Yahoo Autos Hedge, Costello grab FR Americas and F4 US poles at VIR
Callum Hedge will once again lead the field off the starting grid after securing the pole for race one of the Andy Scriven Memorial at the VIR SpeedTour weekend. Hedge (No. 17 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) has been the class of the field in Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) competition this season, with nine wins in just 12 races. With a lap time of 1m45.986s, Hedge bettered his teammate Ryan Shehan (No. 66 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) by just 0.223s , as the two remain in a heated battle for the championship title.
Hayden Bowlsbey (No. 22 Save 22 Ligier JS F3) had to rebuild his car after an accident in the closing laps of the series’ last outing at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Back and better than ever, the 19-year-old laid down the third-quickest time of the session.
The series’ sole practice session took place on Friday morning, with Shehan leading the field, proving that he wasn’t giving up on his championship hopes anytime soon. With a 1m45.274s lap, he held a 0.07s advantage over Hedge. Meanwhile, Cooper Becklin (No. 19 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) was third in that session, followed by Bowlsbey and Oliver Westling (No. 1 JENSEN Ligier JS F3).
Lights out for FR Americas’ first race is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning.
Gavin Baker Photography
Michael Costello secured the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) pole for race one of the Andy Scriven Memorial at the VIR SpeedTour. Currently in a heated battle for the championship title, Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) edged out his championship rival to secure the top spot on the leaderboard with a 1m57.134s lap. Current points leader, Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4), was second, just 0.419s behind Costello.
After securing his first podium finish at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) during the series’ last outing, Bacon Zelenka (No. 45 Bacon Racing Ligier JS F4) was third. Mid-Ohio winner Augie Soto-Schirripa (No. 24 International Motorsport Ligier JS F4) was fourth, followed by NOLA winner Carl Bennett (No. 9 Gonella Racing Ligier JS F4) in fifth.
Woods-Toth led the sole practice session for on Friday morning. Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4)—a first-time winner at NJMP—was second on the speed charts, followed by Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Ligier JS F4) in third and Alex Berg (No. 08 MySim.ca/Rohde & Liesenfeld/Easy Drift/Penn Elcom Online/Dae Systems) in fourth. Costello was fifth in that session.
Race one action at 8:40 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, with a live stream available on the SpeedTourTV YouTube page. Live timing and scoring for both FR Americas and F4 U.S. will be available via the Race Monitor app, and additional news and updates from the Andy Scriven Memorial at the VIR SpeedTour will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter throughout the weekend.
