BOWMANVILLE, Ontario — Kekai Hauanio never expected to make it to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to race in Formula Regional Americas Championship this weekend, let alone celebrate his Race 2 win in Victory Lane. Funding issues nearly sidelined the Floridian this weekend, but a last-minute deal kept his championship hopes alive.
Kekai Hauanio scored his second FR Americas win of 2026 with a Race 2 victory at CTMP.
Finishing second, Cooper Shipman tallied his ninth podium of the season to keep his championship hopes alive.
After his win in Race 1 yesterday, Golan took the points lead. He extended that advantage with a third-place result this afternoon.
Nova Scotian James Lawley tied his career-best finish with a fourth-place result at CTMP. The Canadian circuit was also the site of Lawley’s first top-five finish in 2024.
For the first time in FR Americas history, two drivers have won on the same race weekend at CTMP with Brady Golan winning Race 1 and Kekai Hauanio taking Race 2.
After a major crash in Race 1, the Crosslink Motorsports crew of Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) worked until the wee hours of the morning making repairs and prepping his car. Finishing repairs just in time, Papasavvas started on pole for Race 2 and pulled ahead as soon as the lights went out. The championship contender led the opening circuits with Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) settling into position behind him. Shipman had just made his way around Golan when Papasavvas spun to bring out the full-course caution, giving Shipman the race lead.
Following a timing transponder failure in Race 1 and ensuing five-grid-spot penalty, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) steadily moved forward from his seventh-place starting position during the opening laps of Race 2. Reaching third before the safety car deployed, a restart gave Hauanio another chance to gain ground with a regrouped field. Immediately racing side by side with Golan, Hauanio slid in Turn 2 to give Golan an advantage. Before completing the lap, he pulled back around Golan’s outside in Turn 8 to take second. With Shipman a second and a half ahead, Hauanio turned his focus forward and looked to close in on the leader. Reducing the gap to 0.770 seconds before another safety car gathered the field, Hauanio had another shot to take the lead when the field regrouped. Pulling to the outside of Shipman, Hauanio completed the pass and took the race lead. Holding off Shipman, Hauanio was the first to cross the finish line with Shipman in second and Golan in third.
“During the last round at New Jersey, we had a lot of issues, and it looked like we were out of the championship. We’ve had some difficulties with funding, but we pulled it together and we were able to come to CTMP thanks to my grandfather and Gill [Kaszuba, team owner],” said Hauanio. “I’m just so happy to come away with this win. It means a lot, and I can’t wait to try to do it again tomorrow.”
In the Master’s Cup Championship, Canada native Kevin Janzen (No. 24 US Power Group / Data Center Solutions / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) came across the line first to score his second win of the weekend. Whitney Strickland (No. 77 TF Companies / Atlantic Racing Ligier JS F3) finished second for the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Atlantic Racing Team, while Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) was scored third.
“That was great,” said Janzen after climbing from the car. “I can’t think of anything more fun to do on a sunny Saturday, in this beautiful spot, in front of a wonderful crowd, than to be in a car here [at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park]. It was a real fun time out there. Whitney [Strickland] was giving me some good battles, and Anthony [Autiello] and I had quite an event, passing and overtaking in Turn 8. That was pretty crazy, but good. He was really fair and gave me some room—it was good fun. Thank you to Merlin, Gill and all the guys for setting up my car so beautifully.”
