Archives for Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

A USF2000 Double for Askew at Barber as Frederick Again Impresses

Posted by  on Saturday, April 22nd 2017     

LEEDS, Ala. – This afternoon’s second leg of the Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park, Round Four of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, ended in similar fashion to yesterday with young Americans Oliver Askew and Kaylen Frederick holding the top two positions. This time,…

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

Askew Extends USF2000 Points Lead with Narrow Win Over Frederick

Posted by  on Friday, April 21st 2017     
LEEDS, Ala. – The first of two races which will comprise this weekend’s Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park saw Oliver Askew, from Jupiter, Fla., speed to his second victory in just three starts for Cape Motorsports. But the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200k Scholarship winner was made to work hard for his laurels by equally impressive 14-year-old Kaylen Frederick, from Potomac, Md., who backed up his strong start to the season on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., with another fine performance today for Team Pelfrey.
Dutch teenager Rinus VeeKay (Pabst Racing) and Frederick’s teammate Robert Megennis, from New York, N.Y., also remained in close contention throughout this afternoon’s 30-minute, 19-lap race run in warm, sunny conditions on the undulating 2.3-mile road course.
After posting the fastest lap in qualifying this morning to earn the pole position, Askew made a good jump to maintain his advantage at the green flag but was never able to shake off the attentions of Frederick, who remained seemingly glued to the leader’s gearbox. Any enhanced hopes that Frederick might have had for a maiden victory due to the effects of a mid-race full-course caution after Askew’s teammate, Ricky Donison, from Bangalore, India, slid into the gravel trap in Turn Three, were quickly dashed when Askew again nailed the restart to cement his position out in front.
Frederick remained close behind but had to settle for second place, just 0.2273 second in arrears at the checkered flag.
After sweeping both race victories at Barber one year ago, Canadian Parker Thompson finished fifth this time for the new Exclusive Autosport team, unable to take advantage of the late restart which had allowed him to negate a deficit of almost two seconds prior to the caution. Thompson had managed to find a way past fifth-fastest qualifier Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing), from San Diego, Calif., at the start and maintained a narrow advantage until the end, with Guyana’s Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing) also in close attendance.
Norway’s Ayla Agren (Team Pelfrey), New Yorker Andre Castro (Newman Wachs Racing) and Australian Luke Gabin (Exclusive Autosport) completed the top 10 ahead of Englishman Toby Sowery, who made a solid debut for the new Benik team, and Devin Wojcik (ArmsUp Motorsports), from Syracuse, N.Y., who earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award for a fine drive to 12th after starting 20th.
Cape Motorsports earned another PFC Award as the winning team, while Frederick took home the Staubli Award.
Askew currently leads the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda after three races by a margin of 90 points to 69 over VeeKay. Frederick currently lies third on 62, followed by Thompson on 57 and Megennis on 53.
Qualifying for Race 2 will take place at 9:25 am CDT tomorrow with the green flag set for 4:55 pm.
Oliver Askew, #2 Mazda Motorsports/MC Racing (Cape Motorsports): “I trick myself into thinking it’s just a practice session, because if you think too much, that’s when mistakes happen – and I couldn’t have that with Kaylen right behind me. The Cape Motorsports guys are doing a great job and I’m learning every time I’m at the track. I really appreciate the opportunity from Mazda. This is everything I’ve ever hoped for. I’ve waited for this opportunity for several years so to be where I am right now is really special – hopefully we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. The goal is to win the championship and this is a huge opportunity to keep working toward that.”
Kaylen Frederick, #81 Pilot ONE Racing (Team Pelfrey):  “It’s a cliché but I hope this is the first of many more to come! Hopefully we can get the pole tomorrow so I don’t have to work so hard to get around Oliver. I struggled at St. Pete since it was first street course. I had to learn a lot and improve a lot but the team definitely gave me a good car there and here as well. I took advantage of what I could today –  the Cooper tires wore well so I could just keep my head down and focus. It took a while to get comfortable with all the high-speed corners and the compressions. It was hard for me to get the confidence to go into those corners with that much speed but it’s all clicked now.”
Rinus VeeKay, #21 Jumbo Supermarkets The Netherlands/Total (Pabst Racing):  “It’s good as a rookie to be in the top three in the championship after three races, so I’m happy with that. I didn’t have a great start but I think it was the best I could get out of my position. It is hard to pass here but I was one of the quickest cars so that bodes well for tomorrow. You have to be so much quicker to get past someone here because it’s so fast and flowing, which is the opposite of St. Pete which is more stopping and going. We’ll work on the car overnight and go for the win tomorrow.”

