AVONDALE, La. (March 30, 2025) – Gastón Irazú led from lights to checkers in Ligier Formula Junior Championship (Ligier JFC) to win an all-green Race 3 at NOLA Motorsports Park on Sunday morning. After a penalty on Friday, Irazú showed great resilience, winning two of the weekend’s three races and finishing second in the other. With the results, the Uruguayan leaves the NOLA SpeedTour as the Ligier JFC points leader.
Notes of Interest:
- Gastón Irazú tallied his second-career Ligier JFC victory with Sunday’s Race 3 win. As the series leaves its first round, Irazú has yet to finish outside of the top two positions.
- Daniel Cará earned his second-career Ligier JFC podium with a runner-up result. Earlier in the weekend, Cará finished third in Race 1 and also earned his first-career pole by setting the fastest lap during Friday’s qualifying.
- Max Mokarem earned his career-best Ligier JFC result with a third-place finish in Sunday’s race.
- Max Mokarem was awarded the Omologato Perfectly-Timed Move of the Race and presented a bespoke Omologato timepiece in recognition of a strong performance during his debut weekend. After suffering mechanical issues in Race 1, Mokarem showed steady improvement while finishing sixth in Race 2 and earning his first podium today.
- Three nations were represented on today’s podium, with Irazú hailing from Uruguay, Cará from Brazil and Mokarem representing Lebanon.
After setting the fast lap in Race 2, Irazú led the field down the starting grid with Harbir Dass (No. 23 Northcoast Medical Group / Dass Psych LLC/Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) to his outside. When the lights went out, the field flanked three wide, with Max Mokarem (No. 46 Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F4) getting the best jump from his fourth-place starting position and taking the lead as they raced toward Turn 1. With a slight lock up for Mokarem in Turn 4, Irazú was able to pull wheel to wheel with the youngster and regain the lead.
Irazú focused his attention forward, pulling away from the field, while those behind him jockeyed for position. The opening laps were filled with fierce battles and side-by-side racing. The fight for second was especially heated, as Mokarem was challenged by Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Wines/WorkHub Ligier JS F4), Dass and Drew Szuch (No. 28 Berg Racing Ligier JS F4).
Cará finally established his holding on the position after a side-by-side battle with Dass, where the two made contact after getting loose in Turn 6. With Cará emerging as the frontrunner, Dass was left to duke it out with teammate Szuch and Mokarem. Cleared from traffic, Cará, like Irazú, was able to start gapping the competition while a train of Ligier JS F416s followed in his wake, looking for the right opportunity to pick up a position.
As the race neared its halfway point, Irazú held a more than seven-second lead over Cará. Six seconds behind Cará, Mokarem had settled into third. With the race staying green for the entire 30 minutes, all three drivers were able to slowly build a gap of their own as they sailed toward the finish line.
Taking the checkered flag, Irazú held a 7.381-second margin, with Cará in second and Mokarem in third.
READ MORE: Race 3 Official Results
“It was really nice race,” said Irazú after climbing from the car. “I was able to pull ahead a good distance in the first two laps and go on to win. I’m very happy. I have to thank my father for giving me the chance to compete here and my team for all their work to give me a good car.”
Today’s races for Ligier JFC, Formula 4 United States Championship and Formula Regional Americas Championship were broadcast live on SPEED SPORT 1. An encore presentation of the day’s races will air on SPEED SPORT 1 tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Ligier JFC is back on track for the Road America SpeedTour, May 15-18. The event, like all 2025 races, will be streamed live on SpeedTour.TV, with live timing and scoring available on the Race Monitor App. Additional news and updates leading up to the event will be shared on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Prospective drivers looking to learn more about Ligier JFC should visit the series’ website, LigierJFC.com.