Ayden Young, Pintér Zsombi split 2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series wins at Sonoma Raceway
June 19th, 2026 by Justin Melillo
The 2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series saw a shift in power on Thursday night at Sonoma Raceway as for the first time all season long, Martin Kadlečík wasn’t found at the front of the field from the drop of the green flag. Instead, it was 2025 finalist Ayden Young on point, fighting Pintér Zsombi for the majority of the laps between both races at Sonoma Raceway. Young claimed the first race win of the night, while Zsombi was victorious in the second.
It wasn’t as if Kadlečík was slow, however, as he started from third, but the winningest driver of the season had to overcome some contact in both races to see the checkered flags, ultimately bringing home a pair of sixths. His quest for the title is still on, but with drops still to be factored in, he sits in fifth overall, 31 points back of Guglielmo Callegari and Brandon Hawkin, those two tied at the top. Last year’s point champion, Matt Caruana, ended the night as the points leader, but a post-race penalty for avoidable contact in the first race set him back four spots on the final standings, which cost six points as well.
Only two events remain in the 2026 championship season, and the next up is another first for the series—an oval event at Richmond Raceway in these FIA F4 open wheel machines built for road racing. The final standings will also reflect drop races, so it is still anyone’s guess as to who earns both the championship and a top-three overall points finish to compete for a full-season ride in the real-world in 2027.
RACE #1
Every event leading up to Thursday night at Sonoma has seen Martin Kadlečík start on the pole position. Ayden Young broke that streak and claimed his first pole position at the popular Californian racing venue, setting himself up for the best possible outcome on the night.
Off the start, chaos reigned up the hill, as the second place starter, Leo Ovtcharov, was sent spinning after contact. The mess of it all saw title hopefuls such as Guglielmo Callegari and Brandon Hawkin take evasive measures, but ultimately lose the main pack as a result.
Indeed, the pole position was valuable for Young, who would go on to lead all 10 laps before claiming his first win of the season, holding off the likes of Pintér Zsombi, Matt Caruana, Dylan McClements, and Bryce Weyer in the closing laps. Kadlečík was there too, but wound up losing the lead pack after contact late in the going. Caruana was later penalized for avoidable contact, although it was unclear if his contact with Kadlečík was the penalized moment.
2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series | Race #7 at Sonoma | RESULTS
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Ayden Young | 10 | 0.000 | 10 | 1:29.637 | 35 |
| 2 | 5 | 8 | Pintér Zsombi | 10 | -0.171 | 0 | 1:29.588 | 32 |
| 3 | 8 | 20 | Dylan McClements | 10 | -0.656 | 0 | 1:29.604 | 30 |
| 4 | 9 | 13 | Bryce Weyer | 10 | -1.390 | 0 | 1:29.685 | 28 |
| 5 | 14 | 10 | Flavio Dantas | 10 | -4.414 | 0 | 1:30.063 | 26 |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | Martin Kadlečík | 10 | -6.214 | 0 | 1:29.657 | 25 |
| 7 | 7 | 6 | Matt Caruana* | 10 | -6.381 | 0 | 1:30.038 | 24 |
| 8 | 6 | 7 | Brandon Hawkin | 10 | -7.433 | 0 | 1:29.572 | 23 |
| 9 | 11 | 11 | Jose Antonio Gomez Gutierrez | 10 | -9.109 | 0 | 1:29.850 | 22 |
| 10 | 4 | 2 | Guglielmo Callegari | 10 | -9.197 | 0 | 1:30.250 | 21 |
| 11 | 17 | 15 | John Melchiorri | 10 | -10.023 | 0 | 1:29.758 | 20 |
| 12 | 12 | 9 | Ryan Oddo* | 10 | -13.031 | 0 | 1:30.018 | 19 |
| 13 | 20 | 18 | Xiaoran Yu | 10 | -13.262 | 0 | 1:30.248 | 18 |
| 14 | 19 | 19 | Austin O’Neal | 10 | -14.033 | 0 | 1:30.266 | 17 |
| 15 | 13 | 12 | Deklan Webb | 10 | -16.120 | 0 | 1:30.889 | 16 |
| 16 | 18 | 5 | Gregory Kohler | 9 | -1 L | 0 | 1:30.016 | 14 |
| 17 | 16 | 17 | Seungin Park | 4 | -6 L | 0 | 1:31.099 | 13 |
| 18 | 10 | 16 | Max Repolust | 1 | -9 L | 0 | ——— | 12 |
| 19 | 2 | 1 | Leo Ovtcharov | 1 | -9 L | 0 | ——— | 11 |
| DQ | 15 | 14 | Felipe Pujol Dantas** | 10 | DQ | 0 | 1:29.965 | 0 |
*= 6 second penalty for avoidable contact
** = DQ for unsafe rejoin
RACE #2
With Young on the pole for the second race, things were looking to be in his favor once again, but as Young explained in his interview following the first race, everyone learned a little about how each other races, and potentially what would need to be done to stop him from sweeping the night.
