2023 Formula Regional Americas Championship

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The 2023 Formula Regional Americas Championship powered by Honda was the sixth season of a FIA-sanctioned F3 series across North America, and the fourth season under the Formula Regional moniker after a rebrand in 2020. The series was promoted by SCCA Pro Racing, the professional racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. Drivers competed to win a Honda-backed Super Formula seat for 2024.[1]

Callum Hedge won the Drivers' Championship with two races to spare after winning 13 of the 18 races, while his team, Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, had already clinched the Teams' Championship shortly after the mid-point of the season.

Teams and drivers[edit]

All drivers competed with Honda-powered Ligier JS F3 cars on Hankook tires. This was the last season of the championship using a Honda powertrain, with a switch to Ligier engines planned for 2024.[2]

Team No. Driver Rounds
United States Jensen Global Advisors 1 Sweden Oliver Westling[3] All
2 United States Everett Stack[4] 5–6
United States IGY6 Motorsports 3 United States Hayden Bowlsbey[5] 1–2
22 3–6
United States Max Hewitt[5] 1–2
United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports 6 Canada Nicole Havrda[3][6] 4–5
12 Mexico Manuel Roza[5] 1–3, 5–6
17 New Zealand Callum Hedge[7] All
19 United States Cooper Becklin[5] All
20 United States Jake Bonilla[8] 6
24 United States Kevin Janzen[5] 1–3, 5–6
39 United States Bryson Morris[5] 1–2
United States Max Hewitt[9] 3–6
66 United States Ryan Shehan[10] All
United States Austin Hill Motorsports 8 United States Austin Hill[5] 1–5
United States Velocity Racing Development 10 Bolivia Rodrigo Gutiérrez[11] 2
11 United States Cole Kleck[9][8] 3
United States Speed Factory 6
United States Cameron Racing 29 United States Nick Persing[5] 1–2

Race calendar[edit]

The 2023 calendar was announced on 9 October 2022, and visited the same locations as the season before. Each round featured three races, bringing the total to 18 races over the season.[12]

Round Circuit Date Supporting Map of circuit locations
1 R1 NOLA Motorsports Park, Avondale 11 March Formula 4 United States Championship
SVRA Sprint Series
Trans-Am Series
Ultimate Street Car Association
R2 12 March
R3
2 R1 Road America, Elkhart Lake 20 May Formula 4 United States Championship
Road America SpeedTour
SVRA Sprint Series
R2 21 May
R3
3 R1 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington 24 June PERMCO Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Formula 4 United States Championship
SVRA Sprint & Endurance
Trans-Am Series
R2 25 June
R3
4 R1 New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville 29 July New Jersey SpeedTour
Formula 4 United States Championship
SVRA Sprint Series
FRP (F2000, F1600)
R2 30 July
R3
5 R1 Virginia International Raceway, Alton 7 October VIR SpeedTour
Formula 4 United States Championship
SVRA Sprint & Endurance
Trans-Am Series
R2
R3 8 October
6 R1 Circuit of the Americas, Austin 3 November Austin SpeedTour
Formula 4 United States Championship
Trans-Am Series
SVRA Sprint Series
R2
R3 4 November

Race results[edit]

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1 NOLA Motorsports Park United States Ryan Shehan United States Ryan Shehan United States Ryan Shehan United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R2 United States Cooper Becklin United States Ryan Shehan United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R3 United States Nick Persing New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
2 R1 Road America New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R2 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R3 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
3 R1 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Ryan Shehan New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R2 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R3 United States Austin Hill New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
4 R1 New Jersey Motorsports Park New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Cooper Becklin Sweden Oliver Westling United States Jensen Global Advisors
R2 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R3 United States Hayden Bowlsbey New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
5 R1 Virginia International Raceway New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R2 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R3 United States Cooper Becklin United States Cooper Becklin United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
6 R1 Circuit of the Americas New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
R2 New Zealand Callum Hedge Sweden Oliver Westling United States Jensen Global Advisors
R3 New Zealand Callum Hedge New Zealand Callum Hedge United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports

Season report[edit]

First half[edit]

