Following three top-5 finishes in just two rounds in 2023 - as well as a Formula Pro US title - Canadian teenager Nicole Havrda is set to return to Formula Regional Americas for her first full season campaign in 2024.
Canadian teenager Nicole Havrda announced she will contest her first full Formula Regional Americas season, after a part-time campaign in 2023 that included three top-five finishes in only two rounds.
"I am so excited to announce that I will be racing Formula Regional Americas with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports this year for the full season" - Havrda wrote.
"Ever since I have been racing karts I have always dreamed of racing in this series so I am so happy to be racing this full year in it."
17-year old Havrda made huge progress in 2023 across several series. Starting from the Indian Racing League, Havrda collected valuable track time that eventually resulted in her debut in Formula Regional Americas at New Jersey Motorsport Park midway through the season.
Out of six races over two race meetings, Havrda was three-times in the top-five and four times in the points, in a highly positive partial campaign. Her efforts paid off also in the Formula Pro US series - an open wheel championship in Western US, as she collected a stellar 11 podiums and 9 wins to secure the title. She was the only female driver in 2023 to win a title in Formula Regional machinery.
Nicole began karting in 2018 and was named Rookie of the Year at the West Coast Karting Club in 2019. She stepped up to formula cars in 2021, and completed a testing program in F4 machinery, before being part of the W Series selections in Arizona in 2022. Later in the year, she contested a 3-hour endurance race in a Mercedes AMG GT4, as well as F3 races in the US.
She was one of the nine finalists - and the youngest one - for the GT4 female shootout by The Heart of Racing at the end of 2022, before focusing on her triple program in 2023 which included Indian Racing League aboard the Wolf GB08 prototype, Formula Pro US and Formula Regional Americas.
She now joins Landan Matriano Lim and Ryan Shehan among the ranks of highly successful team Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports, in the 7-event calendar across North America.
The opening round is scheduled for 11-14 April at NOLA Motorsports Park, before the series will visit iconic racing venues such as Road America, the road course of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and COTA.
The series is promoted by SCCA Pro Racing, and will use the Ligier JS F3 car - the same that Nicole drove in 2023 - with Hankook tyres and powered by a Ligier 1.65L V4 engine.
Havrda, who has recently joined the Shift Up Now collective of female drivers, was also recently awarded support from the Parella Motorsports Holdings "Powering Diversity" scholarship.