Papasavvas rebounds with CTMP Race 3 FR Americas win

After a difficult start to kick off the weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), Evagoras Papasavvas rebounded to win the final Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) race of the Labour Day Weekend Sprints event. After crashing out of Race 1, Papasavvas then suffered a mechanical failure to eliminate him from contention while leading Race 2, but the Race 3 victory kept him firmly planted in the chase for the 2026 championship title.

Earning his first pole of the 2026 season with the fastest race lap in the previous round, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) led the field to the lights. He timed his launch perfectly to pull away with an early lead and looked to have the pace needed to back up his Race 2 victory with another win.  

An early caution provided the competitive field with another opportunity to pick up positions. Hauanio once again pulled away on the restart, but his pace was slowed just as quickly when a mechanical failure led him to retire early from the event. With Hauanio off the pace, the fight for position between Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) and Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) became even more important.

Side by side on the restart, Shipman got the advantage in Turn 2. Pulling wheel to wheel once again as they raced through Turn 8, Shipman and Golan had contact on the exit of Turn 9, bumping Shipman down pit road as Golan spun on the circuit. Golan was able to refire his car and continue on the circuit, but Shipman suffered suspension damage in the collision that retired him from the event. In the melee, it was fourth-place starter Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) who inherited the lead with nearly two-thirds of the race to go. 

Papasavvas kept his focus forward as the minutes ticked down, hitting his marks and making it to the finish line. As the checkered flag waved, Papasavvas led Luke Powers (No. 5 Wallace Heating & Air / Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and James Lawley (No. 88 Pentagon Properties / Atlantic Racing Team Ligier JS F3). 

“It was just an unbelievable weekend,” said Papasavvas. “We ended up upside down in Race 1, so to finish here on the podium in Race 3, it’s just unbelievable to be able to recover. The Crosslink Motorsports’ guys did a great job of getting the car back up. It’s been a couple late nights for them and I just can’t believe it. I’ve never seen anything like this, to be able to go from pretty much a totaled car to winning the race two days later. It’s unbelievable. This win goes out to those guys [Crosslink Motorsports]. They’re unbelievable; they’re the reason why I’m up here.”

FR Americas is back on track with Racing America at VIRginia International Raceway in two weeks for the penultimate event of the 2026 season.