Callum Hedge returned to his winning ways in Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) during race two at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) on Sunday afternoon. The Auckland, New Zealand native climbed from fourth on the grid to take the race lead by Turn 3 and never looked back.
Cooper Becklin (No. 19 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) secured the pole for Sunday morning’s race with the fastest lap in Saturday’s race one. For just the second time in his career, he led the field down the starting grid with Ryan Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport) to his outside. When the lights went out, Shehan got a solid jump, pulling side-by-side with Becklin before taking the preferred racing line to enter Turn 1. Meanwhile, Hedge (No. 17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) had started the race from the fourth position, but he timed his jump perfectly to overtake both third-place starter Oliver Westling (No. 1 JENSEN Ligier JS F3), as well as Becklin.
From there, Hedge set his sights on Shehan, but Shehan was able to make the block as they entered Turn 1. Hedge knew he needed to be both quick and tricky to get around Shehan, so he began looking for unexpected places to attempt the pass. As they entered Turn 3, Hedge found just that, diving to the inside of Shehan and overtaking the top spot.
In a race that stayed green from lights to checkered, both Hedge and Shehan settled in, hitting their marks and running consistent laps. By lap five, both drivers attempted a flier to secure the pole position for the final race of the weekend—Shehan had it, but then Hedge bettered it. From there, it was back to conservation mode, ensuring that they’d have enough tire left to complete not only the current race, but another 30-minute race later in the afternoon.
Becklin had fallen as far back as fourth before they made it to Turn 1 on the first lap, but he kept his eye on Westling, waiting for the right opportunity to regain the spot. While working lap three, Westling spun in Turn 5, allowing Becklin to drive by, picking up the third position. As the clock ticked down, the gap between first-place Hedge and second-place Shehan was slowly growing, but the gap between Becklin in third and Westling in fourth was shrinking. With under three minutes left, Westling had closed in to within a second of Becklin. However, there weren’t quite enough laps to get it done, and they crossed the finish line in the same order they had spent the majority of the race.
Hedge led Shehan, followed by Becklin and Westling. Max Hewitt (No. 39 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) rounded out the top five.
“It’s great to get the win today,” said Hedge after climbing from the car. “We didn’t quite get it done yesterday. I didn’t get a good enough start, but I made sure I looked over the data last night to analyze what happened, what I did wrong, and then made sure I didn’t do it again today.”
Hedge went two for two on Sunday in Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) competition at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). Leading the field from lights to checkers, Hedge amassed his ninth victory in the season’s 12 races to extend his lead in the driver’s championship point standings.
With the fast lap in race two, Hedge led the field to the starting grid. Once cars were in position, Hewitt signaled a stall to pit road officials, aborting the usual standing start. Instead, the field proceeded behind the safety car before making one more lap to come down the front straightaway for a two-by-two rolling start. With Hedge in control, the 19-year-old brought the field within yards of the start line before stepping on the gas to get the race underway. Shehan started the race on the outside of the front row and held it side by side all the way through Turn 2, but it was Hedge who emerged with the advantage.
With Hedge and Shehan settled into place, the real action was taking place further back in the pack. Hayden Bowlsbey (No. 22 Save22 Ligier JS F3) had started the event in the seventh position, but was quickly racing his way through the field, moving into fifth by the completion of lap two and into fourth by lap three. Bowlsbey kept his head down and focus forward to overtake Westling for the third position while working lap six.
Westling had started the race from the third position, but spent the opening laps jockeying for position with Becklin. With Bowlsbey making his way around both of them, he settled into a groove, chipping away at the gap to Shehan in second place. Reaching Shehan’s gearbox, Bowlsbey was within a tenth of the two-time FR Americas winner as the race reached its halfway point. Still searching for his own first victory, Bowlsbey remained calm, looking for the right opportunity to make his way around Shehan. Finally, with just minutes left on the clock, Bowlsbey decided to make his move in Turn 1. Unfortunately, his front wing made contact with Shehan’s rear wheel, sending the nose of Bowlsbey’s Ligier JS F3 upward. The contact slid Bowlsbey through the gravel, where he flipped and ultimately came to a rest upside down and over the tire barrier.
Shehan was able to drive away from the incident, but surrendered his second-place running position and rejoined the field in sixth. Bowlsbey was unharmed in the incident and was evaluated and released by the on-site medical team.
The field was shown the checkered flag with Hedge out front. As a result of the incident, Westling had moved up to second, and Becklin took over third.
With his impressive drive throughout not only the third event, but the whole weekend, Bowlsbey was awarded the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of The Race and was presented with a bespoke timepiece.
“To be honest, it wasn’t really that eventful of a race,” said Hedge on the podium. “But the main thing is that Hayden and Ryan are okay. To see the car upside down—I was like, ‘That’s not ideal.’ We never want to see that.”
The FR Americas action will resume at VIRginia International Raceway October 5-8. Tickets for the event are on sale now at VIRnow.com. Be sure to follow FR Americas on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest news and updates.