2025 Formula Pro USA Western Championship

The 2025 Formula Pro USA Western Series was the sixth season of the championship for Formula Regional and Formula 4 cars established in the West Coast of the United States. The championship was promoted and organized by Exclusive Racing and Exclusive Auctions, and was ran under the same sporting regulations as the FIA-sanctioned Formula Regional Americas Championship and Formula 4 United States Championship.

It began in March, with the championship spanning six weekends until November.[1] World Speed Motorsports driver Larry Schnur claimed the FPUSA-3 title with two races to spare when his closest competitor, Charles Duncan, did not enter the final round. The FPUSA-4 class was won by Ridgeley Welsh, also driving for World Speed Motorsports, while Kiwi Motorsport's Carolyn Fitzgerald took victory in the Women's Racing Series class.

Teams and drivers

Drivers were able to enter either the FPUSA-3 or the FPUSA-4 class, with the former using a Ligier JS F3 car and the latter a Ligier JS-F4 car. All cars were powered by Honda and used Avon tires.[2]

Team No. Driver Class Rounds
Formula Pro USA 3 (FPUSA-3) entries
Jensen Global Advisors 1 United States John O'Donnell 5
11 United States Aiden Zelaya 6
World Speed Motorsports 3 United States Larry Schnur 1–3, 5–6
38 United States Dan Decker 4–5
63 United States Charles Duncan 2, 4–5
Crosslink Motorsports 13 United States Barrett Wolfe 3
Kiwi Motorsport 15 United States Jake Bonilla 4
01 Brazil Bruno Ribeiro 3
Atlantic Racing Team 88 Canada James Lawley 1
177 Australia Nicolas Stati 1
Formula Pro USA 4 (FPUSA-4) entries
Jensen Global Advisors 1 United States Marco Martin 3
South Africa Zach Fourie 1
15 3
2 United States Ana Palestro F All
3 United States Robert Arana 4, 6
United States Aiden Zelaya 3
7 4–5
United States Max Parker 3
World Speed Motorsports 14 United States Ridgeley Welsh All
15 United States Christopher DeFreitas 1–2
16 United States Yashom Kapoor All
17 United States Austin Tiller 5
Crosslink Motorsports 20 United States Austin Kaszuba 6
34 United States Ayden Schuh 6
134 United States Joshua Griffith 3
Kiwi Motorsport 26 United States Ayden Kohut 3
123 United States Carolyn Fitzgerald F All
Sources: [3][4][5][6][7][8]
Icon Status
F Female driver entered in the Women's Racing Series class

Race calendar

The 2025 calendar was held over twelve races spanning across six weekends.[1] The series raced at the same four circuits as it did the previous year.

Round Circuit Date Support bill Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma March 15 SCCA Majors Championship
Formula Car Challenge
R2 March 16
2 R3 Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows April 5 San Francisco Region SCCA Series
Formula Car Challenge
R4 April 6
3 R5 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey June 28 San Francisco Region SCCA Series
Pacific F2000 Championship
R6 June 29
4 R7 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma September 13 NASA Northern California Region
Formula Car Challenge
R8 September 14
5 R9 Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows October 24 San Francisco Region SCCA Series
Formula Car Challenge
R10 October 25
6 R11 Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow November 15 California Sports Car Club
Formula Car Challenge
R12 November 16