Another crazy start had both Hawkin and Callegari now back in the fight, but the top-two of Young and Zsombi had broken away. With no threat of being passed, Zsombi went on the attack, taking the lead from Young, as well as the advantage. The two scrapped for laps, at one point making contact that debilitated Young with damage on his front wing.
Zsombi pulled a gap that would not be beat. Young fell to finish in fourth. Hawkin survived the last lap theatrics to finish second, with Callegari rounding out the podium.
2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series | Race #8 at Sonoma | RESULTS
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 2 | 8 | Pintér Zsombi | 10 | 0.000 | 10 | 1:29.833 | 35 |
| 2 | 9 | 7 | Brandon Hawkin | 10 | -2.396 | 0 | 1:30.102 | 32 |
| 3 | 11 | 2 | Guglielmo Callegari | 10 | -2.801 | 0 | 1:29.913 | 30 |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | Ayden Young | 10 | -3.689 | 0 | 1:29.772 | 28 |
| 5 | 3 | 6 | Matt Caruana | 10 | -3.776 | 0 | 1:29.768 | 26 |
| 6 | 7 | 3 | Martin Kadlečík | 10 | -5.664 | 0 | 1:29.860 | 25 |
| 7 | 17 | 5 | Gregory Kohler | 10 | -6.031 | 0 | 1:30.147 | 24 |
| 8 | 19 | 16 | Max Repolust | 10 | -6.114 | 0 | 1:30.019 | 23 |
| 9 | 12 | 15 | John Melchiorri | 10 | -7.508 | 0 | 1:30.354 | 22 |
| 10 | 16 | 14 | Felipe Pujol Dantas | 10 | -7.689 | 0 | 1:30.138 | 21 |
| 11 | 14 | 19 | Austin O’Neal | 10 | -9.519 | 0 | 1:30.393 | 20 |
| 12 | 6 | 10 | Flavio Dantas | 10 | -11.659 | 0 | 1:30.364 | 19 |
| 13 | 5 | 13 | Bryce Weyer* | 10 | -12.246 | 0 | 1:29.704 | 18 |
| 14 | 15 | 12 | Deklan Webb | 10 | -15.350 | 0 | 1:31.314 | 17 |
| 15 | 18 | 17 | Seungin Park | 10 | -15.830 | 0 | 1:31.288 | 16 |
| 16 | 13 | 18 | Xiaoran Yu | 10 | -16.669 | 0 | 1:30.483 | 15 |
| 17 | 20 | 1 | Leo Ovtcharov* | 10 | -17.632 | 0 | 1:29.914 | 14 |
| 18 | 10 | 11 | Jose Antonio Gomez Gutierrez | 9 | -1 L | 0 | 1:29.994 | 13 |
| 19 | 8 | 9 | Ryan Oddo* | 4 | -6 L | 0 | 1:34.425 | 12 |
| 20 | 4 | 20 | Dylan McClements | 2 | -8 L | 0 | ——— | 11 |
*= 6 second penalty for avoidable contact
2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Points Standings after Race #8 at Sonoma:
Pos. |
Driver |
Country |
Points |
Wins |
T5’s |
T10’s |
| 1 | Guglielmo Callegari | United States | 216 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | Brandon Hawkin | Canada | -0 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | Matt Caruana | United Kingdom | -4 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 | Ayden Young | United States | -6 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | Martin Kadlečík | Czech Republic | -31 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | Gregory Kohler | Switzerland | -52 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | John Melchiorri | United States | -56 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Bryce Weyer | United States | -64 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Max Repolust | United States | -66 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Deklan Webb | Australia | -67 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
35 points are on the table in each race on the night. After eight such races, there’s a tie at the top, with Guglielmo Callegari owning the tie over Brandon Hawkin by virtue of owning a win earlier in the season. Matt Caruana hasn’t had the same fortune as last season, but still finds himself in a prime position to take another points title, sitting third just four points back. Ayden Young’s solid day places him in fourth, six points behind. Martin Kadlečík might be leading if not for penalties in earlier rounds. As it stands, he’s currently fifth with two rounds left to recover.
Next up for the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series is another series first—an open wheel oval debut for the road racing specialists at Richmond Raceway.
The Hot Lap Qualifier for Richmond is active from Friday, June 26th, at 12 a.m. ET to Sunday, June 28th at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The entry fee for each Hot Lap Qualifier is $50, and the top 20 drivers on the Time Attack leaderboard will be invited to run each race. They’ll also get to take part in an open test with Skip Barber Racing School instructors on hand to provide feedback.
The race itself is scheduled for Thursday, July 2nd, once again at 7 p.m. ET. It will be live on iRacing.com/live and across all of iRacing’s social media channels.
To learn more about the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series, visit https://www.skipbarber.com/iracing-series/.
For more information about iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
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