Kiwi Motorsport collected six podium finishes across the Formula 4 United States (F4 U.S.) Championship, Formula Regional Americas Championship (FRAC) and Ligier Junior Formula Championship programmes during a busy penultimate weekend at VIRginia International Raceway.
Jack Speth contributed two runner-up finishes in Ligier JFC, while Zach Fourie, Clemente Huerta and Caleb Campbell combined for four F4 U.S. podiums. The team endured a more difficult FRAC weekend, although Cooper Shipman recovered from a Race 1 retirement to finish fifth in the second contest and preserve third in the Drivers’ Championship.
The results followed another productive weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where Fourie won in F4 U.S. and Shipman twice reached the FRAC podium. Kiwi now turns its attention towards Barber Motorsports Park from 16-18 October, where all three championships will conclude their 2026 seasons.
Speth adds two Ligier JFC podiums
Speth represented Kiwi as its sole Ligier JFC Gen. 2 entrant at VIR and delivered one of the team’s most consistent performances of the weekend.
He arrived in Virginia leading the Gen. 2 championship after establishing himself among the category’s strongest drivers throughout the year. Pit Debrief’s VIR weekend preview highlighted Speth as one of several Kiwi drivers carrying championship ambitions into the penultimate event.
Rather than attempting to force victories, Speth maximised both races with second-place finishes. The two podiums provided another significant points haul as the championship heads towards Barber, while also giving Kiwi a reliable contribution during a weekend in which the team operated across all three categories.
His double runner-up result also accounted for one-third of Kiwi’s six podium finishes at VIR and ensured the Ligier JFC programme continued the consistency established earlier in the campaign.
Fourie narrowly misses Race 1 victory
Kiwi’s largest presence came in F4 U.S., where Fourie, Campbell, Huerta and Ayden Kohut formed a four-car line-up.
Fourie started the weekend strongly by topping Practice with a 1m54.404, finishing 0.275s ahead of eventual champion Gastón Irazú. Qualifying proved more difficult, with Fourie taking fifth behind teammates Campbell and Huerta, but the South African quickly moved forward when Race 1 began.
After climbing to fourth on the opening lap, Fourie worked his way into the lead and began creating an advantage. A full-course caution eliminated that margin and set up a late fight with Irazú, with the pair exchanging first place four times during the penultimate lap.
Irazú eventually completed the decisive pass at Turn 13, but Fourie remained directly behind through the final lap and finished only 0.268s away from victory. Second place nevertheless delivered his 11th podium of the season and kept him ahead of Campbell in their battle for championship runner-up.
Huerta reaches podium in both F4 U.S. races
Huerta produced Kiwi’s most consistent F4 U.S. weekend by finishing third in both races.
The Chilean qualified fourth and remained involved with the front group throughout the opener. Although Cole Medeiros initially crossed the line third, a post-race penalty for his incident with Campbell promoted Huerta onto the podium. He also claimed the fastest lap with a 1m54.290.
Huerta then started Race 2 from pole after setting the quickest lap during Saturday’s contest. He initially led before Medeiros emerged ahead through the opening exchanges, while Fourie, Campbell and Irazú also joined the fight at the front.
Irazú ultimately worked his way into the lead and secured the victory that mathematically confirmed his championship, while Campbell finished second and Huerta followed in third. The result completed consecutive podiums for Huerta and added another 30 points to his season total.
His second-half improvement has been particularly notable since returning to Kiwi Motorsport. Huerta rejoined the team at New Jersey Motorsports Park and immediately returned to the podium, before continuing to add strong finishes across CTMP and VIR.
Campbell returns to podium in Race 2
Campbell’s weekend developed in the opposite direction. He qualified third and entered Race 1 among the leading Kiwi drivers, but contact during the restart forced him off the circuit and dropped him down the order. He eventually completed 12 laps and was classified eighth, leaving him needing a response on Sunday.
Race 2 provided exactly that. Campbell moved to the front during a frantic opening phase and briefly led before Irazú worked his way through. He remained within striking distance after a later caution and attacked into Turn 1 at the restart, but Irazú defended successfully.
Campbell nevertheless crossed the line only 0.637s behind to claim second place and his first podium since Mid-Ohio in June. The result also represented his eighth podium of 2026 and kept him firmly involved in the battle for second in the final Drivers’ Championship order.
Fourie recovered from an early off to take fourth, while Kohut finished fifth to put all four Kiwi cars inside the top five behind Irazú.
Kiwi already assured of F4 U.S. Teams’ Championship
Although Irazú clinched the Drivers’ Championship at VIR, Kiwi had already guaranteed its eighth F4 U.S. Teams’ Championship before arriving in Virginia.
