By Steve Wittich
Pro Mazda practice
A 25-minute Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire session opened the 32nd Indy car event at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario.
Nikia Lastochkin made contact in Turn 10 before completing his first hot lap. The team, Cape Motorsports, and driver confirmed that they had a part break that sent the Russian veteran into the concrete barriers.
At the halfway mark of the 25-minute session, Juncos Racing rookie Rinus VeeKay was the quickest driver with a lap of 1:10.091. That lap and the laps of the top six drivers were below the track record of 1:10:7635 set by Aaron Telitz during qualifying in 2016.
The Dutch driver clearly likes the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit; he currently holds the USF2000 track record.
The red flag came out with 10 minutes remaining for an incident in Turn 4 involving the No. 1 Juncos Racing machine of Carlos Cunha. We checked with Cunha after the session, and he confirmed that they had a mechanical issue in the steering and luckily he was able to feel it and didn’t make any contact.
The green flag came out for the final three minutes of the session, but no one was able to top VeeKays quickest lap from before the red flag.
At the very end of the session, the No. 78 BN Racing Mazda/Tatuus of Kris Wright made contact with the barriers in Turn 8. When the car came back to the paddock, it had damage to the nose, and the left front suspension was destroyed. The crew was already starting to take damaged parts off the car when it was on the wrecker and with only 90-minutes until qualifying the Chicago, Ill. based team will pull off an impressive feat if the 16-year-old makes it out for qualifying.
The damage on Kris Wright’s No. 78 BN Racing car after an incident in Turn 8 in practice for Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire in Toronto, Ontario. (TSO Photo Courtesy of Steve Wittich)
The dozen drivers that took to the green circuit turned a total of 144 laps.
Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Practice #1 results.
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | QUICK LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Rinus VeeKay | 1:10.091 | –.—- | 14 |
| 2 | 82 | Sting Ray Robb | 1:10.198 | 0.1068 | 13 |
| 3 | 90 | Parker Thompson | 1:10.395 | 0.3036 | 14 |
| 4 | 79 | David Malukas | 1:10.404 | 0.3126 | 13 |
| 5 | 10 | Harrison Scott | 1:10.631 | 0.5393 | 13 |
| 6 | 3 | Oliver Askew | 1:10.649 | 0.5577 | 13 |
| 7 | 9 | Robert Megennis | 1:10.722 | 0.6308 | 12 |
| 8 | 81 | Andres Gutierrez | 1:11.003 | 0.9117 | 12 |
| 9 | 27 | Raul Guzman | 1:11.193 | 1.1015 | 12 |
| 10 | 1 | Carlos Cunha | 1:11.237 | 1.1452 | 7 |
| 11 | 91 | Antonio Serravalle | 1:12.725 | 2.6333 | 13 |
| 12 | 78 | Kris Wright | 1:13.445 | 3.3535 | 8 |
USF2000 practice
The 14 Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire drivers have a busy Fan Friday. They are back on track for a pair of qualifying sessions at 10:05 AM and 3:30 AM. They will also be part of an autograph session in the atrium of the Enercare Centre.
After a quick break, the 19 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda drivers took to the track for their lone 25-minute practice session.
There was a red flag with under 10 minutes left in the session for a quick track repair. The leader at that point of the session was Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga, who was followed by a trio of Pabst Racing drivers. Dakota Dickerson, who is back with ArmsUp Motorsports for the weekend rounded out the top five.
Late in the session, Fraga and Calvin Ming were able to improve their lap times, but it was championship leader Kyle Kirkwood who ended the session a scant two-hundredths quicker than Ming with a lap at 1:13.2848.
The 19 drivers that took to the green track turned a total of 144 laps.
Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Practice #1
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | QUICK LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Kyle Kirkwood | 1:13.285 | –.—- | 18 |
| 2 | 21 | Calvin Ming | 1:13.312 | 0.0276 | 18 |
| 3 | 91 | Igor Fraga | 1:13.421 | 0.1367 | 19 |
| 4 | 24 | Kaylen Frederick | 1:13.662 | 0.3772 | 13 |
| 5 | 23 | Rasmus Lindh | 1:13.762 | 0.4771 | 14 |
| 6 | 9 | Dakota Dickerson | 1:13.867 | 0.5822 | 17 |
| 7 | 22 | Lucas Kohl | 1:13.975 | 0.6904 | 11 |
| 8 | 36 | Darren Keane | 1:14.049 | 0.7647 | 16 |
| 9 | 12 | Jose Sierra | 1:14.323 | 1.0387 | 15 |
| 10 | 28 | Keith Donegan | 1:14.684 | 1.3994 | 16 |
| 11 | 11 | Kory Enders | 1:14.908 | 1.6236 | 18 |
| 12 | 14 | Max Peichel | 1:15.012 | 1.7268 | 17 |
| 13 | 82 | Bruna Tomaselli | 1:15.030 | 1.5346 | 17 |
| 14 | 92 | Danial Frost | 1:15.445 | 1.9493 | 17 |
| 15 | 29 | Russell McDonough | 1:15.847 | 2.5619 | 16 |
| 16 | 27 | Colin Kaminsky | 1:15.971 | 2.6863 | 17 |
| 17 | 80 | Julian Van der Watt | 1:17.059 | 3.7747 | 13 |
| 18 | 38 | Oscar DeLuzuriaga | 1:17.070 | 3.7851 | 17 |
| 19 | 81 | Kyle Dupell | 1:17.349 | 4.0637 | 15 |
USF2000 will be back on track for qualifying at 12:55 PM, but before that, you can get their autograph in the atrium of the Enercare Centre at 11 AM.