SONOMA, Calif. — The Formula Pro USA Western Championships returned to Sonoma Raceway on April 23–26 for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2026 season, hosted by SVRA as part of the Racing America @ Sonoma weekend. The 2.52-mile, 11-turn road course rewarded fans with everything that makes open-wheel racing great: a literal photo finish in FPUSA-4, a perfect weekend at the front of the FPUSA-3 field, a first career FPUSA win, and a clean sweep on the top step of the Women’s Racing Series podium.
Thursday: Test Day
Teams arrived at Sonoma on Thursday for a full day of testing as drivers and engineers worked through baseline setups for the Sonoma configuration. With cooler morning conditions giving way to a warm, breezy afternoon, crews used the day to dial in balance, gear ratios and tire strategy ahead of the official sessions.
Friday: Practice & Qualifying
Friday opened with morning practice and the first chance for drivers to put their setup work into context against traffic. The afternoon qualifying session set the grid for both weekend races and produced tight time sheets across all three FPUSA classes, foreshadowing the close racing to come.
Saturday: Round 3
Saturday morning’s race got off to a dramatic start, with an incident at Turn 1 on the opening lap bringing out a yellow flag. After race control resolved the situation and waved the field back to green, Sonoma delivered some of the most spectacular racing of the young season.
FPUSA-3
In FPUSA-3, Dan Decker of World Speed Motorsports converted pole into another flag-to-flag victory, leading every lap to take the top step of the podium. Teammate Larry Schnur followed him home in second, giving World Speed a 1-2 result and extending the team’s grip on the front of the FPUSA-3 standings.
FPUSA-4
FPUSA-4 produced what may be the race of the season so far. Lucas Hand of Kiwi Motorsport and Erik Doan of World Speed Motorsports went toe-to-toe at the front, trading the lead repeatedly with virtually identical pace and uncompromising — but clean — wheel-to-wheel craft. The fight came down to the very last lap and, quite literally, the final few hundred feet of the racetrack, with Hand edging Doan by a foot or two at the checkered flag in a true photo finish. Mauricio Robbins (Kiwi Motorsport) drove a fine race of his own to round out the podium in third.
Women’s Racing Series (WRS)
In the Women’s Racing Series, Ana Palestro of Jensen Global Advisors put together a consistent, composed drive to take the top step of the podium, holding off World Speed Motorsports’ Yana Kapoor — one of her closest championship rivals — who finished a close second. Kiwi Motorsport’s Narcisse Triano completed the podium in third, a strong opening result in her FPUSA racing career.
Sunday: Round 4
Sunday’s race picked up right where Saturday left off, with another hard-fought start and a renewed front-running battle between Lucas Hand and Erik Doan. Unfortunately for the Saturday duelists, both drivers were caught up in a yellow flag situation that pushed them back several positions and ultimately off the podium, opening the door for a new cast of front-runners.
FPUSA-4
Scott Pyle of World Speed Motorsports capitalized to claim his first top-step finish of the 2026 season, taking the FPUSA-4 win. Robert Arana of Jensen Global Advisors finished second, with Austin Tiller (World Speed Motorsports) climbing to third for his first podium of the weekend.
Women’s Racing Series (WRS)
Ana Palestro doubled up in the Women’s Racing Series, repeating her Saturday performance to take a second consecutive WRS victory. Chloe Jade of Kiwi Motorsport made her way onto the second step of the podium, with Yana Kapoor (World Speed Motorsports) rounding out the WRS top three.
FPUSA-3
FPUSA-3 played out as a mirror of Saturday, with Dan Decker again taking the win and Larry Schnur again finishing second to make it a perfect Sonoma weekend for the World Speed Motorsports duo.
CURRENT POINTS
Thank You—And On to Thunderhill!
Formula Pro USA would like to thank every one of our drivers, their families, our partner teams — World Speed Motorsports, Kiwi Motorsport and Jensen Global Advisors — and the entire Racing America staff for an outstanding weekend of racing at Sonoma. The competition was hard, the racing was clean, and the show was first-class.
Up next, the FPUSA Western Championships head north for Rounds 5 and 6 at the Thunderhill Open, May 15–17, 2026, at Thunderhill Raceway Park, hosted by SCCA San Francisco Region. After a Sonoma weekend like this one, we can’t wait to see everyone back at the track.
