Kiko Porto on track at Barber Motorsports Park. The DEForce Racing sophomore led the final USF2000 test Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy
By Steve Wittich
Mirroring spring training at Barber Motorsports Park just over a week ago, the final test session before the chase for Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship was dominated by veterans.
Sophomore Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) led the way in a session that saw eight of the top ten times set by second or third-year drivers. The Brazilian’s fastest lap was timed at 81.6006 seconds, which is well below the track record.
Within seven-hundredths-of a second of Porto was his teammate, third-year driver Nolan Siegel and the quickest driver during spring training, Christian Brooks (Exclusive Autosport).
Rounding out the top five was Pabst Racing rookie Jace Denmark, who was also the quickest newcomer in spring training and the third DEForce Racing driver Prescott Campbell.
After a quiet first test session, it should not be surprising that the second one-hour session allotted to the 26 USF2000 entries to prepare for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Of Alabama doubleheader was much busier.
The 25 drivers with operating transponders that took to the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course completed 587 laps (1,350.1 miles). Cape Motorsports rookie Evan Stamer was the busiest of the group, completing 31 circuits. Exclusive Autosport newcomer Matthew Round-Garrido turned laps, but he was experiencing transponder issues.
The top ten pilots were within a half-second of Porto, who turned his quickest lap on his 17th of 17 laps during the session. The top 20 drivers were within one second of the leader.
Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship test session #2 at Barber Motorsports Park – April 15, 2021
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | QUICK LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Kiko Porto | DEForce Racing | 1:21.6006 | 0.000 | 17 |
| 2 | 10 | Nolan Siegel | DEForce Racing | 1:21.6504 | 0.0498 | 16 |
| 3 | 44 | Christian Brooks | Exclusive Autosport | 1:21.6722 | 0.0716 | 22 |
| 4 | 23 | Jace Denmark | Pabst Racing | 1:21.8556 | 0.2550 | 33 |
| 5 | 11 | Prescott Campbell | DEForce Racing | 1:21.8733 | 0.2727 | 17 |
| 6 | 24 | Josh Pierson | Pabst Racing | 1:21.8765 | 0.2759 | 29 |
| 7 | 33 | Josh Green | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:21.9472 | 0.3466 | 26 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Pabst Racing | 1:22.0073 | 0.4067 | 25 |
| 9 | 91 | Billy Frazer | Exclusive Autosport | 1:22.0199 | 0.4193 | 26 |
| 10 | 4 | Michael d’Orlando | Cape Motorsports | 1:22.0616 | 0.4610 | 28 |
| 11 | 34 | Dylan Christie | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:22.2784 | 0.6778 | 28 |
| 12 | 5 | Spike Kohlbecker | Cape Motorsports | 1:22.3258 | 0.7252 | 26 |
| 13 | 99 | Myles Rowe | Force Indy | 1:22.4437 | 0.8431 | 30 |
| 14 | 1 | Ely Navarro | DEForce Racing | 1:22.4499 | 0.8493 | 20 |
| 15 | 2 | Thomas Nepveu | Cape Motorsports | 1:22.4884 | 0.8878 | 32 |
| 16 | 29 | Erik Evans | Velocity Racing Development | 1:22.4950 | 0.8944 | 22 |
| 17 | 19 | Andre Castro | Legacy Autosport | 1:22.5562 | 0.9556 | 26 |
| 18 | 8 | Jackson Lee | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:22.5753 | 0.9747 | 21 |
| 19 | 9 | Peter Vodanovich | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:22.5808 | 0.9802 | 22 |
| 20 | 20 | Simon Sikes | Legacy Autosport | 1:22.5998 | 0.9992 | 22 |
| 21 | 6 | Bijoy Garg | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:22.7314 | 1.1308 | 20 |
| 22 | 3 | Evan Stamer | Cape Motorsports | 1:22.8071 | 1.2065 | 31 |
| 23 | 63 | Trey Burke | Joe Dooling Autosports | 1:23.1173 | 1.5167 | 26 |
| 24 | 90 | Grant Palmer | Exclusive Autosport | 1:23.1637 | 1.5631 | 4 |
| 25 | 16 | Kent Vaccaro | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 1:23.3208 | 1.7202 | 18 |
| 26 | 92 | Matt Round-Garrido | Exclusive Autosport | No Time | — | — |