Velocity Racing Development, also competing as VRD Racing in select championships, is an auto racing team from the United States. The team competes in the USF Pro Championships in the United States and the GB3 Championship in Europe, previously in collaboration with Arden Motorsport. The team is based in Dawsonville, Georgia near Atlanta Motorsports Park and was founded by British engineer Dan Mitchell.
History
Velocity Racing Development was founded in 2019 by British engineer Dan Mitchell, following an engineering role with Team Benik and driver Kyle Kirkwood in 2018.3 VRD made its competitive debut in the 2019 F3 Americas Championship and the 2019 Formula 4 United States Championship.45 The team finished second in the F3 Americas teams' championship in its first year of competition.
In 2020, VRD driver Hunter Yeany won the Formula 4 United States Championship, marking the team's first drivers' title.67
In 2021, VRD expanded it's operation into the Road to Indy, entering into the 2021 Indy Pro 2000 Championship and the 2021 USF2000 Championship.89 At the end of year, the team would win the 2021 Formula 4 United States teams' championship, marking VRD's first championship.
VRD added another series to their program in the form of the 2022 USF Juniors, the inaugural season of the series.10 Drivers Sam Corry and Nikita Johnson would finish second and third in the drivers standings, while VRD won the teams' championship.1112
The following year saw continued expansion of VRD's operations with the team entering the 2023 GB3 Championship and the 2023 GB4 Championship. VRD entered a partnership with established British racing team Arden International to field cars in both championships.13 2023 was a successful year for the team, finishing third in the USF2000, USF Juniors, and GB3 teams' championships.1415
In 2024, the team made the decision to leave the Formula Regional Americas and F4 United States championships. In the 2024 USF Juniors, VRD driver Max Taylor won the drivers' championship, marking the team's second drivers' title.16 VRD would also win the 2024 USF Juniors teams' championship.17
In 2025, VRD elected to part ways with Arden International and enter the 2025 GB3 Championship on its own, under the name VRD Racing.18
Current series results
USF2000 Championship
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Tatuus USF-17 | Erik Evans | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 22nd | 12th |
| 2022 | Tatuus USF-22 | Alex Quinn | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 93 | 17th | 5th |
| Nikita Johnson | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 85 | 18th | |||
| Viktor Andersson | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 19th | |||
| Nicholas d'Orlando† | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 20th | |||
| Ethan Ho | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 25th | |||
| 2023 | Tatuus USF-22 | Nikita Johnson | 18 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 344 | 2nd | 3rd |
| Sam Corry | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 222 | 7th | |||
| Danny Dyszelski | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 141 | 13th | |||
| Gordon Scully | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 133 | 15th | |||
| Max Taylor | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 18th | |||
| Zack Ping | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 19th | |||
| Nico Christodoulou | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 21st | |||
| 2024 | Tatuus USF-22 | Max Taylor | 18 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 343 | 3rd | 3rd |
| Thomas Schrage‡ | 15 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 156 | 12th | |||
| Nico Christodoulou | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 92 | 19th | |||
| Xavier Kokai | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 20th | |||
| Cole Kleck | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 25th | |||
| 2025 | Tatuus USF-22 | Thomas Schrage | ||||||||
| Christian Cameron | ||||||||||
| Teddy Musella | ||||||||||
| Ryan Giannetta |
† D'Orlando drove for Exclusive Autosport from round 14 onwards.
‡ Schrage drove for Exclusive Autosport until round 7.
