In a wild and frantic Porsche Carrera Cup North America race at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix, New Zealander Callum Hedge topped the Pro Class for his first victory in the series.
After the first four races of the season were run without safety car interruption, today’s fifth race of the season was fraught with drama. Pro-Am points leader Patrick Mulcahy fought back after being turned around in Turn 1 melee, while Scott Blind took his first Solairus Aviation Masters win of the year.
Hedge survived a Lap 1, Turn 1 melee that knocked championship contenders out of victory contention. The JDX Racing driver even endured a three-wide battle with 20 minutes remaining before ultimately climbing back to the top spot.
After three consecutive third-place finishes dating back to Sebring International Raceway in March and the Long Beach Street Circuit in April, Saturday’s win was the first for Hedge in Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
“I actually went into Turn 1 with the plan that I was going to lunge,” Hedge said of his race-opening mindset.
“It’s just such a tricky brake zone, and there’s absolutely zero grip down on the inside there. I was about to turn in when I saw the No.78 up the inside.
“And the restart was chaotic again. I got lunged by the 96. We were side-by-side, and we ended up three-wide and all coming together. It was a tough race… lots of damage throughout. A big credit to JDX, we’ve had speed all weekend, and I really felt like we should’ve got pole and we missed it. We start on pole tomorrow, but it would’ve been really nice to get that Pole Award. But I’m happy to get the monkey off our back, and we’ll go again tomorrow.”
Pro class championship leader Tyler Maxson (TOPP Racing) was involved in the race-opening incident, but battled back to finish second. His pass for runner-up came on Paul Bocuse (Kellymoss) with five minutes remaining, and the latter completed the podium for his best-ever finish in Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
In the Pro-Am Class, Patrick Mulcahy was caught up in the Lap 1 chaos while searching for his fifth consecutive win of the season. However, the ACI Motorsports driver returned to the lead over competitor Josh Conley (Kellymoss) by the halfway mark to extend his lead in the class championship.
“I would say it was a really rough race for everybody out there,” Mulcahy described.
“I’m hoping we all clean it up for tomorrow because that was kind of crazy.
“It was a lot of refocus (to fight back). I knew how to sit in the pocket and work my way down the field. There were 30 minutes left, and once the second and third yellow flags went out, it was a survival race.”
Scott Blind made significant ground in the Masters class championship with a win on Saturday at the Miami street circuit.
Blind finished tenth overall with his Ruckus Racing Porsche, marking his first win of the 2026 Porsche Carrera Cup North America season.
“It really feels good to get a win this year,” said Blind.
“It was crazy out there. It was like ‘Survivor,’ but the Race Edition.
Race 2 is scheduled for 3:10AM Monday, 4th May NZST.
Header Image: Porsche Motorsport North America