The 2023 season began at NOLA Motorsports Park, just like the year before. Crosslink Kiwi's Ryan Shehan took pole position for the opening race and led that encounter lights-to-flag. Cameron Racing's Nick Persing was trying to attack him, but then made a mistake and had to spend the rest of his race defending from Shehan's teammate Cooper Becklin. Race two started the same way, before Persing went off at the halfway point and had to retire his car. This allowed Beckling into second and promoted his teammate Callum Hedge onto the podium closely behind. Becklin had pole position for the first race, but was quickly overtaken by Hedge and Persing. He then held on to third before locking up and being hit by Shehan behind. He fell down the order, and Shehan took his third podium of the weekend to leave Avondale with a 17-point lead over Hedge.[13]

Hedge was first in qualifying at Road America. He was unchallenged during the first race, with Becklin behind him having to defend from Shehan. The latter's pace eventually proved to be too much and Becklin had to let him through. The second race began with a red-flag interruption because of a crash between Crosslink Kiwi's Max Hewitt and IGY6's Hayden Bowlsbey, but when it restarted, Hedge was similarly dominant to take another win. Shehan did not have to pass anyone this time to come second, and Becklin had to fend off his teammate Bryson Morris to take third. Race three was also interrupted, by two safety car periods, but Hedge remained unbeaten. Shehan was second again, fending off a late attack by Becklin. His triple win took Hedge into the championship lead, four points ahead of Shehan.[14]

Only nine drivers were on the road at Mid-Ohio. The qualifying session was rained off, meaning Hedge was awarded pole position by virtue of his standings lead. He led Shehan all race long to take his fourth straight win, with Becklin third once again after he fended off Jensen's Oliver Westling at the start and the latter made a mistake. Shehan was on pole position for the second race, but it took less than a corner for Hedge to steal the lead away. Shehan and Becklin kept close to the leader, but the finishing order remained the same for the fifth time in a row. The third race saw another win from pole position for Hedge, with the podium consisting of the same three drivers as it had for the last two whole weekends. A second triple win for Hedge saw his championship lead grow to 25 points.[15]

Second half[edit]

Entry numbers declined even more at New Jersey Motorsports Park, as only seven cars were present. Hedge took pole position once again, but his win streak would come to an end. He defended from Shehan at the start as Westling and Bowlsbey surprised the pair to both get ahead. Hedge had soon repassed Bowlsbey, but could not get past Westling. Shehan also passed Bowlsbey, but the pair made contact and Shehan was penalized, allowing Becklin onto the podium. Normal service returned for the second race, with Hedge starting fourth, but passed Westling, Becklin and Shehan in the first three turns to take the lead and the win. Race three was dominated by Hedge from pole position as he won over twelve seconds ahead of Westling, with Becklin third. Shehan could only manage sixth, losing further ground to Hedge, who now was 55 points ahead.[16]

Hedge continued his one-lap pace to take another pole position at Virginia International Raceway. He fended Shehan off twice in race one, before spinning and dropping to second. A timely safety car brought him back right behind Shehan, and the latter then also made a mistake to restore the original order, before the race finished under caution. Becklin came third once again. Race two also brought the by now familiar sight of Hedge ahead of Shehan and Becklin, although the latter had to pass Westling for his podium. Hedge looked set for another triple victory, before he was hit with an engine issue that forced him to retire from race three. Becklin inherited first place, fighting off Shehan to take his first win of the season, while Bowlsbey secured his first podium with a late move on Westling. Hedge's retirement saw his points lead reduced to 51, with 75 still on offer.[17]

The season finale at Circuit of the Americas brought no new sight in qualifying, as Hedge remained on top. He fended off any opposition at the start of race one and sprinted away from the field to take the win and with it the championship. Speed Factory's series returnee Cole Kleck took second at the start and fought with Shehan through the first half. The latter was then passed by Becklin, who also overtook Kleck on the final lap. Race two saw Westling take his second win in a photo-finish after he passed polesitter and race-long leader Hedge through the final corner. Race three brought the season to its end with another trademark unchallenged win for Hedge, with Westling having a lonely race in second ahead of Crosslink Kiwi's Manuel Roza, who took his second podium in a row.[18]

All but one pole positions, thirteen wins and sixteen podiums from eighteen races - Hedge became the latest in a row of dominant series champions in another year where the series struggled to attract enough drivers to provide deep grids and a high level of competition. Most qualifying sessions only saw the top trio of drivers within a second of the pole position time, and the field was often spread far during the races. With the attraction of a Super Formula scholarship also set to depart the series through the planned powertrain change, it is hard to see how interest in the championship could grow in the coming seasons.

