Texan Jak Crawford Relishing Winning Feeling ahead of Austrian outing

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Spielberg, Austria- 27 June 2024-With an all-encompassing focus on getting his Formula 1 opportunity, Jak Crawford isn’t one to sit around and look back at what he’s already done. But even with a relentless schedule that will feature three consecutive FIA Formula 2 event weekends, Crawford will acknowledge that his dominant Feature Race victory last weekend in Barcelona was an accomplishment long in the making.

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Crawford moved to Texas, where his father’s family is from when he was five. He grew up in the Longhorn state, going to school and becoming a thru-and-thru a Texan at heart as he took his first steps in the racing world.

Those small steps—racing in karts and Legends cars— became big gallops when he was just 14 years old as he took to Europe to accelerate his racing career, living in an attic in The Netherlands as he built his path to Formula 1. His Spanish victory was the latest evidence that the young racer, who recently turned just 19, is preparing himself well for a step up.

“Winning in Spain was fantastic, we had great pace and everything came together perfectly,” said Crawford. “It is frustrating that it took as many races as it did to get the Feature win, but hopefully we can keep this momentum going here through this triple-header and move up in the championship.”

The middle stop of the three race schedule sprint comes this weekend as F2 visits the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, and it is a special one for Crawford.

The track, a high-speed lightning quick lap set high in the Austrian alps, has been the site for several career breakthroughs, having taken to the top stop of the podium at the circuit in both Formula 3 and Formula 2 competition as well as getting his first taste of a Formula 1 car at the track.

Earlier this month, Crawford impressed as he clocked nearly 300 miles for the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team on board the AMR22 F1 machine as part of his role in the Aston Martin Young Driver Development program.

“This is the first time that I’m going to a track where the F2 car isn’t the fastest thing I’ve driven there!” said Crawford. “That was a great experience and I’m really hungry for more. I’ve had a lot of good weekends here and hopefully we can continue with good pace to score more points again this weekend.”

The Austrian weekend will feature the traditional Formula 2 schedule, with one practice on Friday ahead of the qualifying session, which will set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint race as well as Sunday’s Feature event.