If it’s true that the third time’s the charm, the Formula Regional Americas field should expect Jacob Abel and his Abel Motorsports No. 15 entry to be top contenders for honors as the open-wheel development series wraps up its third season this coming weekend at Circuit of the Americas just outside Austin, TX.
The last time the Series raced at COTA in 2018, Abel Motorsports earned both race wins plus fifth and sixth place results, picking up both the Drivers and Team Championships. And a year earlier, when lead driver Jacob Abel was in his rookie season in the F4 US Championship, he gained a total of twenty-two positions across four F4US rounds at COTA. This year, while the race weekend will not be part of a Formula One event, there’s plenty at stake: a top-five finish in the Championship.
Young Abel is now a sophomore at Butler University in Indianapolis, wrapping up his fourth season as a professional racer. “It’s hard to believe this year is almost finished,” commented Abel. “We’ve been so busy working around COVID-19, racing in two different series, and being a part of Acura Motorsports’ GT Academy in the NSX GT3 Evo. And I’m thrashing to stay ahead of my course work at school. I’m excited to be going back to COTA. It’ll be my second race weekend in the FR Americas car there, so we should have a bit of an advantage. It’s been a bit of a blur. We’re hoping to unload a really good race car and make the most of the weekend. It’ll be a tough fight but I think we can bring home some strong results.”
Team Principal Bill Abel concurs. “The competition at COTA will be tough for sure. Everyone wants to bring their best to Austin and they’ll be turning up the heat to close out the season. We know everybody in the paddock will bring their A game. Our guys have worked incredibly hard all season and now we’re hoping to earn some results to match.”
Jacob Abel is currently fifth in the Formula Regional Americas Driver’s Championship, 21 points out of fourth. Three rounds remain in the 2020 FR Americas season. Qualifying for Race 1 happens Saturday, Oct. 24, at 10:15AM CT, with Race 1 going green Saturday afternoon at 3:15PM. Races 2 and 3 take place Sunday morning and afternoon. Live timing and scoring is available atwww.race-monitor.com, and live streaming video coverage is available at www.fanracing.live.
