Life after CTFROC
Original article via velocitynews.co.nz
At just 19 years old Callum Hedge has made a name for himself in motorsport circles in New Zealand and abroad, most recently finishing second in the Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship proudly held on our own shores.
Prior to that he was a New Zealand Formula 1600 Championship winner, a Toyota 86 Championship victor , third-place getter in the 2021 Porsche Sprint Challenge and a two time Carrera Cup Australia race winner.
With such credentials, where do you head next?
Callum Hedge finished 2nd in the NZ based Castrol Toyota FR Oceania championship.
For Hedge it’ll be double-duties this year, a full-time Carrera Cup campaign complimented by a full-time drive in the Formula Regional Americas Championship powered by Honda.
The Aucklander arrived in the United States on Tuesday to begin testing for Kiwi Motorsport ahead of the season-opener at NOLA Motorsports Park through March 9-12.
It’s a big step for the Kiwi who will be competing for a Honda-backed Super Formula seat for 2024. Support from both the Giltrap Group and Tony Quinn Foundation will help fund his American entry.
“Formula Regional in the USA, we looked at it and it’s the best series to really do,” Hedge told Velocity News on Friday. “The competition is very similar to what it is in [Formula Regional Oceania]. The car is very similar, it’s the same tyre and it’s the biggest prize of any race series we can possibly think of at the moment.
“The prize is a supported Super Formula drive by Honda so that’s why we identified that series and that’s what we’re going to do.
“When I got told that it was going to happen… I didn’t really believe it and now I’m getting on the plane on Monday to go,” he said on F It’s pretty next level.”
“We do testing ahead of the first round from the 9th to 12th of March so I’ve got two weeks over their to make sure the team’s working and to try the car. It should be good.”
In FR Americas Hedge will race for Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport which is co-run by New Zealander Gary Orton and competes in both Formula 4 and Formula 3 championships.
The team also fields drivers in the New Zealand summer series and while the local cars use an FIA F3 chassis manufactured by Tatuus SRL in Italy with a Toyota engine, the American series uses a Ligier JS chassis and Honda power.
“The Formula Regional Americas chassis is built to the same regulations as the FT-60 we have here, so I expect it to be different but the same in a number of ways,” Hedge was quoted in a release prior to testing.
The biggest advantage for the versatile Kiwi racer is both series use the same Hankook specification tyre which Hedge developed a good understanding of over the New Zealand series. “I think I had a pretty good handle on how the tyre worked in TRS. That was one of our biggest advantages, we knew how to bring it in properly and I could feel the peak of the tyre, so it’s really nice to have a bit of familiarity.
“At the end of the day that’s one of the most important things, that’s what makes you grip so if you can understand the tyres you’re in a pretty good spot.”
The opening round will take place in Louisiana, just 20 minutes from downtown New Orleans, at the iconic NOLA circuit which has previously held IndyCar, IMSA and GT World Challenge events
“When I saw the calendar the first track NOLA is a bit of a goat track She’s old, she’s small but she’s real fast so it’s a bit of a goat track .
“From there we go to Road America to Mid-Ohio next then you’ve got tracks like Virginia and Circuit of the Americas as well. It’s like what the hell? That’s pretty cool!
“I’m looking forward to basically everything about it. I’m actually so keen to jump on the plane and fly to see some other Kiwis on the other side of the planet.”
Those other Kiwis include the likes of Earl Bamber who will be running full-time in this year’s World Endurance Championship with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Earl Bamber Motorsport is the team Hedge will run for in the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup in collaboration with Team Porsche New Zealand.
“Earl runs my Porsche team and lives not too far from where I’m going to be based when I’m in the USA so I’ll probably spend a bit of time hanging out with him, Hedge states.
“I think he might come to one of my events to help me out which is pretty cool, just having him as sort of a driver coach and keeping in my ear.
“He helps in Australia but more as a big supporter than team owner. It’s very cool to have someone like him on our side.”
It’s the second year Hedge will race for the outfit in the Carrera Cup after receiving a late callup after Team Porsche New Zealand scholarship recipient Ryan Wood received a Super2 callup.
He has high hopes for the campaign and is among the pre-season favourites after making great progress throughout the 2022 campaign. He won 2 races and finished on the podium seven times throughout the year as well as taking round honours in the season-ending Gold Coast event.
“We were planning on doing Carrera Cup anyway,” he said. “We had a couple of good things lined up and then the Porsche opportunity came again. As soon as Ryan announced that he was going I basically knew that I was going to be in that car.
“It’s very cool to be apart of their team again and I look forward to delivering them their first championship.”
Hedge won the season-ending Gold Coast round in the Porsche Carrera Cup last year
The schedules of both the 6-round Formula Regional Americas and the 8-round Porsche Carrera Cup Australia work in the favour of Hedge who won’t have to choose between series due to no scheduling conflicts.
It also gives him plenty of seat time to further evolve as a world class talent. This is further complimented by a side role as a driver coach for up-and-coming racers.
“At the end of last year I started doing a lot of driver training,” said Hedge. “That keeps you in the car but also gets you coaching people and learning how to coach and then you can apply it to your own stuff which is pretty nice.
“I need to do more racing though, so I’m looking forward to the double program.”
There’s little doubt Hedge will be in the mix in both competitions following his impressive Toyota Formula Regional Oceania form which saw him finish on the podium nine times, including three as victor.
It wasn’t the fairytale result Kiwis dreamed of but finishing second in a championship which featured stars of the future Charlie Wurz, Laurens van Hoepen and Louis Foster was a proud accomplishment for the Kiwi Motorsport racer who relished the opportunity to compete against some of the world’s best up-and-comers.
Wurz and Hedge had exchanged blows over the opening two rounds before Foster threw his hat into the ring at Manfeild after missing the first two weeks of competition.
Van Hoepen followed through a week later and immediately announced himself with victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix.
The championship battle upfront had suddenly changed with Hedge now forced to not only defeat his Austrian rival but also two other top European talents.
He didn’t relent however, briefly retaking the lead of the championship on the penultimate day of the competition before seeing Wurz drive clear in the final to take victory.
Hedge was left wondering what could have been, a series of unfortunate events throughout the campaign seeing him drop vital points at Highlands and Hampton Downs. Clutch issues on the final day also didn’t help matters as Hedge was forced to battle off the start.
Callum Hedge. Image: Geoff Ridder
“Obviously we went in with the goal to win it but sometimes things just don’t go your way,” he said. “There are a lot of small issues that weren’t anyone’s fault that limited our progress, so with all the issues we faced to still be in with a chance to actually win it in the last race is as good as winning itself.
“We’re very happy with how we performed but we just didn’t quite get the rub of the green on a couple of occasions.”
The support of the Tony Quinn Foundation has been vital for Hedge as he works towards top international events. Winning the Tony Quinn Foundation Shoot-out in November set the Kiwi on his course by granting $70,000 towards a (then) Toyota Racing Series campaign.
Hedge is thankful for these opportunities and recognises the significance of Quinn’s investment in New Zealand motorsport.
“He’s been ramping up his investment in motorsport in this particular country,” he said. “Drivers, tracks, facilities and everything else including sponsoring some series.
“Without him and his team, I think motorsport in New Zealand would look a lot different and personally they’re supporting my USA stuff. Without them for TRS I probably wouldn’t have been on the grid.”
2023 Formula Regional Americas Calendar
9-12 March
NOLA Motorsports Park
18-21 May
Road America
22-25 June
Mid-Ohio
28-30 July
New Jersey Motorsport Park
5-8 October
Virginia International Raceway
2-5 November
Circuit of Americas