Barber USF2000 Race #1 Podium. Photo: INDYCAR

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

Megennis, Askew Share Honors in USF2000 Openers at St. Petersburg

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     
Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship Winner Askew Takes Early Points Lead
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey) and Oliver Askew (Cape Motorsports) shared the limelight today as the new-look Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda kicked off in style on the streets of St. Petersburg. The brand-new Mazda-powered Tatuus USF-17 chassis provided some spectacular action as the talented young American duo each claimed a race win during today’s season-opening double-header.
Last year’s top rookie, Megennis, from New York, N.Y., secured his first win this morning despite a late charge from former karting star Askew, from Jupiter, Fla., who was making his USF2000 debut after winning both a Team USA Scholarship and the inaugural Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout in 2016. Dutch teenager Rinus VeeKay finished third for Pabst Racing.
In Race Two this afternoon, Askew pounced on a mistake by polesitter Parker Thompson (Exclusive Autosport), from Red Deer, Alb., Canada, to claim the victory, followed by VeeKay and the recovering Thompson.
Megennis, who turned 17 last week, qualified on pole yesterday for Race One, the Hi-Tide Boat Lifts Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and quickly established a clear advantage over the chasing pack, led by Guyana’s Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing) and San Diego’s Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing), who had managed to find a way past Askew at the start.
Askew redressed the balance on Lap Seven, then passed Ming for second place on Lap 13 before setting his sights on the race leader. Askew posted the fastest lap of the race as he negated a three-second deficit within a half-dozen laps, but Megennis held his ground to claim a hard-earned victory. VeeKay also closed in during the late stages before the three leaders crossed the finish line in nose-to-tail formation.
Kaylen Frederick, 14, from Potomac, Md., also impressed for Team Pelfrey by finishing fourth ahead of Thompson, who finished a close second in the 2016 title-chase.
Ming slipped to seventh at the checkered flag behind Dickerson, as Cameron Das (Newman Wachs Racing), Moises de la Vara (DEForce Racing) and Andre Castro (Newman Wachs) completed the top 10.
Megennis and Team Pelfrey claimed the Staubli and PFC Awards respectively, while VeeKay earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award for his impressive drive to third after starting 14th.
Thompson, who had snared the pole for Race Two, the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, during a separate 20-minute qualifying session this morning, maintained his advantage at the green flag, chased by Askew, VeeKay and Megennis, who snuck past Dickerson at the start.
Following a full-course caution after five laps when Castro crashed heavily in Turn Two, Thompson left his braking for Turn One at the restart a fraction too late while under intense pressure from Askew.
Askew ducked neatly to the inside and moved gratefully into the lead as the Canadian slid wide and lost three positions. Askew also snatched the fastest lap of the race as he sped to a 1.2056-second victory over VeeKay.
Megennis also took advantage of Thompson’s miscue to move up to third, only to make a mistake on his own on Lap 18. Thompson thereby moved up one position to complete the podium, narrowly ahead of Exclusive Autosport teammate – and St. Petersburg resident – Luke Gabin, who hails originally from Perth, Australia.
Frederick and Dickerson completed the top six ahead of Syracuse, N.Y.’s Devin Wojcik, who drove a strong race to seventh for ArmsUp Motorsports ahead of Kory Enders (DEForce Racing), from Warwick, N.Y., Das (who claimed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after fighting his way up from 18th on the grid) and Ming.
Askew, who took the early championship lead as a result of his pair of top-two finishes, also won the Staubli Award, while his St. Petersburg-based Cape Motorsports team pocketed the PFC Award.
Oliver Askew (#3 Mazda Motorsports/MC Racing-Cape Motorsports): “I knew this would be possible but I didn’t know it would happen this soon. I came into this weekend looking for points, so I’m really speechless right now. It hasn’t sunk in. I’ve been preparing for this since the Shootout; my whole focus is to win the championship. I’m so thankful to everyone at Mazda for choosing me. I feel very honored and hope I can follow guys like Spencer Pigot through the program.”
Robert Megennis (#80 Palo Alto Networks-Team Pelfrey): “The season couldn’t have started any better for us with a pole position and a win. It was pretty intense, especially when Rinus and Oliver were right there: It got me worried but I held them off. I drove hard but didn’t take any huge risks. When you’re out in front, you have to keep doing what you’ve been doing and maintain your pace, which was the plan until Oliver started going so fast! Then it becomes a matter of knowing how hard you can push yourself and how hard you can push the drivers around you. Oliver is a pretty smart driver so I knew I had to defend and make my car as wide as I could. But I can’t say enough about the Tatuus USF-17. It’s comfortable to drive; it’s consistent throughout the sessions; you can push it harder. It’s fun and exciting to drive, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

