Car Number: 20
Country: USA
Age: 22
Team: Kiwi Motorsport
Castrol Toyota FR Oceania team Kiwi Motorsport has confirmed Texan Jake Bonilla as its first signing for the 2024 New Zealand-based championship.
Twenty one year old Bonilla has undergone extensive FR testing with Kiwi Motorsport in 2023 and took his first win in the emerging Formula Pro F3 USA Championship at Sonoma Raceway this year.
Jake’s path to racing was unusual in that he had no previous karting experience prior to competing in the 2020 F4 US Championship, in which he had multiple top 10 finishes. In 2021, he entered his second F4 season in the US Championship and improved his racing results to include multiple top five finishes.
He was awarded the Hard Charger Trophy for the 2022 season as he finished 8th overall in the highly competitive USFJuniors “Road to Indy” series prior to focusing on FR Testing in 2023. He made an impressive debut in the Formula Regional Americas Championship recently too, finishing fifth at the Circuit of the Americas against much more experienced opposition.
Looking forward to a season in one of the world’s most competitive Formula Regional and Junior Formula Championships, Bonilla explained: “I’m focussed on developing my racing skills against elite international competition and the New Zealand championship gives me that opportunity,” he said.
“It allows me to challenge myself at a high level and compete for wins giving myself and my sponsors exposure in the process.”
