AVONDALE, La. (March 12, 2023) – Ryan Shehan has back-to-back wins in his first two Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) starts, as he took the win in Race 2 at NOLA Motorsports Park on Sunday morning. Keeping his No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3 at the front of the field from lights to checkered, Shehan won the race in dominating fashion.
“That definitely wasn’t easy,” said Shehan from the podium. “Nick was right behind me the whole first half; then I saw him just pull over—I’m not sure what happened. From there, it was just me and Cooper . I just did my best to maintain the gap to Cooper, and was able to get away with the win. I have to thank Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport; sweeping the podium just shows how strong of a team they are.”
Nick Persing (No. 29 OPI Commercial Builders Inc. Ligier JS F3) applied pressure to Shehan during the early laps of the race, not allowing Shehan to pull more than a half-second gap on the field. However, while working the seventh lap of the race, Persing suffered a mechanical issue that forced him to pull off the track and into a safe location, which allowed the field to avoid a caution.
With Persing’s misfortune, Shehan automatically doubled his lead over second place as he raced nearly a full second ahead of Cooper Becklin (No. 19 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who advanced to the second position. Becklin started the race in the third position and quietly hit his marks every lap to hold position.
Teammates Bryson Morris (No. 39 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) and Callum Hedge (No. 17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) were left to battle it out for the third and final position on the podium. Morris initially held the advantage, but a pass by Hedge in Turn 4 with just over three minutes left on the clock ultimately left Morris on the outside looking in.
Shehan crossed the line first on his Hankook tires, followed by Becklin and Hedge, marking the first team sweep of the season with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport claiming the top four finishing positions.
READ MORE: Race 2 Official Results
FR Americas closes out their NOLA SpeedTour weekend with Race 3 this afternoon at 2:45 p.m. CT. Follow the championship on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or watch Race Monitor for live timing and scoring. This weekend’s races are streaming free at YouTube.com/SpeedTourTV.
RACE 2 STREAM: FR Americas YouTube
Photos by Gavin Baker Photography
