Callum Hedge kicked off his weekend at Road America with a victory in Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) competition. After winning round three at NOLA Motorsports Park, Hedge went back-to-back with his victories, leading the field to the checkered flag in round four for the opening race of the Road America SpeedTour weekend.
“It was a pretty long, pretty physical race,” Hedge said after climbing from the car. “In a car like this, these 35-minute races are longer than I’m used to, but I had a bit of a nap before the race and I was feeling fresh going into it. Obviously, the goal was to win the race from pole, get a good start and get the fastest lap. I spent the whole 35 minutes just flat out.”
Hedge got a solid jump off the block to secure the lead as the field worked their way toward Turn 1. With a race that stayed green from lights-to-flag, Hedge never looked back—though, he did keep a close eye on his lap times to ensure he would keep the fast lap of the race.
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“Every race is basically a qualifying session with the fastest lap dictating the grid for the next race,” explained Hedge. “I basically drove flat out for 35 minutes. It was really fun. Big thanks to Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, Giltrap Group, Tony Quinn Foundation and Tasman Motorsports Group for making this happen for me.”
When the lights went out, Cooper Becklin (No. 19 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) lined up second, followed by Ryan Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) in third and Bryson Morris (No. 39 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) in fourth. The three had a tight battle at the start of the race, with Shehan running side-by-side with Morris. However, with Shehan able to pull ahead, he set his sights on Becklin. Wheel-to-wheel as they entered Turn 5, Shehan went wide, but still took the position as they exited the corner.
With the field spreading out as the laps ticked on, Hedge saw his 1.846s gap open up to a 2.828s advantage as the race neared halfway, and, ultimately, to more than a 5s margin as he took the checkered flag.
With Shehan and Becklin running within just a few tenths, the battle between the two stayed steady throughout the race. At times, it looked like Becklin could look to make a move, while other times the margin ranged up to a second. When Becklin caught lapped traffic entering the carousel coming to the white flag, it solidified Shehan’s gap, giving him the second position.
FR Americas returns to the track Sunday for two more races, along with a Fan Walk during the lunch break. Lights go out for race two at 11:20 a.m. CT.