DEForce Racing’s Kiko Porto goes wire-to-wire to win USF2000 race at Road America

Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

The call to fire the Elite Engine-built 2.0L engines came from Elite Engine’s Logan Knapp.

The all DEForce Racing front row of Porto and Siegel brought the 25-car field up the hill to the green flag after one pace lap.

The teammate wents went through the right-hand Turn 1 side-by-side before Porto took the lead on the run downhill to Turn 3.

Siegel’s Turn 3 exit wasn’t optimal, and he lost spots to d’Orlando and Kohlbecker on the run down to Turn 4.

The running order at the end of Lap 1 was Porto, d’Orlando, Kohlbecker, Siegel, Green, Sundaramoorthy, Brooks, Sikes, Garg, Campbell, Nepveu, Pierson, Frazer, Evans, Navarro, Christie, Lee, Vodanovich, Burke, Myers, Rowe, Stamer, Denmark, Vaccaro, and Round-Garrido.

The big mover on the first lap was Legacy Autosport’s Simon Sikes, who went from 16th to eighth.

Just as the leaders crossed the line to start Lap 2, the yellow flag came out for an incident involving Erik Evans and Billy Frazer in Turn 6. The No. 91 Exclusive Autosport machine was the big loser, ending in the tire barrier after a wild ride through the gravel trap.

Before the yellow flag, championship contender Brooks got around Sundaramoorthy and Sikes, moving up two spots on the second lap after gaining three places on the first lap of the 12 lap race.

The green flag came back out to start Lap 4. d’Orlando got a significant jump with the Cape Motorsports driver and pole-sitter going side-by-side from Turn 1 through Canada Corner. d’Orlando was able to grab the lead, crossing the line first to start Lap 5.

On the run down to Turn 1, Porto got beside d’Orlando, completing the pass for the lead on the outside of the fast right-hander.

At the halfway point of the race, Porto’s lead was 0.8 seconds over d’Orlando, who was facing pressure from his teammate Kohlbecker.

The running order at the halfway point of the race was Porto, d’Orlando, Kohlbecker, Brooks, Siegel, Sundaramoorthy, Pierson, Green, Nepveau, Navarro, Lee, Christie, Campbell, Garg, Vodanovich, Burke, Evans, Vacarro, Stammer, Myers, Rowe, Denmark, Round-Garrido, and Frazer.

On Lap 7, outside front row starter Siegel dropped his Coopers in Turn 13, losing a pair of spots to Brooks and Sikes and falling to sixth.

With four laps remaining, Porto’s lead was 0.7849 seconds over d’Orlando. Kohlbecker was 2.3 seconds behind second.

Behind the podium runners, Brooks, Siegel, and Sikes were battling for fourth, with Siegel moving back to the fourth spot on Lap 9.

Pierson and Sikes fell into the clutches of points leader Sundaramoorthy on the final two laps, with Sundaramoorthy able to get by his teammate Pierson and just about catching Sikes.

Porto took the white flag 0.9 seconds ahead of d’Orlando, hitting his marks on his final lap and crossing under the twin-checkered flags ahead of the rest of the field.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Of Road America Powered By Elite Engines Race #1 unofficial results