3
HUNTER YEANY’S
ROAD TO VIC TORY
PLACE FINISH N/A
1
2
3
4
5
6
1011n/a
F4 BY THE NUMBERS But Yeany says teammatesdid play an important role inhis success, notably fellow F4rookie Erik Evans who woundup sixth in the championship.
“Erik, in the first part of theseason was kind of going throughthe same thing I was goingthrough,” Yeany remembers.
“Once he got it down after his
problems in Virginia, he came
back really strong and gave us
a lot. I mean, I’ve got to say, he
was a really great teammate.”
Evans scored his first
podium finish in the first race at
Sebring, then notched his first
win in Race 3 at Homestead
when on-track winner Yeany
received a five-second time
penalty during the race.
Having all but mathematicallyclinched the Drivers’Championship – and ascholarship valued at $230,000into the SCCA Pro RacingFormula Regional AmericasChampionship for 2021 – Yeanywas content to finish secondbehind Blanco in the first tworaces at Homestead, and given itmeant an Evans victory, washappy with his third-place finishin Race 3 that weekend.
As it turned out, that wouldbe Yeany’s last race in F4as, with the title locked up,he could turn his attentionto FR Americas during theCircuit of The Americas finalefor both the F4 U.S. and FRAmericas series, stepping intoVRD’s Ligier raced by MathiasSoler Obel and Matt Round-Garrido earlier in the season.
“Stepping up to the F3 car[at COTA] was definitely a biglearning experience becauseI really did want to get into thatFR Americas car before the endof the year,” Yeany says. “Thankyou to all at the SCCA and FIAfor helping me to get into thelast race of the year.” (Yeany wasgiven an age waiver to competebut would receive no officialfinish, points, or prize money.)
“I really had to learn a lotabout aero,” he admits. “I didsome sim training with that withDakota Dickerson – he’s a formerF3 champion who helped meout a lot, all the way from thesimulator to the driving side ofthings. He was a big help. He
