Archives for USF Juniors

DEForce Racing’s Quinn Armstrong leads USF Juniors practice at Sebring International Raceway

Posted by  on Thursday, March 23rd 2023     
Quinn Armstrong (DEForce Racing) in the NDA sponsored No. 16 during USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires testing at Sebring International Raceway – Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

By Steve Wittich

The second USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires season officially began with a single practice session on the 3.74-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway road course on a sunny and warm Thursday morning in the Highlands region of Florida.

DEForce Racing’s Quinn Armstrong led the session in the NDA-sponsored No. 16. The 15-year-old Aussie set a best lap time of 130.411 seconds, four-tenths ahead of the remainder of the field.

Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza, the quickest driver during February testing at the same track, was second best, with Ethan Ho (DC Autosport) the only other driver with a half-second of the top of the timing screen.

The infamous Sebring International Raceway bumps claimed their first, of what we expect to be many, victims when bolts on the rear wing of recent F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda double race winner Jimmie Lockhart shook loose. However, quick work by the Velocity Racing Development crew got the Yacht Next sponsored No. 48 back on track within minutes.

Because sets of tires are limited, we won’t read too much into the lap times.

Management of their allotment of Cooper Tires will be a big part of determining a team and driver’s success during a USF Juniors race weekend. For this event, each entry can utilize one set of carry-over tires (from the Sebring International Raceway) test and will receive two new sets of Cooper Tires. The team’s discretion determines the utilization of the three sets of tires.

The Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring consists of five sessions. A single 30-minute practice, one 25-minute qualifying session and three ten-lap (or 40 minutes) races make how to utilize the tires a critical part of the equation. It also puts tremendous pressure on the drivers to take care of each set of tires, a skill that will serve them well as they move towards the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

USF Juniors Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of Sebring Practice Results

RANKCAR NO.DRIVERTEAMFAST LAPDIFF.LAPS
116Quinn ArmstrongDEForce Racing2:10.411——9
291Joey BrienzaExclusive Autosport2:10.824-0.41310
368Ethan HoDC Autosport2:10.887-0.47610
412Ethan BarkerVRD Racing2:11.399-0.98810
519Nicolas GiaffoneDEForce Racing2:11.528-1.1178
648Jimmie LockhartVRD Racing2:11.797-1.3869
717Lucas FecuryDEForce Racing2:12.065-1.6548
818Brady GolanDEForce Racing2:12.251-1.847
992Jack JeffersExclusive Autosport2:12.571-2.167
1057Carson EtterDC Autosport2:14.389-3.9789
1193Giovanni CabreraExclusive Autosport2:19.132-8.7218
1233Max TaylorVRD Racing——————

The bottom rung of the USF Pro Championships Presented By Cooper Tires ladder is back on track at 1:20 pm for qualifying.

category: USF Juniors

Brienza, Rowe Set the Pace at USF Pro Championships’ Spring Training

Posted by  on Tuesday, February 28th 2023     

Source: Series PR

SEBRING, Fla. – The traditional two-day Spring Training test session held in advance of a new season for the USF Pro Championships Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel racing development ladder began today in hospitably warm and sunny conditions at Sebring International Raceway. Two of the three series were in action on the historic 3.74-mile airfield circuit in central Florida, with Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza, from Golden, Colo., topping the charts in USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires and Myles Rowe, from New York, N.Y. turning the fastest time for Pabst Racing with Force Indy in USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires.

Today provided the first official outing for the new Halo-equipped Tatuus JR-23 cars, which will debut this year on the first rung on the ladder. After a trio of 45-minute sessions, Brienza, 18, emerged with the fastest lap of the day at 2:11.964, an average speed of 102.028 mph.

“Today was good,” said Brienza, who opted to skip the third and final session. “I am really happy with it. Obviously it speaks highly to the team when you have a new package and can come out of the gates running. It also speaks highly to USF Pro Championships as well that they can create a great package that teams can work well with. From driving it, it feels very similar to the USF2000 so I’m really happy with that. It is a great package and this was definitely a positive day. We made some great strides forward and I can’t wait to start the season.”

Brazilian Nicolas Giaffone, whose father Felipe raced Indy cars in the early 2000s, winning at Kentucky Speedway, displayed promising pace by posting the fastest time in two of the three sessions, with a best of 2:12.009 at the end of the day for DEForce Racing.

Teammate Quinn Armstrong, from Newcastle, Australia, was third fastest on the day at 2:12.066, narrowly ahead of Ethan Ho (DC Autosport), from Los Angeles, Calif., and Jimmie Lockhart (VRD Racing), from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Combined Results

Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza during USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires testing at Sebring International Raceway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

An extremely competitive field of 20 USF Pro 2000 cars – the largest since 2014 – saw the top two contenders in each of two 45-minute sessions turning times within one tenth of a second of each other, with Rowe, who is stepping up the ladder after finishing a close second in last year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, narrowly edging out DEForce Racing’s Kiko Porto, from Recife, Brazil.

Rowe’s time of 1:59.207, an average speed of 112.946 mph, was just 0.058 of a second clear of Porto, who finished seventh in the title-chase last year after winning the USF2000 Championship in 2021.

Combined Results

Pabst Racing’s Myles Rowe during testing at the Sebring International Raceway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

“Today was amazing,” said an excited Rowe. “I am super blessed to be in the USF Pro 2000 Championship for a full season thanks to Penske Entertainment. We came out of the box swinging and hopefully we will do the same in St. Petersburg next weekend [for the first two races of the season]. It is looking good judging by how today has gone. I am happy the sun is shining, and everyone is here happy and healthy.”

TJ Speed Motorsports made an impressive debut as Germany’s Lirim Zendeli posted the fastest time during this afternoon’s session, in warmer conditions, at 1:59.451, merely 0.021 faster than teammate and fellow rookie Francesco Pizzi, from Rome, Italy.

Jordan Missing (Pabst Racing), from Channahon, Ill., completed the top five overall ahead of 2022 USF2000 champion Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport), from Hartsdale, N.Y., and Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing),from Scottsdale, Ariz.

The top seven were all blanketed by just 0.337 of a second.

The USF Pro 2000 contenders will have two more sessions tomorrow, when they will be joined by drivers on the middle rung of the ladder, USF2000.

category: USF Juniors, USF Pro 2000
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