By alley - Jul 9, 2017, 9:09 AM ET

Kirkwood keeps F4 U.S. momentum with CTMP win

The first lap of the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda international debut at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, created lifetime fans for the series after Kyle Kirkwood went four-wide on the Andretti Straightaway with polesitter Dakota Dickerson, Austin McCusker and Raphael Forcier to seize his fourth consecutive win. The win bumped Kirkwood to first place in championship standings, leading Timo Reger by one point. Forcier and Jacob Loomis joined Kirkwood on the podium.

"Our momentum carried over from Indy," Kirkwood said. "CTMP is an extremely fast and technical track. It really tested my skills. I am ecstatic about being first in the championship. I didn't expect it to happen so early in the season."

Starting on the inside of Row 2, Kirkwood was aggressive right as the green flag dropped. Kirkwood positioned himself on the inside of front row-starter McCusker in Turn 1, going nose-to-nose into Turn 2. The Cape Motorsports pilot gained more speed exiting the turn which allowed him to overtake McCusker. Dickerson defended his P1 position from Kirkwood, but Kirkwood would capitalize on a tight inside pass in Turn 5b to take a minor lead.

The trio battled for position throughout the next few turns, creating a monster draft for the No. 62 Indy Motorsport Group car of Forcier to catch them on the straight. Kirkwood swung wide to the outside of Dickerson, leaving room for McCusker to position himself on the inside of the series newcomer. Forcier edged his way to the outside of Kirkwood, creating a four-wide battle for first. Dickerson would brake going into Turn 8, allowing Kirkwood to pull away for the lead. Forcier seized the opportunity and dipped down to the inside to take P2. Dickerson dropped to third with McCusker in fourth.

The front-field battle was interrupted by a yellow flag caused by an uncontested incident that left Vincent Khristov in the wall. On the restart, Kirkwood started to pull away.

Another full-course yellow appeared that abbreviated the session after Kent Vaccaro collided with the tire wall swerving to avoid contact with Toronto native Steve Bamford who spun in Turn 1. The extended clean-up left two minutes on the race clock.

On the last lap, McCusker would oversteer his black No. 5 Primus Racing machine, causing him to go off track. Global Racing Group driver Loomis stole the last podium spot from Dickerson after the Kiwi Motorsport pilot bobbled on the final turn.

Kirkwood will start on pole for Race 2 with Dickerson completing the front row.

The F4 U.S. cars take the track again on Sunday for the final two rounds of its international debut at CTMP. Fans can watch live timing and scoring for the event at F4USChampionship.com.

ROUND 7 RESULTS

PO	PO	NO	Name/Hometown Sponsor PTS	Laps Gap	Fast Lap
1	3	8	KyleKirkwood/JupiterFla. Cape Motorsports 25	15 -	1:23.181
2	4	62	Raphael Forcier/MontrealQué.Can. Parizeau PawulskiDeslandes Architects 18	15 1.432	1:23.802
3	5	68	JacobLoomis/CorinthTexas Optima Anesthesia / Epic Electric 15	15 2.384	1:23.670
4	1	85	Dakota Dickerson/SanDiego Calif. RJB Motorsports/Metalloid Corporation 12	15 2.633	1:23.634
5	6	19	TimoReger/HoustonTexas JDX Racing 10	15 3.051	1:23.690
6	7	86	BrendonLeitch/InvercargillNZL ITM/ Kiwi Motorsport 8	15 3.580	1:24.294
7	9	37	JordanSherratt/DurbanZAF Crosslink Powder Coating / PatrickFlynnMotorspo 6	15 4.253	1:24.037
8	2	5	Austin McCusker/GlenHeadN.Y. Dot Works / Primus Racing 4	15 4.561	1:24.064
9	13	45	Baltazar Leguizamon/Buenos Aires ARGMotorola 2	15 5.074	1:24.318
10	10	9	MathiasSoler-Obel/BogotaCOL Cape Motorsports 1	15 5.263	1:24.128
11	11	40	Jack WilliamMiller/WestfieldInd. Indy Dental Group LLC / BlueMarble	15 6.864	1:24.436
12	18	39	JustinSirgany/KingstonJAM JFP / Your Complete Décor Solution / Bob MarleyFounda	15 7.611	1:24.119
13	12	61	John Paul Southern Jr/Westlake Ohio Pittsburgh International Race Complex/ Jay Howard’s Mo	15 8.085	1:24.399
14	8	22	JacobAbel/LouisvilleKy. Abel Construction / AdvanceInc	15 8.451	1:24.298
15	16	28	BenWaddell/DenverColo. Stoner Car Care /USWAG	15 9.070	1:24.684
16	14	14	Max Peichel/Edina Minn.	15 12.605	1:25.531
17	21	4	Jim GougharyJr/JupiterFla. Primus RaceParts	15 12.898	1:25.745
18	25	10	DavisDurrett/CarmelInd. Underwood Machinery Transport / Tag Heuer / Molecule	15 13.383	1:25.184
19	20	26	SamPaley/CincinnatiOhio Jay Howard’s Motorsports DriverDevelopment	15 13.458	1:25.698
20	26	96	Lawson Nagel/FortWorthTexas Marc SamuelsJewelers	15 15.764	1:25.553
21	27	35	ChrisArchinaco/PittsburghPa. Children's Hospital ofPittsburgh	15 24.178	1:27.175
22	29	7	BlakeMount/DenverColo. Expedia / HD Supply / SobelWestex	15 25.519	1:27.499
23	19	07	Steve Bamford/TorontoOnt.Can. Rice RacePrep	15 25.558	1:25.832
24	28	6	Parker Locke/SanAntonioTexas Jay Howard’s Motorsports DriverDevelopment	15 25.958	1:28.249
25	15	24	Benjamin Pedersen/Copenhagen DNK Dirtfish/Alfa Romeo of Seattle/Egrari Non-Invasive Center	14 1 Lap	1:24.981
26	23	2	SkylarRobinson/AugustaGa. MomentumMotorsports	12 3 Laps	1:26.953
27	24	16	KentVaccaro/PlattsburghN.Y. MomentumMotorsports	7 8 Laps	1:25.824
28	22	3	Vincent Khristov/DelrayBeachFla. Counter Pressure CastingMachines	0 15 Laps	0
29	17	29	JonathanScarallo/SmithtownN.Y. Group ARacing	0 15 Laps	0