By Barney The Flagman July 19, 2025

Act One of the SNSB F4 season crests onto Mosport’s highspeed rollercoaster 

The Sunday Night Skip Barber paddock had barely cooled after Round 4 at Summit Point when crew chiefs started murmuring about the next stop on the calendar. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park—the highspeed, tree lined rollercoaster most of us still call Mosport—momentum matters more than horsepower. Through four races we have learned that momentum, in all its guises, is the true currency of this championship. 

A tale of two meteors 

Colby Mann has been the comet across our summer sky, untouchable whenever he appears. He opened the year with a clinical flag to flag win at Okayama, popped in again to win at Mid-Ohio, and last weekend in Summit Point he earned another fifty-one points. Three starts, three wins. That should be enough for a runaway, except Colby’s orbit occasionally carries him elsewhere—he skipped the Watkins Glen sprint—and every absence lets Adam Miles close the gap. 

Miles is the opposite kind of meteor: always visible, occasionally spectacular. His bounce back at Watkins Glen, where he converted pole into victory after a bruising third in Japan, showed the resilience of a driver who won’t concede the storyline to Mann. Adam’s numbers are uncanny—average grid position 1.5, average finish 2.25 if you discount his disaster at Summit Point—but this also shows that a lap one tap at Mosport’s plunging Turn 2 and Miles’ stat sheet could end up looking a lot less heroic. 

By the arithmetic of the paddock whiteboards, Bryan Kelly leads the championship by a slender 3 points over Miles—162 to 159. That gap is smaller than it appears; drivers will be allowed to drop their worst 3 races, which means Mann’s missed race and Miles’ poor Summit Point outing swings the points advantage in their direction. 

Still, Bryan Kelly is the current championship leader even though he has never stood on the top step this season. Still, his four race ledger sparkles: fourth, fourth, fifth and a gritty second at Summit Point. He adds points the way a careful investor adds dividends, and by Sunday night you glance at the sheets and realize he’s the points leader. 

Karl Dronke is cut from similar cloth—quiet, unspectacular, always there. His twin third places in Rounds 2 and 4 keep him within a podium’s strike of fourth overall, and the Summit Point drive felt like a statement: ignore me at your peril. 

Behind them, Sam Devantier, Mike Baures and Pete Mobroten trade elbows for single  

Arraon la digit positions, each knowing that one inspired Sunday could catapult them into the title argument. 

The art of the charge 

Not every story is written at the front. Aaron La has become the field’s folk hero by qualifying somewhere in the midt wenties—average grid spot 21.8—and then carving through the chaos like a surgeon with a grudge. La gains an average of 12.5 spots per race, sometimes more, his F4 appearing in mirrors like a horror movie jump cut. Give him one clean lap on Saturday night and Round 5 could be the fairytale. 

Next stop: the cathedral of commitment 

Mosport is older than Formula Ford, older than most of the sim racers on the grid, and it still frightens veterans. The asphalt falls away at Turn 2, so the first time you breathe on the brake you wonder if the whole car is rotating in slow motion. The Moss hairpin (Turns 5a and 5b) is the one agreed passing zone, but even there the exit bumps spit cars into the grass with relish. Then comes the Andretti straight, where an FIA F4 pulls draft like a vacuum cleaner; you can slingshot from fifth to first if you’re brave, or from first to the barriers if you’re not. 

Every corner at Mosport tells a driver what kind of person they are. Do you keep the throttle pinned through the fastright of Turn 8 and trust the grip, or do you feather, live to fight another lap, and hope the person behind is feathering too? Mann’s fearless style should fit the place like a bespoke glove, but Miles’ precision could be the scalpel that dissects the track. Kelly and Dronke, those masters of the long game, will be counting on Mosport to punish the impetuous. 

Questions we will answer only on Sunday night 

Will Colby be in the race, and if so, will he stay perfect? Will Adam turn pace into patience? Is Bryan’s breakthrough finally imminent, and if so, how many points does a first win unleash? Does Karl have another podium in his pocket, or will Mosport’s blind crests favor the bolder swordsmen? And above all: when the green lights fade and twentyteen F4s dive into Turn 1, who among them will keep their nerve when the rollercoaster tilts downhill into the Canadian forest? 

The season’s first act has given us battles worthy of primetime and a supporting cast busy stealing the show in the background. Round 5 at Mosport isn’t just another race; it is the story’s hinge. The next chapter, as always, will be written flatout. 

SNSB MidSeason Drivers to Watch 

The Colby Conundrum 

Colby Mann has been flawless when he shows up. Three starts, three wins, 100 percent podium and topfive records. The only blemish is the weekend he skipped, which is the sole reason the title fight remains open. 

Mr. Consistency 

Adam Miles grabbed the Watkins Glen victory and, despite a bruising 24th at Summit Point, still leads the ‘everyround’ runners on pace and efficiency. An average starting spot of 1.5 shows raw speed, while three topfives from four starts keep the points tally healthy. 

Kelly Keeps Banking 

Bryan Kelly hasn’t won—yet—but his portfolio is all green: 100 percent topfive and topten finishes make him the silent threat in third overall. If the breakthrough comes, expect a cascade of momentum. 

The Silent Stalker 

Karl Dronke mirrors Kelly’s metronomic approach, bagging topfives in half his starts and hovering within striking distance thanks to an average finish of 7.0. 

PassMaster of the Midfield 

Aaron La has opted not to qualify and thus start from the back of the grid. He starts 21.8 on average but claws back an eyepopping 12.5 positions per race, finishing in the single digits more often than not. Give him one clean qualifying lap and he could wreak havoc up front. 

Next Up: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport) 

Fast, flowing and punitive, Mosport’s 3.957 km ribbon rewards commitment and punishes hesitation. Turn 2 drops away blind on corner entry; miss the line and you’ll carry that mistake all the way to Moss Corner. The Moss hairpin itself (Turns 5a/5b) is the league’s best overtaking zone and the launch pad onto the long Andretti straight where the FIA F4’s draft effect is worth nearly 10 kph. 

The track’s rhythm—highspeed sweeps followed by urgent braking—stresses tyre temperatures and driver concentration alike. Expect the field to split between the brave who keep their foot in through Turn 8 and the cautious who lift and live to fight another lap. Incidents were high at Lime Rock; Mosport offers even fewer safe runoffs. 

Storylines to Watch 

• Will Colby turn up—and stay perfect? A fourth win would make the rest chase shadows. 

• Can Adam rebound? Qualifying pace isn’t the issue; survival is. 

• Is Bryan due? His consistency screams “future winner.” 

• Midfield melee. Aaron La, Travis Shoemaker and R. Scott Bell are locked in weekly dogfights; Mosport’s draftheavy nature could springboard one of them onto the podium. 

Twelve races leave plenty of tape, but momentum in a specF4 series is fickle. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park could be the hinge point of the season—don’t miss Sunday night

---

Editors Note:

A big thank you to Peter Lee for getting League News Weekly a contract with Barney The Flagman.