Van't Pad Bosch goes from last to first to win JS F4 at COTA

In his debut weekend, Sacha van’t Pad Bosch put on a clinic in the Ligier JS F4 Series (JS F4) at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Saturday afternoon. After a technical infraction in race two disallowed his time and sent him to the back of the lineup for race three, the Dutch driver drove through the field enroute to victory in the final race of the 2024 season.

Up front, Hauanio dove into Turn 11, initially outbreaking Musella to take the race lead, but leading to a three-wide battle between himself, Musella and Escorpioni racing down the long straightaway. Escorpioni held the preferred lane into Turn 12 to overtake the lead. The three continued to jockey for the top position for the next several minutes while van’t Pad Bosch pulled up to fourth. With just 10 minutes left on the clock, Escorpioni and Hauanio made contact at the exit of Turn 12 with both cars spinning. While Musella had to go wide to avoid the incident, van’t Pad Bosch was in the perfect place to capitalize on the mistake and take the race lead as the full-course caution was displayed.

A few minutes later, the field returned to green as the white flag also waved, giving competitors a one-lap dash to the finish. Van’t Pad Bosch had a great launch, solidly taking command of the race before contact further back in the field left two cars stopped on the circuit and once again brought out a full-course caution.

As they crossed the finish line, van’t Pad Bosch took the checkered flag, followed by Szuch, Musella, Dass and Takumi Numata (No. 17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4).

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Following the race, a series of Stewards Decisions resulted in penalties that adjusted the finishing order. Drivers receiving a penalty, included:

Drew Szuch (No. 28 Szuch Racing Ligier JS F4): five-second penalty, moving him to seventh

Conor Grant (No. 10 Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4): 30-second time penalty, moving him to 14th

Athan Sterling (No. 1 JENSEN Ligier JS F4): five-second time penalty

Parker Wallin (No. 34 SHAED Ligier JS F4): five-second penalty, moving him to 16th

“I just had a really good car—the team gave me a great package,” said van’t Pad Bosch after climbing from the car. “I had the speed and was able to overtake everyone to get P1. I’m so happy; I don’t have any words. I want to thank the team, my coach, my mom and family, my mechanic and everyone that’s supported me.”

JS F4 returns for the 2025 season at NOLA Motorsports Park, March 27-30. Prospective drivers looking to learn more about JS F4 should visit the series’ website, JSF4Series.com. Additional news and updates throughout the off-season will be shared on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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