Starting Grids Set for Four of Six Mazda Road to Indy Season-Opening Races

Posted by  on Friday, March 10th 2017     
Starting Grids Set for Four of Six Mazda Road to Indy Season-Opening Races
Mazda Scholarship Driver Telitz Captures Pole for Indy Lights Debut
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicked off today with practice and qualifying for four of the six races which comprise the start of a new campaign for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires.
A dramatic qualifying session for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the highest rung on the acclaimed open-wheel development ladder which offers Mazda Scholarships to enable talented drivers to reach all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series, ended with Aaron Telitz marking his first Indy Lights start with pole position for Belardi Auto Racing.
Telitz, 25, from Birchwood, Wis., who is stepping up after winning last year’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, jumped to the top of the timing charts moments before young Mexican Pato O’Ward ended his session in the barriers at Turn Eight. Ironically, Telitz and O’Ward had been teammates last year in Pro Mazda – and had shared one victory apiece on the streets of St. Petersburg.
O’Ward, 17, from Monterrey, Mexico, had posted the fastest time in practice this morning for Team Pelfrey and also set the pace prior to Telitz’s fine lap of 1:07.5844. Even worse, as a penalty for causing a red flag stoppage, O’Ward was penalized with the loss of his fastest time, dropping him from second on the grid to ninth in the closely packed field.
Kyle Kaiser (Juncos Racing), from Santa Clara, who won the pole in 2016, will start second for the opening race of the weekend, the Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires, which will start at 5:10 p.m. EDT tomorrow afternoon.
Juan Piedrahita (Team Pelfrey), from Bogota, Colombia, will line up third ahead of rookies Matheus Leist (Carlin), from Brazil, and Colton Herta (Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing), from Valencia, Calif.
Qualifying for Race Two will take place at 7:55 a.m. tomorrow.
USF2000 Champ Martin Fastest in Pro Mazda 
Anthony Martin, from Kalgoorlie, Australia, will start on pole for the Hi-Tide Kids on Track Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Round One of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Martin, 22, who is stepping up to Pro Mazda after winning last year’s USF2000 championship, set the fastest time at 1:13.6718 for Cape Motorsports, edging out Brazilian Victor Franzoni (Juncos Racing) by a scant 0.012 second.
Franzoni had been fastest in the first practice session this morning at 1:14.1486.
TJ Fischer, based in Los Angeles, will start third for Team Pelfrey ahead of teammate Carlos Cunha, from Campinas, Brazil, and Californian teenager Phillippe Denes for World Speed Motorsports.
The race will start tomorrow at 11:50 a.m.
Qualifying for Race Two, the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, will take place at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, with the green flag slated for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Megennis, Thompson Earn Poles for USF2000 Double-Header 
A new era for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda kicked off today with qualifying for the first two races of the new season which will take place tomorrow on the streets of St. Petersburg.
The brand-new Tatuus USF-17 looks set to provide some sensational action this year, as evidenced by the closeness of the times in each of the two 20-minute sessions.
Last year’s Rookie of the Year, Robert Megennis, was first out of the blocks yesterday for Team Pelfrey, posting the fastest time during a 30-minute period of practice that was punctuated by a variety of incidents. The teenager from New York, N.Y., maintained that form this morning on a slightly reconfigured race track, stopping the clocks in 1:15.3708 (85.975 mph) to secure pole position for the Hi-Tide Boats Lifts Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – and the first championship point of the 2017 campaign.
Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing), from Guyana, will start second for the opening race ahead of Oliver Askew, from Jupiter, Fla., representing the defending champion Cape Motorsports team. Askew, 20, is commencing his very first full season of car racing after winning the inaugural Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout last fall.
Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing), from San Diego, Calif., and Kaylen Frederick (Team Pelfrey), from Potomac, Md., will round out the top five starters. The top 11 qualifiers were all blanketed by less than one second.
The race is set for 8:40 a.m. tomorrow, with the green flag due to be waved by Tatuus Race Cars Director Gianfranco DeBellis.
Qualifying for Race Two, the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start tomorrow, ended with Parker Thompson, from Red Deer, Alb., Canada, atop the charts for the new Exclusive Autosport team. Thompson, who finished a close second in the 2016 title-chase, set an identical time – 1:15.3708 – to that set earlier by Megennis.
Askew, who bounced back impressively from an incident on Thursday afternoon which caused damage to his Soul Red Tatuus, will start second for Race Two ahead of Dutch teenager Rinus VeeKay (Pabst Racing), Dickerson and Megennis.
Live timing and live streaming of all sessions will be available on the respective series websites, indylights.com, promazda.com and usf2000.com, as well as on indycar.com and the Road To Indy TV App.
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, Mazda Road To Indy PR, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires

