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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Jensen Global Advisors
|
1 |  Oliver Westling[3]
|
All |
| 2 | Everett Stack[4]
|
5–6 | |
| IGY6 Motorsports
|
3 | Hayden Bowlsbey[5]
|
1–2 |
| 22 | 3–6 | ||
| Max Hewitt[5]
|
1–2 | ||
| Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
|
6 |  Nicole Havrda[3][6]
|
4–5 |
| 12 |  Manuel Roza[5]
|
1–3, 5–6 | |
| 17 |  Callum Hedge[7]
|
All | |
| 19 | Cooper Becklin[5]
|
All | |
| 20 | Jake Bonilla[8]
|
6 | |
| 24 | Kevin Janzen[5]
|
1–3, 5–6 | |
| 39 | Bryson Morris[5]
|
1–2 | |
| Max Hewitt[9]
|
3–6 | ||
| 66 | Ryan Shehan[10]
|
All | |
| Austin Hill Motorsports
|
8 | Austin Hill[5]
|
1–5 |
| Velocity Racing Development
|
10 |  Rodrigo Gutiérrez[11]
|
2 |
| 11 | Cole Kleck[9][8]
|
3 | |
| Speed Factory
|
6 | ||
| Cameron Racing
|
29 | 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 | Ryan Shehan
|
Ryan Shehan
|
Ryan Shehan
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
|
| R2 | Cooper Becklin
|
Ryan Shehan
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| R3 | Nick Persing
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| 2 | R1 | Road America | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
|
| R2 | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| R3 | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| 3 | R1 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Callum Hedge
|
Ryan Shehan
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
|
| R2 | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| R3 | Austin Hill
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| 4 | R1 | New Jersey Motorsports Park | Callum Hedge
|
Cooper Becklin
|
Oliver Westling
|
Jensen Global Advisors
|
| R2 | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| R3 | Hayden Bowlsbey
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| 5 | R1 | Virginia International Raceway | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
|
| R2 | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| R3 | Cooper Becklin
|
Cooper Becklin
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
| |||
| 6 | R1 | Circuit of the Americas | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
|
| R2 | Callum Hedge
|
Oliver Westling
|
Jensen Global Advisors
| |||
| R3 | Callum Hedge
|
Callum Hedge
|
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
|
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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Cameron Racing
|
2 | Ret | 2 | 6 | 6 | Ret | 52 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Austin Hill Motorsports
|
Ret | DNS | 8 | 11 | 10† | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | WD | WD | WD | 5 | 8 | DNS | 42 | |||
| 6 | Speed Factory
|
3 | 6 | 4 | 35 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | 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
- ^ Wood, Ida (2022-02-08). "FRegional Americas keeps Super Formula scholarship for next two years". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2022-05-25). "Ligier unveils design for F4 Gen2 car to be used in America". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List: Rounds 13 – 15 at VIRginia International Raceway" (PDF).
- ^ 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]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT | Callum Hedge joins Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport in Formula Regional Americas!". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "FR Americas here I come!". Ryan Shehan Racing on Twitter. 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
- ^ "2023 FR Americas Championship Entry List: Rounds 4-6 at Road America" (PDF). Formula Regional Americas Championship. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
- ^ "Formula 4 United States and Formula Regional Americas Unveil 2023 Schedule". FR Americas Championship. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2023-03-12). "Ryan Shehan starts FRegional Americas season with double win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2023-05-22). "Callum Hedge wins all three FRegional Americas races at Road America". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2023-06-25). "Hedge wins thrice in nine-car FRegional Americas field at Mid-Ohio". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2023-07-30). "Hedge grows FRegional Americas lead as grid shrinks to seven cars". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2023-10-08). "Hedge wins twice, but Shehan reduces his FRegional Americas lead". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2023-11-04). "Callum Hedge claims the FRegional Americas title in COTA finale". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
External links edit
- Official website: Formula Regional Americas