ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (May 18, 2025) – Daniel Cará brought home his first-career Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) win on Sunday morning at Road America. Determined to stand atop the podium after being penalized in Race 1, Cará overcame a late-race restart with fierce competition to claim his first win in the series.
Notes of Interest:
- After having a post-race penalty deter what could have been his first-career Ligier JFC win yesterday, Daniel Cará sealed the deal, taking the checkered flag in Race 2 at Road America.
- Gastón Irazú earned his second podium of the weekend and fifth of the season with his runner-up finish in Race 2. Irazú has yet to finish outside the top two in a Ligier JFC race this year.
- Harbir Dass secured his fourth podium of the season with a third-place result in Race 2.
- Ava Hanssen (fourth), Roman Felber (sixth) and Michael Fatutta (eighth) all earned career-best finishes in Sunday morning’s race.
- Three teams were represented on today’s podium, with Cará Origin Motorsports taking the win, Champagne Racing finishing second and Berg Racing third.
- An international podium, the finishers represented three different nations today, including: Brazil (Cará), Uruguay (Irazú) and United States of America (Dass).
Race 2 at Road America was dramatic from the instant the lights went out. Drew Szuch (No. 28 Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) and Beckham Jacir (No. 7 STONICA / BELL / OMP / P1Doks / LC Racing Ligier JS F4) led the field down the starting grid to line up on the front row. However, Jacir’s car stalled when the lights went out, leaving cars scrambling to the left and right as they tried to beat their competition to Turn 1. While Szuch scurried away, third-place starter Cash Felber (No. 11 BioLongevity Labs / TownHall / Rebol / DWT / Matrix Mind Water / Phantom Fireworks / Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) and fifth-place starter Gastón Irazú (No. 42 Elia Group / Baly / Canal 4 / Ancap / Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) were both able to get a jump on Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Wines / WorkHub / Cará Origin Motorsports Ligier JS F4), who was held up behind the stalled car. Racing through the opening turns, Szuch pulled ahead, as Irazú moved into second and Cará overtook Cash Felber for third. With Jacir still unable to fire his engine, the caution flag was displayed as safety crews removed his car from the frontstretch.
Just one lap later, Szuch led the field to a waving green flag for a single-file restart. With Irazú on Szuch’s gearbox, the Uruguayan drove deep into Turn 1 to complete the pass. Szuch then fell into the grips of Cará, who overtook him for second in Turn 5. By Turn 7, Szuch was feeling the pressure, accidentally going wide on corner exit and putting four tires off in the grass. The misstep allowed Cash Felber, Harbir Dass (No. 23 Northcoast Medical Group / Dubby Energy / Dass Psych LLC / Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) and Max Mokarem (No. 46 BFS / District Construction / Don’t Sleep Energy / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F4) to all make their way around, relegating Szuch to the sixth position. Another off on the exit of Turn 14 allowed Augusto Paschetta (No. 27 Scuderia Buell / Sport West / Bruno Maquinaria / Brapax Ligier JS F4) and Roman Felber (No. 73 BioLongevity Labs / TownHall / Rebol / DWT / Matrix Mind Water / Phantom Fireworks / Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) to get by, giving yesterday’s winner a bit of a hole to dig out of as he ran eighth.
Meanwhile, up front, Cará had chased down Irazú and pounced when he locked up his brakes entering Turn 1. Keeping his focus forward, Cará opened a gap; first leading by three-tenths, then seven-tenths, and then nearly two seconds. Szuch was also making forward progress, climbing back to fifth before the full-course caution was displayed after Cash Felber got stuck in a gravel trap.
The race restarted with just over two minutes left on the clock, but as they hurried up the hill toward the start/finish line, misjudged acceleration and nose-to-tail contact punted Szuch toward the pit-in wall. The leaders took off toward the waving green flag, giving way to a strong battle between Cará, Irazú and Dass in the closing turns. After being challenged in Turn 1, Cará pulled ahead by Turn 2. Behind him, Irazú and Dass jockeyed for position—first with Dass pulling ahead by the exit of Turn 3, and then Irazú taking the spot as they raced toward Turn 5. With Szuch unable to clear the scene of his accident, the caution flag waved once again as the field drove toward the finish line.
Cará led the field across the line, with Irazú in second and Dass following in third.
READ MORE: Race 2 Official Results
“This was a crazy race—just like yesterday,” said Cará after climbing from the car. “I knew my car was capable of being out front, and I knew I could build up a gap. It’s hard racing with these guys—especially with the safety car near the end. That had me a little worried, but I knew we had the pace and we made it happen today.”
Ligier JFC will contest their final race of the Road America SpeedTour this afternoon at 3:10 p.m. CT, with the event streaming live on SpeedTour.TV. Additional news and updates will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.