USF Pro 2000 Championship
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Tatuus PM-18 | Hunter Yeany | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 14th | 9th |
| 2023 | Tatuus IP-22 | Nikita Johnson | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 118 | 17th | 8th |
| 2024 | Tatuus IP-22 | Nikita Johnson | 18 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 355 | 2nd | 3rd |
| Nico Christodoulou | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 23rd | |||
| Shawn Rashid | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 27th | |||
| Noah Ping | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 28th | |||
| 2025 | Tatuus IP-22 | Owen Tangavelou | ||||||||
| Max Taylor | ||||||||||
| Frankie Mossman |
USF Juniors
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ligier JS F4 | Sam Corry | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 369 | 2nd | 1st |
| Nikita Johnson | 16 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 352 | 3rd | |||
| Alessandro de Tullio | 15 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 314 | 4th | |||
| Noah Ping | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 20th | |||
| 2023 | Tatuus JR-23 | Jimmie Lockhart | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 292 | 4th | 3rd |
| Max Taylor | 16 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 236 | 6th | |||
| Ethan Barker | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 228 | 7th | |||
| Hudson Schwartz | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 208 | 8th | |||
| 2024 | Tatuus JR-23 | Max Taylor | 15 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 329 | 1st | 1st |
| Sebastian Wheldon | 16 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 308 | 3rd | |||
| Christian Cameron | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 10th | |||
| Michael Suco | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 21st | |||
| 2025 | Tatuus JR-23 | João Vergara | ||||||||
| Matan Achituv | ||||||||||
| Oliver Wheldon |
GB3 Championship
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Tatuus-Cosworth MSV-022 | James Hedley | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 347 | 6th | 3rd |
| Nico Christodoulou | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 261 | 8th | |||
| Noah Ping | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 204 | 12th | |||
| 2024 | Tatuus-Cosworth MSV-022 | Noah Ping | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 211 | 10th | 5th |
| Nikita Johnson | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 193 | 11th | |||
| James Hedley† | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 151 | 15th | |||
| Shawn Rashid | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 125 | 17th | |||
| 2025 | Tatuus-Cosworth MSV-025 | Enzo Tarnvanichkul | ||||||||
| Hugo Schwarze |
† Hedley drove for Rodin Motorsport and Chris Dittmann Racing from round 4 onwards.
Former series results
GB4 Championship
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Tatuus F4-T014 | Zack Ping | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 16th | 8th |
| Erik Evans | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 22nd | |||
| 2024 | Tatuus F4-T014 | Ava Dobson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 17th | 8th |
Formula 4 United States Championship
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Ligier JS F4 | Oliver Clarke | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 19th | 10th |
| Sabré Cook | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39th | |||
| 2019 | Ligier JS F4 | Ryan MacDermid† | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 11th | 6th |
| Michael d'Orlando | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 14th | |||
| Oliver Clarke | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 20th | |||
| 2020 | Ligier JS F4 | Hunter Yeany | 15 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 285 | 1st | 2nd |
| Erik Evans | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 101 | 6th | |||
| Nick Persing† | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 9th | |||
| Kyffin Simpson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 18th | |||
| 2021 | Ligier JS F4 | Jason Alder | 16 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 184 | 3rd | 1st |
| Nico Christodoulou | 16 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 174.5 | 4th | |||
| Hayden Bowlsbey† | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 11th | |||
| Erik Evans | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 14th | |||
| Nick Persing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |||
| 2022 | Ligier JS F4 | Noah Ping | 18 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 196 | 3rd | 2nd |
| Matthew Christensen | 15 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 129 | 6th | |||
| Nicholas Rivers | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 68 | 9th | |||
| Jacob Loomis | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 12th | |||
| Ethan Barker† | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 16th | |||
| 2023 | Ligier JS F4 | Jimmie Lockhart | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 50 | 10th | 7th |
| Max Taylor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 25th | |||
| Cole Kleck† | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28th |
† Shared results with other teams
Formula Regional Americas Championship
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Ligier JS F3 | Mathias Soler-Obel | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 161 | 3rd | 2nd |
| Parker Locke | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 10th | |||
| Dominic Cicero | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 14th | |||
| Antonio Serravalle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16th | |||
| 2020 | Ligier JS F3 | Matt Round-Garrido | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 16th | 7th |
| Mathias Soler-Obel | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 17th | |||
| Hunter Yeany | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |||
| 2021 | Ligier JS F3 | Nick Persing | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 11th | 4th |
| Hunter Yeany | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 12th | |||
| Jason Alder | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 14th | |||
| Arias Deukmedjian | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 18th | |||
| Matt Round-Garrido | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 19th | |||
| 2022 | Ligier JS F3 | Nico Christodoulou | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 9th | 4th |
| Rodrigo Gutiérrez | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 10th | |||
| 2023 | Ligier JS F3 | Cole Kleck† | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 51 | 10th | 7th |
| Rodrigo Gutiérrez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 16th |
† Cleck drove for Speed Factory in round 6.