Aussie Martin Takes USF2000 Field to the Cleaners in Mid-Ohio Sweep

Posted by  on Sunday, July 31st 2016     

Cape Motorsports Secures Fifth Consecutive Team Championship LEXINGTON, Ohio – Anthony Martin came into this weekend’s Allied Building Products USF2000 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio 20 points adrift of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Parker Thompson in the battle for this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Up for grabs is a…

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

Mid-Ohio – Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda – Race #3

Posted by  on Sunday, July 31st 2016     

USF2000 logo

An overall Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course note first before the start of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda report: Cooper Tires has taken over the primary signage at the track as of this morning, replacing Goodyear following the expiration of Goodyear’s contract with the track.

Notable visible changes are on the media center banner and the Turn 1 overpass. Cooper Tires’ headquarters is in nearby Findlay, Ohio, and this is a huge weekend for the company with a significant number of guests and associates here this weekend. Cooper Tires is an invaluable partner of the Mazda Road to Indy, having recently also stepped up to become the overall presenting sponsor of the series.

And with that, the race notes…

—

Anthony Martin completed both a weekend sweep for himself and the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing team following this morning’s third 30-minute race of the weekend for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series, the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, the first rung on the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder.

Cape has delivered its second straight weekend sweep at Mid-Ohio in USF2000 with one driver, Nico Jamin having done so last year.

And for good measure, Jamin promptly swept the pair of Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires races at Mid-Ohio on Saturday, so Cape went a perfect five-for-five this weekend at the 2.258-mile road course.

Martin, in the No. 8 Cape car, beat teammate Parker Thompson in the No. 2 car for the second consecutive day, and extended his points lead in the process.

In third place, and scoring his first Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda podium, was Garth Rickards out of Mechanicsburg, Penn., in the No. 22 Pabst Racing entry.

It marked Pabst’s first podium of the weekend after ArmsUp Motorsports and JAY Motorsports had been the other non-Cape teams to get on the rostrum.

Here was the starting grid:

Rank Car Driver Time Session
1 8 Anthony Martin 1:21.1827 Quals
2 2 Parker Thompson 1:21.4460 Quals
3 18 Dakota Dickerson 1:21.7708 Quals
4 22 Garth Rickards 1:21.8893 Quals
5 9 Victor Franzoni 1:21.9370 Quals
6 21 Jordan Lloyd 1:22.1744 Quals
7 3 Nikita Lastochkin 1:22.1953 Quals
8 91 Luke Gabin 1:22.2651 Quals
9 23 Yufeng Luo 1:22.3324 Quals
10 4 Jordan Cane 1:22.4099 Race 2
11 33 Ayla Agren 1:22.4346 Quals
12 80 Robert Megennis 1:22.4350 Race 2
13 34 Lucas Kohl 1:22.4777 Quals
14 5 Austin McCusker 1:22.4852 Quals
15 92 Cameron Das 1:22.5046 Quals
16 77 Sam Chastain 1:23.3070 Quals
17 72 Tazio Ottis 1:23.3967 Quals
18 19 Michai Stephens 1:23.6871 Race 2
19 17 Christian Munoz 1:23.7109 Quals
20 12 Eric Filgueiras 1:24.6642 Race 2
21 20 Clint McMahan 1:24.6650 Race 2

Martin jumped out to an early lead over Thompson, with Rickards and Victor Franzoni getting around Dakota Dickerson on the opening lap for third and fourth. Jordan Lloyd, Nikita Lastochkin, Luke Gabin, Jordan Cane and Robert Megennis rounded out the top 10.

Lloyd passed Dickerson for fifth on Lap 2. Meanwhile Lucas Kohl ran off course at Turns 4 and 5 on the same lap, but the Brazilian rookie in the No. 34 John Cummiskey Racing car continued without damage.

Martin’s gap to Thompson was 0.5302 of a second on Lap 5, and for the remainder of the 30-minute, 22-lap race, it fluctuated between a low point of 0.2538 (Lap 12) and high point of 0.9820 (Lap 20) throughout the race.

On Lap 10 there wasn’t much change in the order – Martin still clear of Thompson, Rickards, Franzoni, Lloyd, Dickerson, Lastochkin, Cane, Gabin and Megennis.

