Kiko Porto in the Banco Daycoval – Petromega sponsored No. 12 lead USF Pro 2000 practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

By Steve Wittich

The sun shone between low clouds, and the ambient temperature was still a comfortable 81F when the lone USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires practice session started.

The early leader in the half-hour practice on used tires was reigning USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires champion Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport).

With ten minutes remaining, Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) topped the timing screens, but it was close with d’Orlando, Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing) and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport) all within a tenth of the Swede.

d’Orlando and then Porto jumped to the top of the timesheets when the drivers went to fresh Cooper Tires.

The 20 drivers turned 317 laps of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course, with 2022 USF Pro 2000 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course winner Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) the busiest. The Mexican driver completed 21 circuits.

USF Pro 2000 Discount Tire Grand Prix of Indianapolis practice results

RANKCARDRIVERTEAMFAST LAPDIFFERENCELAPS
112Kiko PortoDEForce Racing1:22.2694——13
21Michael d’OrlandoTurn 3 Motorsport1:22.59780.328415
392Joel GranforsExclusive Autosport1:22.62050.351117
420Jace DenmarkPabst Racing1:22.71080.441416
599Myles RowePabst Racing1:22.71080.441416
62Jonathan BrowneTurn 3 Motorsport1:22.71580.446416
790Yuven SundaramoorthyExclusive Autosport1:22.73890.469514
810Lirim ZendeliTJ Speed Motorsports1:22.79960.530219
991Salvador De AlbaExclusive Autosport1:22.84030.570921
1047Jackson LeeTurn 3 Motorsport1:22.87860.609215
117Bijoy GargDEForce Racing1:22.91860.649215
1255Francesco PizziTJ Speed Motorsports1:23.06050.791118
1319Jordan MissigPabst Racing1:23.08870.819316
146Reece UshijimaJay Howard Driver Development1:23.10950.840115
1532Christian WeirTJ Speed Motorsports1:23.12350.854118
1640Jack William MillerMiller Vinatieri Motorsports1:23.23400.96466
174Ricardo EscottoJay Howard Driver Development1:23.46801.198617
1893Lindsay BrewerExclusive Autosport1:23.86731.597912
1981Nicholas MonteiroNeoTech Motorsport1:23.88971.620319
2083Charles FinelliFatBoy Racing1:24.88202.612619

The USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires series had a pair of test sessions earlier this afternoon. The only red flags were for tow-ins.

Rowe led the first test session with a lap at 82.4242 seconds, followed by Granfors, d’Orlando, Browne, Porto, De Alba and Denmark within a half-second of the points leader.

Porto led the second test session, lowering the best lap to 82.2967 seconds, with the following ten drivers with a half-second.

In case you missed it earlier, we posted a weekend preview.

The rest of the USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires schedule for this weekend is as follows (all times local):

Friday

  • 9:30 am – USF Pro 2000 Qualifying
  • 1:30 pm – USF Pro 2000 Autograph Session
  • 2:55 pm – USF Pro 2000 Race #1 (25 laps or 50 minutes)

Saturday

  • 8:55 am – USF Pro 2000 Race #2 (25 laps or 50 minutes)

Don’t forget to download the USF Pro Championships Presented By Cooper Tires app to follow the action.