Sebring, FL – As is the case with every Formula Race Promotions’ (FRP) F1600, F2000 and Atlantic weekend, the paddock enjoyed the track time on offer at Sebring International Raceway over two days of practice on Friday and Saturday, leading into exhibition races scheduled for Sunday at the historic venue.
Drivers preparing for both the 2016 Formula Race Promotions’ seasons and a variety of other racing disciplines were granted six 30-minute session over two days. The weekend will culminate on Sundaywith morning qualifying and afternoon races in the last of the FRP Winter Exhibition program, which also included a weekend at Palm Beach International Raceway. After that, the Series opens at Road Atlanta in April with a strong weekend with two races each for F2000 and Atlantic and three for F1600.
Over two days of practice under near-perfect conditions, Ryan Norman led the speed charts in Atlantic for K-Hill Motorsports, Skylar Robinson posted the best lap in F2000, and the fastest runner in F1600 was K-Hill’s Neil Verhagen. All standing track records were broken.
F1600
In the F1600 Formula F Championship Series, Neil Verhagen dominated practice with the fastest overall time of the weekend coming late on Saturday at 2:14.539 in the No. 3 K-Hill Motorsports Mygale/Honda.
Kaylen Frederick bounced back to run strong as well after an incident ended his race in Palm Beach. The Team Pelfrey Mygale/Honda of Frederick was fastest in two of three Saturday sessions, with the second fastest overall time of the weekend thus far at 2:15.131.
Palm Beach winner Calvin Ming was second quick in the late Saturday session at 2:15.277 for K-Hill.
Friday’s practice sessions were also paced by K-Hill’s Verhagen, who ran a quick time of 2:15.412 in the late 30-minute session on Friday.
While JAY Motorsports driver Cameron Das started the weekend in a F2000 Van Diemen, he switched to the team’s F1600 Spectrum following an engine issue.
Das said he hadn’t decided where he was racing yet in 2016, but welcomed the opportunity on hand at Sebring.
“We’re here just to learn the car a bit more, to get used to the mechanical grip and then (apply) it to the F2000 car,” said Das.
Also making their 2016 debuts in F1600 were returning drivers Will Harvey and Ben Auriemma, now driving for 2015 title-winning team Exclusive Autosport.
Marking his second pro weekend, Brian Graham Racing’s Roman De Angelis continued to make progress in the team’s Piper/Honda.
“Our goal this weekend is a podium,” he said. “We are still feeling out the tires, we had never run on slicks until last weekend.”
De Angelis plans to run a full F1600 program in 2016 with races in a number of different F1600 categories.
F2000/Atlantic
In the F2000 Championship Series, Skylar Robinson was at the top of the time sheets during Fridaypractice, running a quick time of 2:08.097 in the No. 95 ADSA/Wright Racing Radon chassis.
Robinson would run the fastest F2000 time of the weekend on Saturday morning, with a 2:06.644 in the No. 90 ADSA/Wright Racing Radon.
Just a week ago, Robinson showed pace in Atlantic practice, and is coming off a multi-win season with K-Hill in the F1600 Series. In 2014 he finished runner-up in the F2000 Championship season, winning multiple races in a Citation chassis.
The second fastest time of Saturday went to JAY Motorsports driver Cameron Das, who ran a 2:08.849 before switching to the F1600 car.
Backing up his performance from Palm Beach, Davy D’Addario posted the second fastest F2000 time on Friday in the No. 37 Van Diemen. D’Addario said he plans to run at Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen to start the season, and only ran a single practice day at Palm Beach last weekend, leaving the track early to get married.
Palm Beach winner Blake Mount logged track time in his K-Hill No. 7, with a best time coming in the second of three Saturday sessions.
Shooting for a February sweep of Palm Beach and Sebring, Ryan Norman cruised to the top of the Atlantic Championship Series speed charts on Friday and repeated the feat on Saturday in the No. 48 K-Hill Motorsports Swift 016/Mazda. Norman’s best time was 1:56.921.
Full Friday and Saturday results are available on www.F1600Series.com, www.F2000Series.com, and www.