The team nevertheless extended its advantage through another strong collective performance. Fourie and Huerta supplied the two highest-scoring Kiwi results in Race 1 with second and third, before Campbell and Huerta repeated those positions in the finale.
Kiwi added another 66 Teams’ Championship points during the weekend to move from 432 to 498. Champagne Racing sits second on 309, meaning Kiwi will arrive at Barber with the championship already secured but several individual positions still unresolved.
Fourie remains second in the F4 U.S. standings after VIR with 223 points, while Campbell follows on 207. Huerta sits fifth on 156, with Kohut sixth on 104.
The final two races will therefore determine whether Kiwi can complete the season with second and third in the Drivers’ Championship to accompany its Teams’ title.
Shipman recovers from difficult FRAC opener
The FRAC portion of Kiwi’s weekend proved considerably more challenging.
Shipman entered VIR third in the standings and qualified second, only 0.134s behind eventual champion Brady Golan. His strong starting position offered an opportunity to strengthen his hold on a top-three championship finish, but Race 1 ended effectively before he could capitalise.
Contact with Evagoras Papasavvas at Turn 4 left both cars damaged. Shipman lost several laps while Kiwi completed repairs and ultimately failed to score, while Papasavvas likewise left the opener without points.
The Kiwi driver recovered on Sunday and finished fifth in Race 2, adding 10 points and taking his season total to 202. That result allowed him to retain third in the FRAC Drivers’ Championship, although Kekai Hauanio’s victory and second place at VIR reduced the gap between them to 15.5 points.
With 50 points still available at Barber, Shipman will therefore need another strong weekend to secure third.
Dass retains seventh as Barber battle tightens
Harbir Dass delivered Kiwi’s more consistent FRAC results at VIR, scoring in both races despite being unable to challenge for the podium.
He led the team home in Race 1 with sixth place, collecting eight points while Shipman recovered from his earlier contact. Dass then finished eighth in the finale to add another four, moving his championship total from 96 to 108.
The 12-point weekend keeps him seventh in the standings, but Alejandro Bobadilla has closed to within only three points after scoring 18 at VIR. Their fight therefore becomes another of Kiwi’s objectives for the Barber finale.
Kiwi remains third in the FRAC Teams’ Championship on 312 points. Toney Driver Development and Crosslink Motorsports have pulled clear in their fight for the title, but Kiwi holds a substantial margin over Atlantic Racing Team in fourth.
Larsen takes positives from all three programmes
Despite the contrasting results across the three categories, Team Owner Teena Larsen viewed the weekend as another productive event for an operation managing seven cars across its programmes.
Speth added two podiums in Ligier JFC, all four F4 U.S. drivers recorded strong results and Shipman recovered from his difficult opening race to score again in FRAC.
“It was another weekend with a lot of positives across all three of our programs,” explained Kiwi Motorsport Team Owner Teena Larsen. “Jack was incredibly consistent with two more podiums in JFC, and our F4 drivers gave us some great results with multiple podiums and strong finishes throughout the weekend. We also saw Cooper fight back in FR Americas after a difficult first race. We have one weekend left in all three championships, so we’re going to take what we learned at VIR and put everything we have into finishing the season strong.”
The six podiums continue a productive closing phase for Kiwi after its multi-series success at CTMP, although the objectives have changed as several championship fights were settled at VIR.
Irazú secured the F4 U.S. title while Golan wrapped up the FRAC Drivers’ Championship. Kiwi’s focus consequently shifts towards protecting and improving the positions immediately behind them, alongside Speth’s continuing Ligier JFC campaign.
Kiwi turns attention towards Barber finale
Barber Motorsports Park will host the final event for all three championships from 16-18 October, giving Kiwi one last opportunity to add victories and podiums to its 2026 record.
In F4 U.S., the Teams’ Championship is already secure, but Fourie and Campbell remain separated by only 16 points in second and third. Their position gives Kiwi a strong chance of placing multiple drivers directly behind champion Irazú, while Huerta and Kohut will attempt to complete their campaigns with another strong points haul.
Shipman heads to Alabama protecting third in FRAC from Hauanio, while Dass will attempt to defend seventh against Bobadilla. Speth, meanwhile, will look to convert another consistent Ligier JFC weekend into a strong conclusion to his Gen. 2 campaign.
VIR therefore produced another substantial collection of silverware without representing a perfect weekend. Kiwi leaves Virginia with six more podiums, an already-secured F4 U.S. Teams’ title and several individual championship positions still to fight for when its three 2026 campaigns reach their conclusion at Barber.
