Shift Up Now Athletes Chloe Chambers and Emily Linscott competed in rounds ten, eleven and twelve of the F4 United States Championship on July 17-18, 2021 at Brainerd International Raceway for the fourth event of the season.
During a shortened 3 day race weekend, both Chambers and Linscott battled car issues during Friday’s practice sessions that left them on the back foot heading into qualifying. In an incredibly tight grid, Linscott put her Kiwi Motorsports entry 18th on the grid, just 1.3 seconds off of the pole, and Chambers qualified 11th, only one position outside the top ten.
The first race started with a double-file rolling start instead of the usual Formula 4 standing start, and Linscott was caught up in a first lap, multi-car accident at turn four that ended her race. When the green flag waived again, Chambers made up several positions by avoiding several incidents in front of her, advancing to a points-scoring seventh place. However, another long yellow period and a red-flag finish meant that Chambers’ finishing position was discounted, and no points were awarded.
Due to the first race not being counted, Chambers and Linscott rolled off in the same starting positions for race two. This time, it was Chambers’ race that was cut short. After a good double-file rolling start and first few corners, she was struck by another car and sent airborne. The floor pan on the car was broken and Chambers was unable to finish the race.
Meanwhile, Linscott was battling handling issues stemming from her race one exit, but hung on to finish the race in P16.
The final race of the weekend involved a rollercoaster of places gained, lost, gained again, and contact for the young Shift Up Now Athletes.
Chambers started the third race in 18th place and quickly charged up to 13th. Contact from another car pushed her off track and she dropped back to 18th. During the final restart after several full-course yellow flags, the field stacked up and Chambers got caught out, made contact and had to retire with a bent suspension.
Linscott started from the 16th spot and battled toward the top ten. A mistake mid-race dropped her to the back of the pack, however she managed to advance back up to P12, where she would finish race three.
“Overall, not the results we were capable of. Some electrical problems on Friday really set us back but the team worked so hard to get everything right for the races,” said Chambers. “We had the speed, but in the end, luck just wasn’t on our side. I can’t thank the team at Future Star Racing, and Wings and Wheels Foundation enough for all their hard work this week. I’m so proud of how well we all work together, and I am beyond excited to go back to VIR in September.”
Linscott also reflected on her weekend and her race on Sunday.
“I was pretty happy with my drive in Sunday’s race, despite the mistake,” said Linscott. “I can’t thank the team enough for getting the car back on track after the accident in race one. I also want to thank Hagerty Motorsports, Be FastR, Shift Up Now, and my other sponsors and supporters for continuing to stand with me. I’m learning so much this year and I’m hoping to continue my season to the fifth round of the championship at VIR.”
The next rounds of the F4 United States Championship take place at Virginia International raceway on September 24th – 26th.