Gabin went off a couple laps later and fell to 15th place, which cost him a top-10 position for JAY Motorsports.

While Thompson got close he was unable to get around Martin and that’s how it was to the finish, with Martin winning a closer-than-it-looked finish by 0.3101 of a second for his series-leading seventh win of the season in 14 races.

After Pabst Racing swept the season opening weekend at St. Petersburg, Cape has won 11 of the 12 races since – Martin with seven wins to Thompson’s four.

P No Name Laps
1 8 Anthony Martin 22
2 2 Parker Thompson 22
3 22 Garth Rickards 22
4 9 Victor Franzoni 22
5 21 Jordan Lloyd 22
6 18 Dakota Dickerson 22
7 80 Robert Megennis 22
8 3 Nikita Lastochkin 22
9 23 Yufeng Luo 22
10 5 Austin McCusker 22
11 33 Ayla Agren 22
12 34 Lucas Kohl 22
13 19 Michai Stephens 22
14 4 Jordan Cane 22
15 72 Tazio Ottis 22
16 91 Luke Gabin 22
17 20 Clint McMahan 22
18 77 Sam Chastain 22
19 17 Christian Munoz 22
20 92 Cameron Das 22
21 12 Eric Filgueiras —

Post-race, Martin noted how he didn’t expect to go from 20 points down entering the weekend to now 21 points up leaving it. The Australian’s points lead is 347 points to Thompson’s 326.  He held off Thompson, who tried to pressure him into a mistake.

Thompson was particularly frustrated given his testing pace from a pre-race test at Mid-Ohio didn’t translate to leading a single session this weekend. The talented young Canadian said they “never hit the sweet spot” this weekend, owing to the challenge of different rubber (Firestone, Cooper and Pirelli) and the changing weather conditions at the grip-sensitive race track.

Both drivers expressed their desire to win the pole position at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, because passing is difficult.

Rickards, meanwhile, called this “like a win” to finally be on a USF2000 podium, considering this is the closest thing to a home race for him. He lives roughly six hours away and given his relationship with the Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, based in Ohio, this was an important weekend for him to deliver the goods. While he hasn’t had the strongest year, he’s determined to end the year on a high note.

That concludes the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda portion of the weekend on TSO Ladder and one final Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race later today will wrap up the full weekend coverage. We thank you for your reads and support.

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda
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Two-for-Two for Martin in Allied Building Products USF2000 Grand Prix

Posted by  on Saturday, July 30th 2016     

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Anthony Martin, from Perth, Australia, carried on this afternoon from where he left off yesterday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, scoring a second successive victory in the Allied Building Products USF2000 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. Martin’s sixth win this year for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing allowed him to stretch…

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

Mid-Ohio – Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda – Race #2 and Notes

Posted by  on Saturday, July 30th 2016     

USF2000 logo

The second of three races in the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio weekend for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series, the first rung on the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder, took place once more after the 1 p.m. hour.

Anthony Martin has taken his second successive win for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing in his No. 8 car, ahead of teammate Parker Thompson in the No. 2 car, with the battle between them taking center stage.

Here’s a quick roundup of notes from the USF2000 paddock before the second race.

—

So we mentioned we’d have more on the Pabst Racing/John Cummiskey Racing car swap back for this weekend after Toronto.

Indeed, TSO caught up with Pabst team principal Augie Pabst who confirmed that Jordan Lloyd’s No. 21 car was repaired from its Toronto accident and brought back to action this weekend at Mid-Ohio, which allowed Lloyd’s 2015 JCR chassis – now driven by Ayla Agren – to go back to Agren.

Pabst said given how late it is in the season it might have been harder to find a new chassis, had Lloyd’s chassis been beyond repair.

—

Cameron Das didn’t start the first race of the weekend for JAY Motorsports. Das, the 16-year-old rookie out of Baltimore, got caught out by Mid-Ohio’s significantly challenging Turn 1 on Friday. He bottomed out and lost control through there, and that required the Jay Green-led operation to make repairs to the rear of the car with rear end damage.

Worth noting, Das was just at Mid-Ohio a few weeks ago for the Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda series debut. Das told TSO it’s hard to gauge the difference in the two cars because the Van Diemen chassis in USF2000 is well developed and at the end of its lifespan, while the new Crawford chassis in F4 is at the beginning of its lifespan.

Das, who was working with IndyCar veteran Raphael Matos as his driver coach at Toronto, continues under the Brazilian’s tutelage this weekend.

