FR Americas: Callum Hedge clinches the 2023 championship title during the COTA final.

The FR Americas Championship final was held on 2-5 November 2023 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Callum Hedge in the #17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3 scored two victories (races 1 and 3) as well as clinching the 2023 championship title. Oliver Jensen in Jensen's #1 dominated race 2.

• Hedge topped the two free practice sessions held on Thursday 2nd November at the wheel of the #17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3 with laps in 2:05.213s and 2:04.469s respectively.

• Later on, the driver from New Zealand took pole position with the fastest time in qualifying in 2:03.575s.

 

Race 1:

• Hedge, the championship leader, clinched the 2023 FR Americas championship title by winning the first race of the weekend on Friday 3rd November, which was also his twelfth victory of the season!

• “It's really cool to finally wrap [the championship] up after a really long season,” Hedge said in Victory Lane. “Ryan [Shehan] put up a real good fight. He's a class driver; I've really enjoyed being teammates and racing him this year.”

For the full article on Race 1, CLICK HERE.

 

Race 2:

• Hedge was in the lead when he was overtaken in the final corner on the final lap by Oliver Westling, Jensen's #1 driver, who scored his second victory of the season.

• “The last lap was tough,” said Westling following the race. “Callum was definitely hard to battle, and he won't let up easy. I feel really good about [this win]; I pushed hard. I wasn't going to give up or let up. I shot up to Turn 20 and just went for it. I saw him right next to me, and I saw his front wing, but I was like 'There's no way he's passing me.' I'm really proud of our effort.”

For the full article on Race 2, CLICK HERE.

 

Race 3:

• Hedge ended the season in style by crossing the finishing line in first place in the third and final race on Saturday 4th November! The driver of #17 dominated his rivals from start to finish pulling out a 10-second lead!

• “Everyone likes winning. If I don't win then I'm not happy so I need to work as hard as I can. I was pretty disappointed yesterday; I left the door open at the last corner. So, I made sure I didn't make that mistake again today. I got a pretty rubbish start, to be fair, but then the car was really fast.”

For the full article on Race 3, CLICK HERE.

 

Callum Hedge (#17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport) won the championship title with 384 points. Ryan Shehan (#66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport entry) was runner-up with 279 points, while Cooper Becklin (#19 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport) finished third with 251 points.

The 2024 FR Americas Championship season will kick off on 11th April 2024 at the NOLA Motorsports Park.

For the final classification CLICK HERE.

 

For more information about the Ligier JS F3, CLICK HERE.