By Steve Wittich
A pair of drivers, Danial Frost, and Jak Crawford put behind forgettable weekends in Wisconsin behind them to top the timesheets during a two-day USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 test at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Both series will be back at the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course in a month for each series ninth and tenth round.
Whether it occurs in May, June or July, an official test for the bottom two rungs of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires test has been part of the schedule (except in 2017) since 2012.
The schedule included three 45-minutes sessions each day, equaling six total sessions of 4.5 hours of total track time.
Teams were allotted five fresh sets of Cooper Tire slicks as well as having the option to use a carryover set from last weekend at Road America.
Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires testing
Exclusive Autosport rookie Frost, a winner on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval to end the “Month of May, failed to finish either race at Road America last weekend. ‘Winning’ a test only days after is an excellent way to start the second half of the season.
Danial Frost and the his No. 68 Exclusive Autosport PM-18 led two days of Indy Pro 2000 testing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Frost’s quickest lap of 76.2167 seconds in Thursday’s fifth session, is below the race track record, set last year by Rinus van Kalmthout (VeeKay).
The 17-year-old was one of four drivers, who are all in championship contention, to lead one of the six sessions. Current points leader, Juncos Racing rookie Rasmus Lindh, another 17-year-old, led a pair of sessions and ended up with the second quickest time on the combined timesheet.
Parker Thompson, a winner at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in USF2000, led the opening and closing sessions in his No. 8 Abel Motorsports PM-18 and ended the two-day test with the fourth quickest lap on the combined timesheet.
Double Road America winner and reigning USF2000 champion Kyle Kirkwood ended up third on the combined timesheet after leading the fourth test session on Thursday morning.
The lone newcomer was Antoine Comeau, a veteran of Radical racing who was testing with the Peter Dempsey owned Turn 3 Motorsport.
The top nine drivers were all within one second of Frost.
A dozen drivers completed 1,441 laps (3,253.8 miles). Frost’s Exclusive Autosport teammate Nikita Lastochkin, who totaled 139 circuits, was the busiest driver.
Indy Pro 2000 session leaders
- Wednesday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #1 – Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) – 76.7062 seconds
- Wednesday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #2 – Rasmus Lindh (Juncos Racing) – 76.7276 seconds
- Wednesday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #3 – Rasmus Lindh (Juncos Racing) – 76.4068 seconds
- Thursday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #4 – Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport) – 76.3949 seconds
- Thursday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #5 – Danial Frost (Exclusive Autosport) – 76.2167 seconds
- Thursday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #6 – Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) – 76.8355 seconds
Indy Pro 2000 combined timesheet
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | SESSION # | BEST TIME (seconds) | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 68 | Danial Frost | Exclusive Autosport | 5 | 76.2167 | 136 | |
| 2 | 10 | Rasmus Lindh | Juncos Racing | 5 | 76.3178 | -0.1011 | 124 |
| 3 | 28 | Kyle Kirkwood | RP Motorsport | 4 | 76.3949 | -0.1782 | 131 |
| 4 | 8 | Parker Thompson | Abel Motorsports | 4 | 76.5555 | -0.3388 | 130 |
| 5 | 5 | Ian Rodriguez | RP Motorsport | 2 | 76.8217 | -0.6050 | 113 |
| 6 | 51 | Jacob Abel | Abel Motorsports | 2 | 76.8886 | -0.6719 | 124 |
| 7 | 2 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | 2 | 77.0487 | -0.8320 | 116 |
| 8 | 90 | Nikita Lastochkin | Exclusive Autosport | 6 | 77.0760 | -0.8593 | 139 |
| 9 | 98 | Phillippe Denes | Fatboy Racing! | 4 | 77.1436 | -0.9269 | 108 |
| 10 | 6 | Moisés de la Vara | DEForce Racing | 5 | 77.4538 | -1.2371 | 117 |
| 11 | 3 | Antoine Comeau | Turn 3 Motorsport | 5 | 77.6405 | -1.4238 | 119 |
| 12 | 11 | Antonio Serravalle | Pserra Racing | 2 | 77.7702 | -1.5535 | 84 |
Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship testing
A late Thursday afternoon thunderstorm ended the two-day test before the bottom rung of the Road To Indy could get on track for their sixth and final session.