—

On another JAY Motorsports note, Australian Luke Gabin told TSO he was pleased with his performance in Race 1, where he started sixth and made it up to third in the No. 91 car. He said he’s gotten a lot better at his restarts. Gabin entered Race 2 fifth in points, 17 behind countryman Lloyd in his No. 21 Pabst car.

—

TSO understands this to be the last race weekend of the season for National class competitor Eric Filgueiras, who’s won most of the races in that class this year, as he and the Spencer Racing team plan for 2017.

He’s been the only National class entry this weekend, which comes as a bit of a surprise to TSO considering the SCCA National Championship Runoffs will be at Mid-Ohio from Sept. 19-25 later this year, and these type cars run at the Runoffs.

—

So, USF2000 race two. Here was the starting grid:

Rank Car Driver Time Session
1 8 Anthony Martin 1:21.0993 Quals
2 2 Parker Thompson 1:21.3596 Quals
3 18 Dakota Dickerson 1:21.7633 Quals
4 22 Garth Rickards 1:21.8006 Quals
5 9 Victor Franzoni 1:21.8497 Quals
6 21 Jordan Lloyd 1:22.0261 Quals
7 80 Robert Megennis 1:22.0842 Quals
8 91 Luke Gabin 1:22.1321 Race 1
9 3 Nikita Lastochkin 1:22.1904 Quals
10 23 Yufeng Luo 1:22.2196 Quals
11 33 Ayla Agren 1:22.3020 Quals
12 4 Jordan Cane 1:22.3516 Quals
13 34 Lucas Kohl 1:22.4043 Quals
14 92 Cameron Das 1:22.4755 Quals
15 5 Austin McCusker 1:22.4817 Quals
16 77 Sam Chastain 1:23.2789 Quals
17 72 Tazio Ottis 1:23.3843 Quals
18 17 Christian Munoz 1:23.4954 Quals
19 19 Michai Stephens 1:23.7270 Quals
20 20 Clint McMahan 1:24.2356 Race 1
21 12 Eric Filgueiras 1:24.6116 Quals

Contact reportedly occurred between Team Pelfrey’s Robert Megennis and JAY Motorsports’ Luke Gabin on the opening lap. Meanwhile it was also a rocky first lap for the two drivers named Jordan. Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Jordan Cane and Pabst Racing’s Jordan Lloyd fell from 12th and sixth to 20th and 21st, respectively, at the end of the opening lap.

Things stabilized a bit until Lap 6, when Dakota Dickerson, who’d started third in the No. 18 Afterburner Autosport entry, ran off course and lost a couple spots in the process. It was a minor setback for the San Diego native, the Team USA Scholarship winner a year ago and this year’s Mazda scholarship driver, who drives the Soul Red No. 18 car.

His issues paled in comparison to Ayla Agren, whose return weekend to the series hasn’t gone as planned after leading opening practice. Agren stopped on course at Turn 4 with a mechanical issue and that brought out the first full-course caution of the race.

Under yellow, the order was Anthony Martin, Parker Thompson, Victor Franzoni, Garth Rickards and Dakota Dickerson in the top five.

The restart came at the conclusion of Lap 9 and the start of Lap 10 and it was the most pivotal point of the race.

Martin backed the field up on the restart and Thompson lost momentum, which opened the door for Franzoni and the rest of the field to get a bit of a run.

Franzoni briefly got around for second in a great move before Thompson got him back on the same lap – it was a great exchange of position.

But the battle for second allowed Martin to check out at the end of Lap 10, with a gap of 2.3723 seconds.

Cane, who’d fallen to 20th on the opening lap, was a huge mover by this lap on the restart – he was up to 12th in the No. 4 Cape car.

Yufeng Luo pitted on Lap 13 with the front wing missing on his No. 23 Pabst Racing entry, and that dropped him to 17th.

By Lap 18, Thompson had closed the gap to 0.8836 of a second, and the other big mover was Cane, again, up to ninth.

Thompson got a few hundredths closer the next lap but then lost pace the last couple laps, and ended 3.8692 seconds behind Martin, who secured his sixth victory of the season.

Thompson was second and Franzoni was third, the Brazilian delivering his ninth podium finish of the season.

Megennis and Dickerson rebounded to fourth and fifth respectively.

Post-race Martin noted the importance of making no mistakes, yet indicated his mistake on the restart to back the field up almost worked to his benefit as he checked out from there.

Thompson noted how emotionally difficult the season can be, given how many points he lost in race one, and said that sometimes things bite. He noted how key the repass of Franzoni was from a points standpoint.

Franzoni praised his ArmsUp team for keeping him in the frame, albeit just shy of the top step of the podium.