Race results

Round Circuit Pole position FPUSA-3 FPUSA-4 FPUSA-WRS
Fastest lap Winning driver Fastest lap Winning driver Winning driver
1 R1 Sonoma Raceway Canada James Lawley Australia Nicolas Stati Canada James Lawley South Africa Zach Fourie South Africa Zach Fourie United States Carolyn Fitzgerald
R2 Canada James Lawley Australia Nicolas Stati Canada James Lawley South Africa Zach Fourie South Africa Zach Fourie United States Carolyn Fitzgerald
2 R3 Thunderhill Raceway Park United States Larry Schnur United States Larry Schnur United States Larry Schnur United States Yashom Kapoor United States Yashom Kapoor United States Carolyn Fitzgerald
R4 United States Larry Schnur United States Larry Schnur United States Larry Schnur United States Ridgeley Welsh United States Yashom Kapoor United States Carolyn Fitzgerald
3 R5 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Brazil Bruno Ribeiro Brazil Bruno Ribeiro Brazil Bruno Ribeiro South Africa Zach Fourie South Africa Zach Fourie United States Ana Palestro
R6 Brazil Bruno Ribeiro Brazil Bruno Ribeiro Brazil Bruno Ribeiro South Africa Zach Fourie South Africa Zach Fourie United States Ana Palestro
4 R7 Sonoma Raceway United States Jake Bonilla United States Jake Bonilla United States Jake Bonilla United States Aiden Zelaya United States Robert Arana United States Carolyn Fitzgerald
R8 United States Jake Bonilla United States Jake Bonilla United States Jake Bonilla United States Yashom Kapoor United States Yashom Kapoor United States Ana Palestro
5 R9 Thunderhill Raceway Park United States Dan Decker United States Dan Decker United States Dan Decker United States Ridgeley Welsh United States Ridgeley Welsh United States Carolyn Fitzgerald
R10 United States John O'Donnell United States John O'Donnell United States John O'Donnell United States Ridgeley Welsh United States Ridgeley Welsh United States Ana Palestro
6 R11 Buttonwillow Raceway Park United States Larry Schnur United States Aiden Zelaya United States Larry Schnur United States Austin Kaszuba United States Austin Kaszuba United States Ana Palestro
R12 United States Aiden Zelaya United States Aiden Zelaya United States Aiden Zelaya United States Austin Kaszuba United States Austin Kaszuba United States Ana Palestro

Season report

The 2025 season commenced Sonoma Raceway with Atlantic's James Lawley claiming two pole positions. He then continued to head teammate Nicolas Stati and WSM's Larry Schnur in both races, with Stati setting the fastest laps on each day. The F4 class saw Jensen's Zach Fourie sweep the weekend, leading WSM's Ridgeley Welsh in both races, with his teammates Christopher DeFreitas and Yashom Kapoor each taking a third place. The standings after the weekend saw Fourie and Lawley leading their respective classes.[9]

Thunderhill Raceway Park held round two, and the top two in F3 were absent, leaving Schnur to dominate in their stead, leading WSM's Charles Duncan in both races to take maximum points and the championship lead in class. The F4 class saw a similar picture, with an absent Fourie replaced by Kapoor as the man in front. Kapoor won both races to take a five-point lead in the standings, while Welsh claimed two more second places and Kiwi Motorsport's Carolyn Fitzgerald finished third on both occasions.[10]

Round three at Laguna Seca brought yet another new face to the front in the F3 class, as Kiwi's Bruno Ribeiro and Crosslink's Barrett Wolfe formed the top two in both races on their series debut. Schnur collected two more third-place finishes to bolster his championship lead. The F4 class saw ten cars entered, a high-point for the series, but it was returnee Fourie who was once again on top in both races. Second and fourth place for Kapoor were enough to retain a one-point lead, with Welsh now ten points behind.[11]

Formula Pro USA returned to Sonoma for round four, where Kiwi's Jake Bonilla dominated proceedings in F3, winning both races and taking the F3 track record in the process. Duncan claimed two more second places, leading teammate Dan Decker to close up to Schnur in the standings. The F4 class saw a new winner in race one in Jensen's Robert Arana, before Kapoor was back on top in race two to bolster his points lead again. Jensen's Aiden Zelaya and Welsh also claimed two further podium finishes.[12]

A second round at Thunderhill was up next, where Decker won race one in F3 before race two went to another debutant in Jensen's John O'Donnell, despite dropping to the rear of the field at the start. Duncan meanwhile took two more second places to slightly close up to Schnur in the standings. Welsh dominated the field in F4 by taking two wins, taking the lead in the standings off of Kapoor, who had held it since the second round of the season. He finished third in both races, behind Zelaya, who built on his podium streak.[13]

The season final was held at a rainy Buttonwillow Raceway Park. With Duncan and Decker both absent, Schnur was able to seal the F3 class title without opposition, sharing wins in the two races with Zelaya, who was the only other competitor in F3 when he made the mid-season step up from F4. Two second places for Welsh were enough to claim the F4 class title as both wins went to Crosslink's Austin Kaszuba on debut. Fitzgerald meanwhile narrowly became the inaugural Womens' Racing Series champion in third overall.[14]

Championship standings

Points were awarded as follows:

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   FL 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 2

Drivers' standings

Pos Driver SON1 THU1 LAG SON2 THU2 BUT Pts
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12
Formula Pro USA 3 (FPUSA-3)
1 United States Larry Schnur 3 3 1 1 3 3 3 4 1 2 184
2 United States Charles Duncan 2 2 2 2 2 2 108
3 United States Dan Decker 3 3 1 3 72
=4 Brazil Bruno Ribeiro 1 1 54
=4 United States Jake Bonilla 1 1 54
6 Canada James Lawley 1 1 50
7 United States Aiden Zelaya 2 1 47
8 Australia Nicolas Stati 2 2 40
9 United States John O'Donnell 4† 1 39
10 United States Barrett Wolfe 2 2 36
Formula Pro USA 4 (FPUSA-4)
1 United States Ridgeley Welsh 2 2 2 2 5 3 3 2 1 1 2 2 222
2 United States Yashom Kapoor 4 3 1 1 2 4 4 1 3 3 3 7 199
3 United States Carolyn Fitzgerald F 5 4 3 3 8 7 5 6 5 6 7 5 114
4 United States Ana Palestro F 6† 6 4 4† 7 6 6 5 6† 5 6 4 110
5 South Africa Zach Fourie 1 1 1 1 108
6 United States Aiden Zelaya 9 2 2 3 2 2 91
7 United States Robert Arana 1 4 5 6 55
8 United States Austin Kaszuba 1 1 54
9 United States Ayden Schuh 4 3 27
10 United States Christopher DeFreitas 3 5 Ret Ret 25
11 United States Austin Tiller 4 4 24
12 United States Ayden Kohut 4 5 22
13 United States Joshua Griffith 3 9 17
14 United States Max Parker 6 8 12
United States Marco Martin DNS Ret 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 Pts
SON1 THU1 LAG SON2 THU2 BUT
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points classification
Blue Non-points classification
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired, not classified (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

References

  1. ^ a b "Formula Pro USA Western Championship presented by Exclusive Racing confirms 2025 schedule". RTD Media. November 25, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  2. ^ BDM_FPU, Admin. "About FPUSA". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  3. ^ "Sonoma Regional 1-2 - Group 1 & 2 - Qualify - Speedhive live timing". speedhive.mylaps.com. March 15, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  4. ^ "SFR SCCA Major Regional/National @ Thunderhill Raceway Park - Qualify 1 - Race Monitor". Race Monitor. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  5. ^ "SFR SCCA Regional 7/8 Laguna Seca Results" (PDF). San Francisco Region SCCA. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  6. ^ "NASA NorCal Sonoma Raceway Sept 13-14 Group FPUSA FCC Saturday Qualifying" (PDF). National Auto Sport Association. September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  7. ^ "SFR SCCA Regional 13-14 @ Thunderhill Raceway Park 10/23/2025 - 10/27/2025 Qualify 1". www.race-monitor.com. October 24, 2025. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  8. ^ "2025 Formula Pro USA Western Championships FPUSA-3 Points / 2025 Formula Pro USA Western Championships FPUSA-4 Points" (PDF). Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  9. ^ Maurini, Elena (March 17, 2025). "James Lawley and Zach Fourie Dominate Formula Pro USA Western Championship Presented by Exclusive Racing Opening Weekend". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  10. ^ Maurini, Elena (April 9, 2025). "Kapoor and Schnur Dominate Formula Pro USA Western Championship Presented by Exclusive Racing Event at Thunderhill Raceway". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  11. ^ Morgan, Mallory (July 3, 2025). "Formula Pro USA Western Championship Midway Mark Delivers Action-Packed Weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  12. ^ Morgan, Mallory (September 17, 2025). "Formula Pro USA Delivers Thrilling Action at Sonoma Raceway". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  13. ^ Morgan, Mallory (October 27, 2025). "Welsh Dominates F4 at Thunderhill Tightening the Championship Battle & O'Donnell Pulls Off Dramatic F3 Comeback". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  14. ^ Morgan, Mallory (November 18, 2025). "Formula Pro USA Closes Out 2025 Season with Dramatic Rain-Soaked Finale at Buttonwillow Raceway Park". Formula Pro USA. Retrieved December 29, 2025.