STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — Edward Kennedy and Beckham Jacir claimed Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) victories in Mid-Ohio’s Race 1 on Saturday.
Kennedy’s dash through the field in the JFC Gen. 2 Class, paired with Jacir’s five-second lead in the JFC Gen. 1 Class clearly demonstrated the dominance of both drivers.
Edward Kennedy took the Race 1 victory in the Ligier JFC Gen. 2 Class at Mid-Ohio to claim his fourth win of season.
Jack Speth retained the Ligier JFC Gen. 2 Class championship points lead with a runner-up finish, and holds a 22-point advantage following Race 1.
As the winner in the Ligier JFC Gen. 1 Class, Beckham Jacir crossed the finish line with a greater than five-second margin over his competition.
With a second-place result, Lazaro Bainotti finished on the podium for the fifth time this season.
AJ Abdullah captured his second podium of 2026 with a third-place finish in Race 1.
Tyler Wade (No. 9 Dante’s Inferno / Perlson LLP / Berg Racing Ligier JS F4) crossed the line fourth in class to score a career-best finish.
Beckham Jacir (No. 7 Stonica / Bell / OMP / P1DOKS / Behind the Wheel / Champagne Racing Ligier JS F4) led the field down the starting grid with Lazaro Bainotti (No. 11 Fundacion Fangio Rus seguros Cordoba deportes / Speed Factory Ligier JS F4) to his outside. With a great jump off the block, Jacir immediately took control of the race leaving Bainotti in his wake. In fact, the Champagne Racing driver had opened up more than a five-second gap before the Gen. 2 cars started to close in. Jacir continued to lead as the race neared the halfway point, but a safety car period bunched the field back up, giving the Gen. 2 cars another run at the overall race lead. With them completing the overtake when the race restarted, Jacir turned his focus to the Gen. 1 competition, steadily pulling away from the other cars in his class and taking the checkered flag with a 5.089-second advantage.
In the Ligier JFC Gen. 2 class, Kennedy (No. 30 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) led the group down the starting grid, but a stall when the lights went out allowed Jack Speth (No. 07 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to take the early lead. Falling more than 12 seconds behind after the stall, Kennedy kept his focus forward and steadily chipped away at the gap while climbing through the field. Only 0.134-seconds behind Speth at the halfway mark, Kennedy completed the pass on Speth just before the safety car period, and then used the restart to overtake Jacir for the overall lead.
When the checkered flag waved, it was Kennedy and Speth, followed by Jacir, Bainotti and AJ Abdullah (No. 21 Freedom Detox / Grid State Digital / Berg Racing Ligier JS F4).
“It was a pretty good race for us,” said Jacir atop the podium. “The car was on rails the whole race—really, the whole weekend. We got a good start on used tires. I think we were the only ones on used tires in the front, so it was just building into that and having consistent laps. I was almost able to get the overall win—I was really hoping for that, but it’s all good. I can’t thank the team enough for giving me such an amazing car. All the guys at Champagne Racing are working nonstop, and working really well on the car. I also have to thank all my sponsors.”
“The race was really good,” Kennedy “The car was great. I just had a little rookie mistake on the start by stalling it, but we came back strong, so it was all good. Speth had really great pace and I was a little scared, but I ended up on top. I’d like to thank the whole MLT crew, my physical trainers and everyone for their support.”