Championship standings[edit]

Points were awarded as follows:

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Drivers' standings[edit]

Pos Driver NOL ROA MOH NJM VIR COA Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 New Zealand Callum Hedge 6 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 Ret 1 2 1 384
2 United States Ryan Shehan 1 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 6 2 2 2 10 4 10 279
3 United States Cooper Becklin 3 2 11† 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 5 Ret 251
4 Sweden Oliver Westling 4 5 7 4 5 10† 6 4 8 1 4 2 4 4 4 6 1 2 217
5 Mexico Manuel Roza 7 6 4 7 7 4 4 6 4 WD WD WD 5 3 3 122
6 United States Hayden Bowlsbey Ret 9 6 10 Ret DNS 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 5 3 4 7 6 116
7 United States Max Hewitt 9† 8 9 9 Ret 5 9 9 Ret Ret 5 4 10† 6 6 7 8 8 77
8 United States Bryson Morris 5 4 5 5 4 6 62
9 United States Nick Persing 2 Ret 2 6 6 Ret 52
10 United States Cole Kleck 8 7 7 3 6 4 51
11 United States Austin Hill Ret DNS 8 11 10† 8 7 8 5 WD WD WD 5 8 DNS 42
12 Canada Nicole Havrda 5 Ret 5 6 Ret 5 38
13 United States Everett Stack 7 7 7 9 9 7 28
14 United States Kevin Janzen 8 7 10 12 9 9 WD WD WD 9 9 8 11 10 9 26
15 United States Jake Bonilla 8 Ret 5 14
16 Bolivia Rodrigo Gutiérrez 8 8 7 14
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts
NOL ROA MOH NJM VIR COA
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap

† — Did not finish, but classified

Teams' standings[edit]

Only a teams' two best-finishing cars were eligible for teams' championship points.

Pos Team NOL ROA MOH NJM VIR COA Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 United States Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 742
3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 3
2 United States Jensen Global Advisors 4 5 7 4 5 10† 6 4 8 1 4 2 4 4 4 6 1 2 245
7 7 7 9 9 7
3 United States IGY6 Motorsports 9† 8 6 9 Ret 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 5 3 4 7 6 136
Ret 9 9 10 Ret DNS
4 United States Cameron Racing 2 Ret 2 6 6 Ret 52
5 United States Austin Hill Motorsports Ret DNS 8 11 10† 8 7 8 5 WD WD WD 5 8 DNS 42
6 United States Speed Factory 3 6 4 35
7 United States Velocity Racing Development 8 8 7 8 7 7 30
Pos Team R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts
NOL ROA MOH NJM VIR COA

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wood, Ida (2022-02-08). "FRegional Americas keeps Super Formula scholarship for next two years". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  2. ^ Wood, Ida (2022-05-25). "Ligier unveils design for F4 Gen2 car to be used in America". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  3. ^ a b Wood, Ida (2023-02-06). "Nicole Havrda to race in FRegional Americas for first full year in cars". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  4. ^ "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List: Rounds 13 – 15 at VIRginia International Raceway" (PDF).
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List: Rounds 1-3 at NOLA Motorsports Park" (PDF).[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List - Rounds 10 – 12 at New Jersey Motorsports Park" (PDF). Formula Regional Americas Championship. July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  7. ^ "DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT | Callum Hedge joins Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport in Formula Regional Americas!". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  8. ^ a b "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List: Rounds 16 – 18 at Circuit of the Americas" (PDF). Formula Regional Americas Championship. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List - Rounds 7-9 at MidOhio Sports Car Course" (PDF). Formula Regional Americas Championship. June 18, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  10. ^ "FR Americas here I come!". Ryan Shehan Racing on Twitter. 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  11. ^ "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List: Rounds 4-6 at Road America" (PDF). Formula Regional Americas Championship. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  12. ^ "Formula 4 United States and Formula Regional Americas Unveil 2023 Schedule". FR Americas Championship. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  13. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-03-12). "Ryan Shehan starts FRegional Americas season with double win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  14. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-05-22). "Callum Hedge wins all three FRegional Americas races at Road America". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  15. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-06-25). "Hedge wins thrice in nine-car FRegional Americas field at Mid-Ohio". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  16. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-07-30). "Hedge grows FRegional Americas lead as grid shrinks to seven cars". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  17. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-10-08). "Hedge wins twice, but Shehan reduces his FRegional Americas lead". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  18. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-11-04). "Callum Hedge claims the FRegional Americas title in COTA finale". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.

External links[edit]

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