Unofficial results are below. Martin unofficially leads Thompson by 15 points, 315-300, after this result. Heading in the gap was nine points, 283-274.

P No Name Laps
1 8 Anthony Martin 21
2 2 Parker Thompson 21
3 9 Victor Franzoni 21
4 80 Robert Megennis 21
5 18 Dakota Dickerson 21
6 22 Garth Rickards 21
7 3 Nikita Lastochkin 21
8 5 Austin McCusker 21
9 4 Jordan Cane 21
10 92 Cameron Das 21
11 91 Luke Gabin 21
12 72 Tazio Ottis 21
13 77 Sam Chastain 21
14 19 Michai Stephens 21
15 17 Christian Munoz 21
16 21 Jordan Lloyd 20
17 23 Yufeng Luo 20
18 34 Lucas Kohl 15
19 20 Clint McMahan 12
20 12 Eric Filgueiras 10
21 33 Ayla Agren 6

The third and last USF2000 race of the weekend kicks off Sunday’s race activity, with the 30-minute session in the 9:15 to 10 a.m. ET and local time range.

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Mid-Ohio – Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda – Race #1

Posted by  on Friday, July 29th 2016     

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Perhaps luckily for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires got its first of three 30-minute races in before the rains hit the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The one driver reining at the end of the day was Australian Anthony Martin, who scored a pivotal win after a tough weekend in Toronto for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.

And with his title rival and teammate, Parker Thompson, out of the running following a cut right front tire, Martin turned a 20-point championship deficit into a nine-point championship lead at the end of the day.

The race didn’t get off to the best of starts with a full course caution from Laps 2 to 3 after Robert Megennis stalled on course at Turn 7. Megennis, of Team Pelfrey, resumed although down a lap.

Martin led from Thompson, with Victor Franzoni of ArmsUp Motorsports moving forward from fifth on the grid up to third.

Dakota Dickerson of Afterburner Autosport was down to fourth with Luke Gabin of JAY Motorsports in fifth.

Gabin and countryman Jordan Lloyd of Pabst Racing would eventually get around Dickerson after the restart. Dickerson, despite starting third, did not have the same amount of race pace.

The race turned on its head with Thompson stopping after puncturing his right front tire owing to debris. While he resumed a lap down in 17th, he was 17th, and thus into a season-worst position.

Contact between Yufeng Luo (Pabst) and Austin McCusker (Chastain Motorsports) would eventually bring out the second full-course caution of the race, and bring the race to a conclusion under the yellow flag.

Martin won from Franzoni and Gabin, with Lloyd and Dickerson completing the top five. This is Dickerson’s second top-five finish in a row.

Of note, Ayla Agren’s return to the series featured a 10th place finish for John Cummiskey Racing.

Results are below. The second USF2000 race of the weekend is scheduled for the same time, 1 to 1:45 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

P No Name Laps
1 8 Anthony Martin 19
2 9 Victor Franzoni 19
3 91 Luke Gabin 19
4 21 Jordan Lloyd 19
5 18 Dakota Dickerson 19
6 3 Nikita Lastochkin 19
7 22 Garth Rickards 19
8 4 Jordan Cane 19
9 34 Lucas Kohl 19
10 33 Ayla Agren 19
11 5 Austin McCusker 19
12 19 Michai Stephens 19
13 20 Clint McMahan 19
14 17 Christian Munoz 19
15 72 Tazio Ottis 19
16 77 Sam Chastain 19
17 2 Parker Thompson 18
18 23 Yufeng Luo 14
19 80 Robert Megennis 14
20 12 Eric Filgueiras 10
21 92 Cameron Das —
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Mid-Ohio – Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda – Day #1 Pre-Race

Posted by  on Friday, July 29th 2016     

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Thursday was the busiest day of the weekend for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, which prepares for a pivotal three-race weekend as it usually does at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

On Thursday, three test sessions were scheduled ahead of the first and only official practice session. Qualifying took place then on Friday morning before the first race of the weekend.

The story heading into the weekend is the championship battle between Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Parker Thompson and Anthony Martin, with the Canadian sophomore getting the upper hand on the Australian second-year driver after Thompson’s trip home to Canada.

Though he hails from Red Deer, Alberta and not in Toronto proper, Thompson banged out a third and a win in his two races. Meanwhile Martin crashed during Friday’s practice, which left him fighting a hand injury for the remainder of the weekend. He fought through the rest of it but crashed out late in Saturday’s race one, before rebounding to second place in race two.

