Kekai Hauanio Takes FR Americas Race 1 Win at VIR

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Kekai Hauanio Takes FR Americas Race 1 Win at VIR

Kevin Janzen Gains Ground in Master’s Cup Championship with Class Win

 

ALTON, Va. (September 19, 2026) – Kekai Hauanio returned to victory lane in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) with a Race 1 win at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) on Saturday afternoon. In a hard-fought battle against championship leader Brady Golan that lasted nearly the entire race, Hauanio completed the pass in the closing laps to secure his third victory of the season.

 

Notes of Interest:

  • Standing on the top step of the podium, Kekai Hauanio earned his third win of the 2026 season.
  • With a second-place result, Brady Golan continues to lead the championship standings after recording his 12th podium of the season. 
  • After dropping back to 10th during the early laps, Luke Powers drove all the way up to third to earn his fifth podium of the season.  
  • Competing in just his second FR Americas weekend, Robert Arana Jr. secured his first-career points with an eighth-place finish.

As the lights went out, polesitter Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) faced immediate pressure from second-place starter Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3). Just behind them, third-place starter Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) wasted no time setting his sights on the drivers in front of him and working to gain ground and close in on their gearboxes. With Hauanio pulling next to Shipman as they entered the esses, the Crosslink Motorsports driver completed the pass to take second. Behind him, Shipman started to fall into the grips of Hauanio’s teammate, Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3). Eventually pulling wheel to wheel, the two made contact on the entry of Turn 4, causing a cut to Shipman’s tire and leaving him to limp around the 3.27-mile facility. That one incident created major championship implications for both drivers, Shipman fell eight laps behind the leaders while his team worked to get him back on track, and Papasavvas also lost nearly a full lap to the leaders while on pit lane for repairs. 

With both drivers removed from contention for the Race 1 trophy, Golan had a great opportunity to expand his points lead, and possibly create a lead that no one could overcome with just three races to go. However, to do so, he’d have to stay in front of Hauanio.

Patience was the key to success for the Crosslink Motorsports driver who spent the next 20 minutes filling Golan’s mirrors and looking for the right opportunity to pass the Toney Driver Development (TDD) driver. Behind them, Golan’s TDD teammates Christian Bogle (No. 7 Pelican Energy Consultants / Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and Luke Powers (No. 5 Wallace Heating & Air/Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) were fighting for the third and final podium position when Bogle encountered an issue that caused him to slow on the circuit. 

Meanwhile, Golan and Hauanio continued their fight for the lead. Hauanio drove to the inside of Golan going into Turn 1. As Golan went just a bit wide, Hauanio completed the pass to take the race lead. With Hauanio pulling away, a full-course caution was displayed to allow safety crews to make contact with Bogle as the checkered and yellow flags waved together. Crossing the line, Hauanio led with Golan in second, and Powers following in third.

“That was a fun race,” said Hauanio after climbing from the car. “I got a good start and was able to make it past Cooper at the beginning. I knew I was a little bit faster than Brady , so I kind of just sat around, sat around, and once I knew the end was coming up, I tried to make a move and we made it stick, so here we are with the win.”

 

>> SEE MORE:  Round 18 Official Results

 

In the Master’s Cup Championship, Kevin Janzen (No. 24 US Power Group / Data Center Solutions / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) notched his fourth win of the season, helping him close the gap in the championship standings with only three races remaining.

 

>> REPLAY THE STREAM:  Stream Round 18

 

FR Americas is back on track tomorrow at 2:35 p.m. E.T. for Race 2 from Racing America @ VIR. Live timing and scoring for the race will be available on the Race Monitor app. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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