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.
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 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. TeamDriverRounds Jensen Global Advisors 1 Oliver WestlingAll 2 Everett Stack5–6 IGY6 Motorsports 3 Hayden Bowlsbey 1–222 3–6 Max Hewitt 1–2 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports 6 Nicole Havrda 4–5 12 Manuel Roza 1–3, 5–6 17 Callum Hedge All 19 Cooper Becklin All20 Jake Bonilla6 24 Kevin Janzen 1–3, 5–6 39 Bryson Morris 1–2 Max Hewitt 3–6 66 Ryan Shehan All Austin Hill Motorsports 8 Austin Hill 1–5 Velocity Racing Development10 Rodrigo Gutiérrez 211 Cole Kleck 3 Speed Factory6 Cameron Racing29 Nick Persing1–2
Race calendar 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. RoundCircuitDateSupportingMap of circuit locations1R1NOLA Motorsports Park, Avondale11 MarchFormula 4 United States ChampionshipSVRA Sprint SeriesTrans-Am SeriesUltimate Street Car AssociationR212 MarchR32R1Road America, Elkhart Lake20 MayFormula 4 United States ChampionshipRoad America SpeedTourSVRA Sprint SeriesR221 MayR33R1Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington24 JunePERMCO Grand Prix of Mid-OhioFormula 4 United States ChampionshipSVRA Sprint & EnduranceTrans-Am SeriesR225 JuneR34R1New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville29 JulyNew Jersey SpeedTourFormula 4 United States ChampionshipSVRA Sprint SeriesFRP (F2000, F1600)R230 JulyR35R1Virginia International Raceway, Alton7 OctoberVIR SpeedTourFormula 4 United States ChampionshipSVRA Sprint & EnduranceTrans-Am SeriesR2R38 October6R1Circuit of the Americas, Austin3 NovemberAustin SpeedTourFormula 4 United States ChampionshipTrans-Am SeriesSVRA Sprint SeriesR2R34 November
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning team1R1NOLA Motorsports Park Ryan Shehan Ryan Shehan Ryan Shehan Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR2 Cooper Becklin Ryan Shehan Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR3 Nick Persing Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports2R1Road America Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR2 Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR3 Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports3R1Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Callum Hedge Ryan Shehan Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR2 Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR3 Austin Hill Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports4R1New Jersey Motorsports Park Callum Hedge Cooper Becklin Oliver Westling Jensen Global AdvisorsR2 Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR3 Hayden Bowlsbey Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports5R1Virginia International Raceway Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR2 Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR3 Cooper Becklin Cooper Becklin Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports6R1Circuit of the Americas Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi MotorsportsR2 Callum Hedge Oliver Westling Jensen Global AdvisorsR3 Callum Hedge Callum Hedge Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports
Season report
First half 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 Becklin 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.
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.
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.
Second half 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.
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.
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.
Championship standings Points were awarded as follows: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points251815121086421
Drivers' standings PosDriverNOLROAMOHNJMVIRCOAPtsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3 1 Callum Hedge 6 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 Ret 1 2 1 384 2 Ryan Shehan 1 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 6 2 2 2 10 4 10 279 3 Cooper Becklin 3 2 11† 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 5 Ret 251 4 Oliver Westling 4 5 7 4 5 10† 6 4 8 1 4 2 4 4 4 6 1 2 217 5 Manuel Roza 7 6 4 7 7 4 4 6 4 WD WD WD 5 3 3 122 6 Hayden Bowlsbey Ret 9 6 10 Ret DNS 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 5 3 4 7 6 116 7 Max Hewitt 9† 8 9 9 Ret 5 9 9 Ret Ret 5 4 10† 6 6 7 8 8 77 8 Bryson Morris 5 4 5 5 4 6 62 9 Nick Persing 2 Ret 2 6 6 Ret 52 10 Cole Kleck 8 7 7 3 6 4 51 11 Austin Hill Ret DNS 8 11 10† 8 7 8 5 WD WD WD 5 8 DNS 42 12 Nicole Havrda 5 Ret 5 6 Ret 5 38 13 Everett Stack 7 7 7 9 9 7 28 14 Kevin Janzen 8 7 10 12 9 9 WD WD WD 9 9 8 11 10 9 26 15 Jake Bonilla 8 Ret 5 14 16 Rodrigo Gutiérrez 8 8 7 14PosDriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PtsNOLROAMOHNJMVIRCOABold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
† — Did not finish, but classified
Teams' standings Only a teams' two best-finishing cars were eligible for teams' championship points. PosTeamNOLROAMOHNJMVIRCOAPtsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3 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 426 Speed Factory 3 6 435 7 Velocity Racing Development 8 8 7 8 7 7 30PosTeamR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PtsNOLROAMOHNJMVIRCOA
References
External links
Official website: