Sebring, FLA (September 16, 2019) – This past weekend, Dakota Dickerson’s goal was to finish the season strong during the final rounds of the F3 Americas Championship powered by Honda at the historic Sebring International Raceway. Dickerson recorded 2 podiums and a 5th place finish, with the highlight of his weekend being officially crowned 2019 F3 Americas Champion.
Dakota Dickerson was presented with the Champion’s trophy during the year-end awards gala last night, in Sebring. The young American was all smiles when he received his prizes totaling $100,000 for winning the F3 Americas Championship.
Leading up to the final race weekend of the season, the 22-year old driver was busy raising funds for the Nowzad Rescue Foundation for abandoned pets. Hence, his #72 JS F3 Ligier Honda machine was covered with Nowzad paws displaying every donors’ pet’s name on his race car.
This final event of the season was special to Dickerson, as his Texas supporters travelled to Sebring to come and cheer for their favorite race car driver, bringing with them a few cases of the “newly launched” Martin Ulisse Racing Collection wines showcasing Dakota Dickerson on the labels.
Needless to say, being in Florida in September means having to deal with storms and bad weather, which in turn affected the schedule somewhat when huge downpours created puddles all over the track.
Photo Credit- Gavin Baker Photography
Under menacing skies and weather delays, Friday afternoon’s qualifying did not go as well as Dickerson expected. His #72 orange machine seemed to lack in pace placing him 4th on the starting grid for the first race of the weekend.
Round 14
On Saturday morning, Dickerson who is known for having great starts went from 4th to 2nd position as soon as the field took the green flag. However, half-way into the race, Dickerson was struggling as his car was losing pace with every lap, and by the end of the race, he had dropped down to 5th place while recording the third-fastest time of the race. Still, it was a disappointing finish for the Global Racing driver.
Round 15
In the afternoon, the drivers once again battled strong winds and endured excruciating hot humid weather conditions for the second race of the weekend. Dickerson was 3rd on the grid, and worked hard to maintain his position. On Lap 10, Mathias Soler-Obel (car #14) who was running in 2nd place spun and went off track just outside the hairpin. A full-course yellow was brought out, and a few laps later, the race ended under yellow with Dickerson in 2nd place. Two of his Texas sponsors proudly presented him with the 2nd place trophy on podium.
The San Diego native reflected on the day’s results: “So far, we’ve definitely been behind the eight-ball in terms of pace, which is atypical, because all season, we’ve had 13 fantastic races. It’s kind of surprising, but nothing the Global Racing guys can’t fix, and I think this second race proved that, as we had second fastest race lap. Race 1 (Round 14) wasn’t fantastic for us in terms of pace. We were up there in the beginning but at the end, the tires started to fall off, then I fell back to 5th coupled with a flat spot on my part, so not good. But, all in all, we’re doing everything we can to get a win, we just need to stay smart. We’ve got the Championship locked up, so the last thing we need to do is throw the car away in the last event. Staying smart but having fun at the same time.”
When asked to comment on the track, Dickerson said: “Sebring Raceway is definitely unique in certain aspects. Everybody knows how bumpy Sebring is, and in a formula car, it’s just twice as bad. So, dealing with the bumps is a huge thing. Tuning the car to the bumps has also been big. I think I have a little more experience with bumps coming from the street course racing we did in USF2000, which helped because I had to miss the promoter test day as well. It’s a lot of fun, but another challenge the teams have to face here.”
Round 16
Sunday’s race was moved up to avoid incoming weather. Dickerson started 2nd. The car was performing well so he nosed ahead trying to take the lead but he was pushed off track. However, he was able to keep his 2nd place despite the 3rd place car dueling for position with him.
“We had much better pace today” said Dickerson. “I got a good start but unfortunately, I was pushed wide into the grass. But, I still managed to hold out 2nd position. From there, I was trying to reel in the leader while also defending my position with the 3rd place car. It was an intense battle and a lot of fun. I’m happy with the way we ended our season, and I’m looking forward to the future.”
Dakota Dickerson is already looking forward to what comes next for him in his racing career. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements.