Cooper Shipman Earns First FR Americas Victory With Race 3 Win at NOLA

Cooper Shipman earned his first win in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) competition taking the victory in Race 3 at NOLA Motorsports Park. Securing third and second in Races 1 and 2, respectively, Shipman (No. 10 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) improved all weekend, finally reaching the top step in today’s event.

Notes of Interest:

• Cooper Shipman earned his first-career FR Americas victory, taking the checkered flag in Race 3 at NOLA Motorsports Park. Shipman is racing in FR Americas this season with support from the Champion’s Scholarship program, which he won by taking the Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.) title last year.
• Kekai Hauanio finished second, marking his second podium of the weekend. Hauanio is also a rookie in FR Americas this year after stepping up the ladder from F4 U.S. competition.
• Luke Powers earned his first-career podium with a third-place result in Race 3 at NOLA. Powers got his start in formula racing through the Radford Racing School F4 U.S. Karts to Cars Scholarship School, which he attended in December 2023.
• Anthony Autiello won in the Masters Cup class. The defending Masters Champion, the Race 3 victory marks his first of the 2026 season.
• With a highly-competitive 2026 field, the Racing America at NOLA weekend saw three different winning drivers and three different winning teams in FR Americas. Brady Golan won Race 1 for Toney Driver Development, while Evagoras Papasavvas won Race 2 with Crosslink Motorsports, and Cooper Shipman took Kiwi Motorsport to Victory Lane in Race 3.
• Cooper Shipman leaves the Racing America at NOLA weekend as the FR Americas points leader. With 58 points, the Kiwi Motorsport driver holds a 13-point advantage over Evagoras Papasavvas in second.
• Cooper Shipman was awarded the Omologato One to Watch Award for his efforts this weekend, which included consistent improvement and three podiums. The award includes a bespoke Omologato timepiece.
  

After setting the fastest lap in Race 2, Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) led the field down the starting grid for the final race of the weekend. Despite winning yesterday’s race, Papasavvas wasn’t able to keep up with his teammate, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3), who passed him to pace the opening laps. With limited allotments of Hankook Tires for each driver and team, Race 3 of the weekend always raises the question of tire management and racecar management. Shipman was able to do just that as he managed his drive to the race lead and away from the field.

Shipman opened up a 6.605-second gap before the checkered flag waved in the all-green race. Maintaining control, Shipman was able to keep his focus forward as Hauanio settled into second and drivers behind them fought for position. When the checkered flag waved, Shipman led the way, with Hauanio in second and Papasavvas in third.

Following the race, the stewards visited several reports of avoidable contact between racers. As a result, both Papasavvas and Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) were found to have made contact with the other driver at different points of the race, and each driver was issued a drive-through penalty. With their penalty converted to a 30-second time penalty, Papasavvas dropped to sixth on the official results, and Golan was scored eighth. The decision promoted Luke Powers (No. 5 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) to third, earning the driver his first-career podium.

“It feels good to win,” said Shipman after climbing from the car. “We had a couple missed opportunities yesterday, but we were able to rebound today. It’s definitely good to get a win on the board before the end of the first weekend, and even better to come away with a lead in the championship. We'll keep pushing going forward and won't take our foot off the next one. I’d like to thank everyone at Kiwi Motorsport, they've done a great job this week, giving me a great car. My driving wasn't up to standard yesterday—I could have got more on my end. They've been giving me a winning car this whole week, and it was just good to finally reward them and put a good finish together.”

>> SEE MORE: Race 3 Official Results

In Masters Cup competition, defending Masters Champion Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) led the way, easily claiming his first Masters Cup win of the 2026 season.

“This feels really good,” said Autiello getting out his car in Winners Circle. “We had a great pace today. I made a few errors that we're going to work on, but I'll be back next race. Let's give all these young guys a shot at a little bit of competition.”

FR Americas returns to the track for Racing America at Road America, May 14-17. Live timing and scoring will be available on the Race Monitor App, with additional news and updates shared on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Prospective drivers looking to learn more about FR Americas are encouraged to visit the championship’s website at FRAmericas.com.

-Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography