Keane and Abel to race for Newman Wachs at Mid-Ohio

The 16-year-old, who has competed in nine F4 U.S. championship races this year, completed a test with the NWR team at Autobahn Country Club near Joliet, Ill. this week in preparation for Mid-Ohio.

He will pilot the #37 Newman Wachs Racing / Abel Construction Tatuus USF-17 for the team, as teammates to Keane who competed for four races with Benik before switching to NWR for the Road America rounds. He finished fourth in the second Toronto race last weekend.

Brian Halahan, NWR’s team manager, said of Abel:“We had a very productive test with Jacob at Autobahn earlier this week and this bodes well for his USF2000 debut

“Our team is coming off a very successful weekend in Toronto with Darren (Keane) and to have two talented karting graduates for the Mid-Ohio event will provide us with the additional data we need to dial in the setup. We’re extremely happy to have Jacob under the tent and I expect him to perform well in his series debut.

“I watched him closely at the F4 event at Indianapolis in June and I was impressed, and he showed incredibly well at the test.”

Abel, who’s hoping to switch fulltime from F4 to USF2000 next season, said: “In the one test day we had in the car, I showed good pace and built a strong relationship with the guys at NWR.

“Mid-Ohio is actually the track at which I first drove a racecar last year, when I completed my three-day school there. I've been itching to drive the track again ever since, which makes me even more excited for the event."