DEForce Racing rookie Jak Crawford set the quickest lap of the day during Thursday morning’s fourth session, a lap that was timed at 81.3106 seconds.
14 year-old DEForce Racing rookie was the quickest of 18 drivers during two days of USF2000 testing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Championship contender Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) led the second and fifth sessions, while his veteran teammate Colin Kaminsky led the first session on Wednesday morning. Cape Motorsports veteran Darren Keane, who has had the quickest race lap in three of the seven USF2000 races so far this season was the fastest driver in Wednesday afternoon’s third session.
Keane’s teammate and championship leader Braden Eves didn’t lead a session, but the 20-year-old had the second quickest lap on the combined timesheet.
The top four drivers on the combined timesheet, Crawford, Eves, McElrea, and newcomer Kiko Porto, were all within one-tenth of a second.
Porto, a double-winner through the first six races of the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda, was testing with DEForce Racing and ended up with the fourth quickest time.
The top eight drivers were all within a half-second of the 14-year-old Crawford, with the top 14 within one-second.
The 18 drivers completed a total of 1,767 circuits of the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course. Jay Howard Driver Development rookie Christian Bogle was the busiest driver, completing 129 laps.
USF2000 session leaders
- Wednesday – USF2000 Test Session #1 – Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing) – 81.9564 seconds
- Wednesday – USF2000 Test Session #2 – Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) – 81.5681 seconds
- Wednesday – USF2000 Test Session #3 – Darren Keane (Cape Motorsports) – 81.5927 seconds
- Thursday – USF2000 Test Session #4 – Jak Crawford (DEForce Racing) – 81.3106 seconds
- Thursday – USF2000 Test Session #5 – Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) – 81.3468 seconds
USF2000 combined timesheet
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | SESSION # | BEST TIME (seconds) | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | Jak Crawford | DEForce Racing | 4 | 81.3106 | 109 | |
| 2 | 8 | Braden Eves | Cape Motorsports | 4 | 81.3392 | -0.0286 | 109 |
| 3 | 22 | Hunter McElrea | Pabst Racing | 5 | 81.3468 | -0.0362 | 94 |
| 4 | 11 | Kiko Porto | DEForce Racing | 4 | 81.4018 | -0.0912 | 92 |
| 5 | 23 | Colin Kaminsky | Pabst Racing | 4 | 81.4806 | -0.1700 | 113 |
| 6 | 2 | Darren Keane | Cape Motorsports | 3 | 81.5927 | -0.2821 | 108 |
| 7 | 6 | Christian Rasmussen | Jay Howard Driver Development | 4 | 81.6742 | -0.3636 | 118 |
| 8 | 21 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Pabst Racing | 5 | 81.7947 | -0.4841 | 101 |
| 9 | 12 | Manuel Sulaiman | DEForce Racing | 4 | 81.8750 | -0.5644 | 101 |
| 10 | 41 | Eduardo Barrichello | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 4 | 81.9580 | -0.6474 | 99 |
| 11 | 73 | Cameron Shields | Newman Wachs Racing | 3 | 82.0283 | -0.7177 | 65 |
| 12 | 24 | Bruna Tomaselli | Pabst Racing | 4 | 82.0738 | -0.7632 | 102 |
| 13 | 3 | Reece Gold | Cape Motorsports | 4 | 82.1575 | -0.8469 | 117 |
| 14 | 27 | Matthew Round-Garrido | BN Racing | 5 | 82.4101 | -1.0995 | 95 |
| 15 | 40 | Jack William Miller | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 4 | 82.7278 | -1.4172 | 73 |
| 16 | 36 | Nolan Siegel | Newman Wachs Racing | 5 | 82.8081 | -1.4975 | 117 |
| 17 | 7 | Christian Bogle | Jay Howard Driver Development | 4 | 82.8691 | -1.5585 | 129 |
| 18 | 77 | Timmy Paglusio | Jay Howard Driver Development | 3 | 90.1023 | -8.7917 | 25 |
Both series have two weekends off before they are back on-track again north of the border in Toronto. Practice on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit begins on Friday, July 12, 2019.