Timeline
| Current series | |
|---|---|
| USF2000 Championship | 2021–present |
| USF Pro 2000 Championship | 2021, 2023–present |
| USF Juniors | 2022–present |
| GB3 Championship | 2023–present |
| Former series | |
| GB4 Championship | 2023–2024 |
| Formula 4 United States Championship | 2018–2023 |
| Formula Regional Americas Championship | 2019–2023 |
External links
References
Whitfield, Steve (January 19, 2023). "Christodoulou to continue racing in GB3 with Arden VRD". Formula Scout. Retrieved April 2, 2024. https://formulascout.com/christodoulou-to-continue-racing-in-gb3-with-arden-vrd/103004 ↩
Gascoigne, Roger (January 24, 2024). "Dan Mitchell: The British expat aiming to forge America's future F1 stars". Formula Scout. Retrieved April 2, 2024. https://formulascout.com/dan-mitchell-the-british-expat-aiming-to-forge-americas-future-f1-stars/114218 ↩
Gascoigne, Roger (January 24, 2024). "Dan Mitchell: The British expat aiming to forge America's future F1 stars". Formula Scout. Retrieved April 2, 2024. https://formulascout.com/dan-mitchell-the-british-expat-aiming-to-forge-americas-future-f1-stars/114218 ↩
Greenway, Amy (November 21, 2018). "Velocity Racing Development Signs Mathias Soler-Obel for F3 Americas Program". FR Americas Championship. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.framericas.com/articles/2010760-velocity-racing-development-signs-mathias-soler-obel-for-f3-americas-program ↩
Greenway, Amy (February 5, 2019). "Ricco Shlaimoun Joins Velocity Racing Development F3 Americas Program". FR Americas Championship. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.framericas.com/articles/2011420-ricco-shlaimoun-joins-velocity-racing-development-f3-americas-program ↩
Greenway, Amy (October 4, 2020). "NEWS FLASH: Two for Blanco at Homestead, Yeany Clinches Provisional Championship". F4 U.S. Championships. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.f4uschampionship.com/articles/2014310-news-flash-two-for-blanco-at-homestead-yeany-clinches-provisional-championship ↩
Greenway, Amy (October 28, 2020). "Hunter Yeany Becomes Youngest F4 Champion in the World". F4 U.S. Championships. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.f4uschampionship.com/articles/2014431-hunter-yeany-becomes-youngest-f4-champion-in-the-world ↩
"Velocity Racing Development Enters Road to Indy with Three Car Effort". www.usf2000.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usf2000.com/news/velocity-racing-development-enters-road-to-indy-with-three-car-effort ↩
"Road to Indy News and Notes". www.usf2000.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usf2000.com/news/road-to-indy-news-and-notes ↩
"Nikita Johnson to Campaign the All-New USF Juniors with VRD Racing". www.usfjuniors.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usfjuniors.com/news/nikita-johnson-to-campaign-the-all-new-usf-juniors-with-vrd-racing ↩
"2022 USF JUNIORS PRESENTED BY COOPER TIRES PROVISIONAL POINT STANDINGS - After Round 16" (PDF). usfjuniors.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usfjuniors.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/usf-junior-points-after-round-16.pdf?sfvrsn=c8177ce5_0 ↩
"VRD Racing Claims Inaugural USF Juniors Team Championship". www.usfjuniors.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usfjuniors.com/news/vrd-racing-claims-inaugural-usf-juniors-team-championship ↩
"Arden Motorsport GB3 Squad Strengthens Ties with USA's VRD Racing". www.gb-3.net. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.gb-3.net/news/2023/jan/17/arden-motorsport-gb3-squad-strengthens-ties-with-usas-vrd-racing ↩
"2023 USF2000 PRESENTED BY COOPER TIRES PROVISIONAL POINT STANDINGS - After Round 18" (PDF). usf2000.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usf2000.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/usf2000-points-after-round-1896cbe37d339f6ec495b1ff0000570f88.pdf?sfvrsn=5a548d31_0 ↩
"2023 USF JUNIORS PRESENTED BY COOPER TIRES PROVISIONAL POINT STANDINGS - After Round 16" (PDF). usfjuniors.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usfjuniors.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/usf-juniors-points-after-round-16.pdf?sfvrsn=31b7fe5_0 ↩
"McNeilly Bags Two Wins as Taylor Clinches Title". www.usfjuniors.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usfjuniors.com/news/mcneilly-bags-two-wins-as-taylor-clinches-title ↩
"2024 USF JUNIORS PRESENTED BY CONTINENTAL TIRE PROVISIONAL POINT STANDINGS - After Round 16" (PDF). usfjuniors.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.usfjuniors.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/usf-juniors-points-after-round-161452342f8d4765b8b2f6ff0000cf2672.pdf?sfvrsn=661551e5_0 ↩
"VRD Racing Confirms GB3 Championship Plans for 2025". www.gb-3.net. Retrieved February 23, 2025. https://www.gb-3.net/news/2024/oct/1/vrd-racing-confirms-gb3-championship-plans-for-2025 ↩