By Steve Wittich

The winner, barely, of the first day of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship testing was Pabst Racing sophomore Eduardo Barrichello. The second-generation pilot of the Bib’s Chocolate sponsored #22 Pabst Racing USF-17 turned in a quick lap of 84.3979 seconds.

Pabst Racing USF2000 sophomore Eduardo Barrichello on track for spring training at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

The top four drivers were covered by less than one-tenth of a second, and the top 15 were all within the Brazilians best lap on the 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway roval.

Rounding out the top five on Saturday were fellow USF2000 veterans Reece Gold (Cape Motorsports), Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Cameron Shields (Legacy Autosport).

Josh Green (Cape Motorsports) was the quickest rookie and had the sixth-fastest time of the day, going only two-hundredths quicker than Exclusive Autosport’s Prescott Campbell.

The 20 drivers completed 845 laps (1,867.5 miles) of testing.

Session #1

Sophomore Barrichello led the first one-hour USF2000 session with a quick lap timed at 84.485 seconds.

Not surprisingly, the top five was made up of drivers representing Pabst Racing and Cape Motorsports. Gold (2nd), Green (3rd), and d’Orlando (5th) for Cape Motorsports. Barichello (1st) and Matthew Round-Garrido (4th) for Pabst Racing.

Green was the quickest of the rookies, followed by Campbell (Exclusive Autosport) and Christian Brooks (Exclusive Autosport).

The 20 drivers completed 445 laps of the 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway roval. Californian Campbell was the busiest driver, completing 31 circuits in the Lucas Oil School of Racing sponsored No.1 Exclusive Autosport USF-17.

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Session #2

Once again, it was Barichello that found himself at the top of the timesheets when the checkered flag came out to end the final USF2000 session of Road To Indy Spring Training. Gold found himself just behind Barrichello again. It was a two-tenth of a second gap in session #1, but the difference dropped to razor-thin five-hundredths in the final session of the day.

The top five were rounded out by Sundaramoorthy, Rasmussen, and Shields, who were all within one-tenth of a second of Barrichello.

The top 15 drivers were all within one second of the Pabst Racing sophomore.

A trio of Cape Motorsports drivers, Gold, Green, and d’Orlando, were the busiest drivers, each turning 26 laps. The 20 drivers completed 400 circuits of the 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway roval.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship series is back on track tomorrow (Sunday) for a trio of 45-minute sessions.

A pair of Cape Motorsports drivers, Reece Gold and Josh Green were quick in USF2000 testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship testing – combined timesheet

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP BACK TOTAL LAPS
1 22 Eduardo Barrichello Pabst Racing 1:24.398 –.—- 30
2 3 Reece Gold Cape Motorsports 1:24.452 0.0545 53
3 21 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Pabst Racing 1:24.488 0.0899 34
4 6 Christian Rasmussen Jay Howard Driver Development 1:24.492 0.0945 27
5 20 Cameron Shields Legacy Autosport 1:24.512 0.1139 40
6 2 Josh Green Cape Motorsports 1:24.560 0.1619 53
7 1 Prescott Campbell Exclusive Autosport 1:24.585 0.1873 53
8 44 Christian Brooks Exclusive Autosport 1:24.623 0.2249 39
9 12 Kiko Porto DEForce Racing 1:24.696 0.2982 47
10 4 Michael d Orlando Cape Motorsports 1:24.747 0.3490 53
11 5 Wyatt Brichacek Jay Howard Driver Development 1:24.864 0.4656 39
12 23 Matt Round-Garrido Pabst Racing 1:24.979 0.5815 30
13 9 Nolan Siegel Jay Howard Driver Development 1:25.065 0.6667 36
14 7 Christian Bogle Jay Howard Driver Development 1:25.189 0.7906 42
15 8 Kyle Dupell Cape Motorsports 1:25.331 0.9329 45
16 10 Mathias Ramirez DEForce Racing 1:25.632 1.2337 47
17 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 1:25.851 1.4527 50
18 27 Ayrton Ori Legacy Autosport 1:26.288 1.8897 42
19 91 Manuel Cabrera Exclusive Autosport 1:26.507 2.1088 34
20 41 Max Kaeser Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 1:26.590 2.1925 51