ALTON, Va. (October 7, 2023) – Callum Hedge went from a spin to a win in a thrilling opening race of the weekend for Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). The New Zealander is in a heated battle for the championship title with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport teammate Ryan Shehan, and the two kept the drama set to “high” from start to finish in Race 1 of the Andy Scriven Memorial at the VIR SpeedTour weekend.
Notes of Interest:
- Callum Hedge secured his 10th FR Americas win of the season on Saturday morning at VIR.
- Ryan Shehan kept his championship hopes alive with his 11th podium, and eighth runner-up finish of the year.
- Cooper Becklin recorded his 12th podium of 2023 when he was promoted to third following a post-race Stewards’ Decision.
- With Hedge leading Shehan and Becklin to the checkered flag, the result marked Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport’s ninth podium sweep of the season.
Hedge (No. 17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) led the field off the starting block with Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) directly to his outside in second. The two raced side by side toward Turn 1, but it was Hedge who ultimately pulled away with the advantage.
Drama on the initial start happened between Hayden Bowlsbey (No. 22 Save 22 Ligier JS F3) and Oliver Westling (No. 1 JENSEN Ligier JS F3). Bowlsbey rolled off the grid in third with Westling a row behind him in sixth, but by the time they made it to Turn 1, the two were side by side. Westling looked to pull ahead of Bowlsbey, but misjudged his clearance and the two made contact with their Hankook tires. Still in a heated battle, Bowlsbey stayed immediately on Westling’s gearbox until the two once again made contact in Turn 4 and Westling got turned around.
Shehan stayed tight on Hedge’s gearbox, patiently waiting for an opportunity to take the lead. Filling Hedge’s mirrors, the gap between the top two remained less than half a second apart for the first 12 minutes of the race. Shehan finally got his shot at the point position as Hedge locked up entering Oak Tree and spun through the grass. The mistake took Shehan from two-tenths behind the leader to nearly a seven-second advantage. However, just as quickly as Shehan gained his advantage, it was all erased when a full-course caution slowed the field.
With just over 12 minutes left on the clock, Shehan led the field to green as the race resumed. Despite pressure from Hedge, Shehan initially pulled ahead in his No. 66 machine, but an off in Oak Tree dropped him to third in the running order, as Hedge inherited the lead. Left to fight his way back through the field, Shehan pulled tight on Bowlsbey’s gearbox and was able to overtake the position with a pass on the backstretch with just under seven minutes left on the clock.
Another full-course caution with just five minutes to go meant a one-lap shootout to the finish. Hedge held off the competition through one final restart to lead the field to the checkered flag. As they crossed the line, Hedge led Shehan, followed by Bowlsbey in third and Becklin in fourth.
A post-race Stewards Decision stemming from the lap-one incident between Bowlsbey and Westling led to a 30-second penalty, which dropped Bowlsbey from third to eighth in the official results.
READ MORE: Race 1 Official Results
“It’s probably safe to say that I didn’t deserve to win today,” Hedge explained on the podium. “I haven’t made too many mistakes this year. I was going to go for fastest lap that lap, but I went a couple meters too deep, got halfway through the corner and realized I was facing backwards.”
FR Americas will contest Round 14 at VIR later this afternoon. Lights out is scheduled for 4:45 p.m., and the race will be live streamed on the SpeedTour TV YouTube page. Fans can follow @FRAmericas on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates, and use the Race Monitor app for live timing and scoring.
