Double USF2000 winner at Road America in 2018, Kyle Kirkwood turned the quickest lap of the single Indy Pro 2000 session before qualifying this afternoon. His lap of 121.7695 seconds was just a tenth of second faster than Exclusive Autosport veteran Nikita Lastochkin.
Exclusive Autosport’s second driver, Danial Frost ended up with the third quickest lap and was joined in the top five by Ian Rodriguez (RP Motorsport) and Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Racing)
The ambient temperature when the lone Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires practice session at Road America began was 65F, and the track temperature was 74F.
Robb was the quickest driver after everybody had turned two laps, but was quickly surpassed by fellow veteran Nikita Lastochkin.
Points leader Rasmus Lindh (Juncos Racing) was only able to complete two laps. His No. 10 Juncos Racing PM-18 ground to a halt in the Turn 5 run-off. It appeared the car had some right side damage. The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team was able to move him from harm’s way using only a local yellow. The Swede ended up as the 12th quickest of 13 drivers.
The quickest driver at the half-way point of the 30-minute session was Lastochkin with a lap time at 121.899 seconds. His Exclusive Autosport teammate was the second fastest, over a half-second behind the Russian. The final three drivers in the top five were Jacob Loomis, Robb, and Antonio Serravalle.
Several drivers came to pit road for adjustment in the second half of the session.
The first driver to go quicker after adjustments were Kyle Kirkwood, who moved to 2nd. And his RP Motorsport teammate Ian Rodriguez moving to fourth quickest.
Kirkwood improved again on his next lap, turning the quickest lap of the session with four minutes remaining.
The 13 drivers were able to complete 124 laps during the session.
The top six drivers were all within one second of Kirkwood.
Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Elite Engines Indy Pro 2000 Practice Results
| RANK | CAR NO | DRIVER | TEAM | QUICK LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | Kyle Kirkwood | RP Motorsport Racing | 2:01.769 | –.—- | 10 |
| 2 | 90 | Nikita Lastochkin | Exclusive Autosport | 2:01.899 | 0.1293 | 11 |
| 3 | 68 | Danial Frost | Exclusive Autosport | 2:02.334 | 0.5646 | 12 |
| 4 | 5 | Ian Rodriguez | RP Motorsport Racing | 2:02.380 | 0.6104 | 10 |
| 5 | 2 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | 2:02.545 | 0.7753 | 9 |
| 6 | 9 | Jacob Loomis | JDL Racing | 2:02.718 | 0.9486 | 10 |
| 7 | 6 | Moises de la Vara | DEForce Racing | 2:02.915 | 1.1455 | 9 |
| 8 | 8 | Parker Thompson | Abel Motorsports | 2:02.949 | 1.1797 | 9 |
| 9 | 98 | Phillippe Denes | FatBoy Racing | 2:02.955 | 1.1854 | 10 |
| 10 | 11 | Antonio Serravalle | Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development | 2:02.959 | 1.1897 | 11 |
| 11 | 7 | Kory Enders | DEForce Racing | 2:03.543 | 1.7735 | 11 |
| 12 | 10 | Rasmus Lindh | Juncos Racing | 2:04.925 | 3.1556 | 2 |
| 13 | 83 | Charles Finelli | Fatboy Racing! | 2:08.079 | 6.3092 | 10 |
The first Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires qualifying session is up next at 1:40 pm.