Golan earns FR Americas pole at VIR

As Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) kicks off its penultimate event at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), championship points leader Brady Golan edged out the competition to secure his third pole of the 2026 season.

Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) posted a 1:45.962 lap to beat Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) by just 0.134 seconds for the pole position. Qualifying third, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) was within 0.364 seconds of the leader, while both Christian Bogle (No. 7 Pelican Energy Consultants / Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) finished just over 1.1 seconds off the pole to round out the top five.

With just four races remaining, Golan and Papasavvas are in a heated battle for the championship, as only 10.5 points separate the two contenders.

In FR Americas’ practice session yesterday, Golan was quickest on the speed charts, with Bogle and Papasavvas both less than a second off his pace. Luke Powers (No. 5 Wallace Heating & Air/Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) was fourth in that session, as Shipman completed the top five.

The lights go out for FR Americas Race 1 at VIR today at 4:25 p.m. ET. Race 1 will stream on YouTube.com/@RacingAmericaTV, with timing and scoring for all events available on the Race Monitor app. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.