Advantage Hedge with two-from-two in FR Americas at VIR
Callum Hedge has made the most of his choice to forego Bathurst on his hunt for the Formula Regional Americas title, taking out the first two races of the penultimate round of the season in Virginia.
Callum Hedge celebrates after taking two-from-two in Formula Regional Americas at VIR. (Formula Regional Americas)
The Kiwi qualified on pole but spun in the late stages of race one, recovering to the lead after a full-course caution neutralised the field.
It was a simpler victory in race two as the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport driver took a lights-to-flag victory, now holding a 69-point lead of the standings.
The #17 driver had his work cut out for him late in race one when he spun at Oak Tree corner and gifted a seven-second advantage to Ryan Shehan.
His fortunes were reversed shortly later with a full-course caution neutralising the field, and the green flag fell with just 12 minutes remaining.
Shehan went off in the same corner and fell to third, with Hedge holding fast as another full-course caution fell with just five minutes left in the session.
When racing resumed, Hedge led Shehan for a one lap sprint to the finish, taking the chequered flag and vital points in the weekend opener.
“It’s probably safe to say that I didn’t deserve to win today,” said Hedge.
“I haven’t made too many mistakes this year. I was going to go for fastest lap that lap, but I went a couple meters too deep, got halfway through the corner and realized I was facing backwards.”
The Kiwi lead a perfect race in the second outing on Saturday, with teammate Shehan close behind and pulling away a five-second gap from the rest of the field.
It was unchanged after thirty minutes, with Hedge taking yet another race victory, his 11th of the 14 races so far this year.
“This afternoon we made a few changes; had a few issues to fix in between the races,” said Hedge.
“We had a crack in the valve housing that we had to fix up during the break.”
“The car felt really good from lap one. I finally made a good start—which was nice—and I never really looked back. I just want to say a big thank you to the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport for the good car, and the people that make it happen for me—Giltrap Group, Tony Quinn Foundation and Tasman Motorsports Group.”
Hedge now has one hand on the trophy, able to earn the title with a repeat performance in race three on Sunday (local time).
