A new tire run clocked at 79.751 seconds turned in by Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires veteran Sting Ray Robb was the quickest of the two-day season-opening test at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Robb’s scorching lap knocked Parker Thompson, who was testing with Abel Motorsports off the top of the timesheet. Thompson, who turned 21-years-old yesterday did not take part in the final session of the day.
“It’s obviously a big confidence boost,” said the 17-year-old to TSO Ladder after a day of testing. “The guys here at Juncos (Racing) are awesome though. I love being with them again. I had my first test with them back at the 2017 Chris Griffis Memorial Test. I decided to go with Team Pelfrey, but this year we are back at Juncos. It’s nice to be wearing green!”
Sting Ray Robb and Juncos Racing used a list session flyer to take over top honors at the season opening Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires test at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Canadian Thompson has not been in an open wheel car since he piloted a Team Pelfrey Indy Lights machine at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in September 2018.
Only three-tenths of a second separated the top four drivers on the combined timesheet.
That quartet included reigning Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship champion Kyle Kirkwood, who was driving with RP Motorsport for the first time.
“Yesterday we were just getting warmed up to things, said a satisfied Kirkwood to TSO Ladder. “I had to get familiar with the team and the car. I was fortunate enough to come up on top of the leaderboard. Even though it’s testing and it doesn’t really matter what the times are, it felt good. The first day as a team together, the first official test. Overall, we found a lot. I’ve learned a lot about the car. The car felt really good, and I think we have a strong car for St. Petersburg.”
Kyle Kirkwood and his Soul Red No. 28 from the RP Motorsport stable navigates the road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires testing in preparation for the 2019 season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Danial Frost, who made his Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires debut in a partial season with Exclusive Autosport in USF2000 last year had an issue with his transponder in his No. 68 Exclusive Autosport PM-18. TSO Ladder chatted with the team, and they told us that Frost’s time in the third session would have put him among the top five on the combined chart.
Session #3 notes
Thompson, who turned 21-years-old yesterday was the first to turn a lap under 80 seconds, but it was a tight session. Four drivers were within a half-second of Thompson, with eight drivers within one second.
Birthday boy Parker Locke, who turned 18 on Sunday, did 30 circuits of the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course. The most of any driver.
Session #4 notes
Thompson led his second straight session in the Abel Motorsports No. 8.
It was the hottest session of the test and times were quite a bit slower, and the track was not as busy with the dozen drivers not reaching 200 laps of testing.
Session #5
The final session of the two-day test saw temperature just starting to come down and plenty of drivers pushing hard to end the test on a positive note.
Half of the entries (six) turned their quickest official lap of the session including Robb, Kirkwood, Rasmus Lindh, Danial Frost, Damiano Fioravanti, and Charles Finelli.
Thompson was has happy with the car they had developed and sat out the final session.
Indy Pro 2000 Homestead-Miami Speedway testing combined time sheet from all sessions.
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | 1:19.751 | –.—- | 109 |
| 2 | 8 | Parker Thompson | Abel Motorsports | 1:19.951 | 0.200 | 66 |
| 3 | 28 | Kyle Kirkwood | RP Motorsport Racing | 1:20.007 | 0.256 | 92 |
| 4 | 10 | Rasmus Lindh | Juncos Racing | 1:20.029 | 0.278 | 107 |
| 5 | 6 | Moises de la Vara | DEForce Racing | 1:20.335 | 0.584 | 72 |
| 6 | 90 | Nikita Lastochkin | Exclusive Autosport | 1:20.446 | 0.695 | 88 |
| 7 | 11 | Antonio Serravalle | Pserra Racing | 1:20.682 | 0.931 | 76 |
| 8 | 51 | Jacob Abel | Abel Motorsports | 1:20.734 | 0.983 | 106 |
| 9 | 68 | Danial Frost | Exclusive Autosport | 1:20.849 | 1.098 | 23 |
| 10 | 5 | Damiano Fioravanti | RP Motorsport Racing | 1:21.011 | 1.260 | 105 |
| 11 | 91 | Parker Locke | Exclusive Autosport | 1:21.013 | 1.262 | 93 |
| 12 | 83 | Charles Finelli | Fatboy Racing! | 1:24.197 | 4.447 | 101 |
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