The two had entered Toronto tied but leave Mid-Ohio separated by 20 points (270-250), Thompson now ahead before the Mid-Ohio triple – a race weekend swept by Cape’s Nico Jamin last year.

The 22-car grid for the weekend featured a few changes. Notably, Ayla Agren is back after missing Toronto in the lead No. 33 John Cummiskey Racing entry. That car had been utilized by Jordan Lloyd of Pabst Racing in Toronto in Agren’s absence; TSO will have more on the JCR/Pabst “musical car” swap later in the weekend.

Elsewhere Christian Munoz has been added in a second Afterburner Autosport entry. Blake Mount was listed to run the test sessions only for ArmsUp Motorsports and Joey Selmants, a local driver, had tested here a few weeks ago and was initially set to debut in the National class, but was withdrawn once the formal entry list came out.

Practice Recap:

Martin and Thompson led the way in the unofficial test sessions, and therefore those two along with Cape teammates Nikita Lastochkin and Jordan Cane didn’t actually set times in the official first practice later today. Neither did the last two Mazda scholarship recipient drivers, Dakota Dickerson (Afterburner) and Luke Gabin (JAY Motorsports).

The fact no Cape cars took official times shouldn’t have detracted from Agren’s great first day back in the car after missing the Toronto race. The talented young driver of Norwegian and Swedish background topped the official charts Thursday with a best time of 1:22.1304, which wasn’t even as quick as she ran in testing.

This is a track where Agren had success in the F1600 ranks in the past, and coupled with that and on the heels of her best result this season (fourth at Road America race two) makes her a candidate to finally secure her first career USF2000 podium this weekend – and the first for the team since Martin did so at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2015.

ln second was Victor Franzoni (ArmsUp), and the Brazilian who sits 42 points back of the Cape twins needs a big weekend to properly mount a championship charge as the third and really last realistic driver with a shot.

Young 16-year-old Robert Megennis, who on Thursday was also named a candidate for Jeremy Shaw’s Team USA Scholarship, continued with his good run of form by ending in third for Team Pelfrey.

Proving the Cummiskey pace wasn’t a fluke, Brazilian rookie Lucas Kohl was fourth with Lloyd fifth on the charts.

Of note and as discovered by the voice of the Mazda Road to Indy, Rob Howden, USF2000 veteran Jake Eidson also made a comeback in a setup and advisory for RJB Motorsports, to help the rookie team that runs Michai Stephens and Clint McMahan.

Practice times are below. Of the 15 cars that did take official times, all ran between 10 and 17 laps.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 33 Ayla Agren 1:22.130 0.000 13
2 9 Victor Franzoni 1:22.165 0.0345 10
3 80 Robert Megennis 1:22.196 0.0654 16
4 34 Lucas Kohl 1:22.307 0.1764 15
5 21 Jordan Lloyd 1:22.376 0.2453 16
6 92 Cameron Das 1:22.406 0.2758 10
7 22 Garth Rickards 1:22.539 0.4082 17
8 23 Yufeng Luo 1:22.914 0.7832 16
9 77 Sam Chastain 1:22.940 0.8095 15
10 5 Austin McCusker 1:22.954 0.8234 16
11 72 Tazio Ottis 1:23.240 1.1101 15
12 19 Michai Stephens 1:23.913 1.7824 14
13 20 Clint McMahan 1:23.965 1.8346 17
14 17 Christian Munoz 1:24.104 1.9732 14
15 12 Eric Filgueiras 1:24.424 2.2940 10
16 2 Parker Thompson No Time — —
17 3 Nikita Lastochkin No Time — —
18 4 Jordan Cane No Time — —
19 8 Anthony Martin No Time — —
20 18 Dakota Dickerson No Time — —
21 91 Luke Gabin No Time — —

Qualifying Recap:

Perhaps as expected, the Cape twins resumed back on top of the timesheets once it came time to qualify for the first of three USF2000 races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Martin seized the momentum over Thompson, with the driver of the No. 8 car clocking in a 1:21.047 best time to secure the pole position. Thompson was second in the No. 2 car at 1:21.319.

In third, and scoring what is easily his best qualifying position of his rookie season, is Afterburner’s Dakota Dickerson in the No. 18 car. Dickerson posted a 1:21.654 to edge Garth Rickards, top of the three Pabst Racing entries, in fourth at 1:21.681.

Franzoni (ArmsUp) completed the top five, ahead of Australians Gabin and Lloyd. Official practice one leader Agren clocked in a perhaps disappointing 12th place in the session.

The first of three 30-minute USF2000 races runs in the 1:00 to 1:45 p.m. window later this afternoon, with the potential of rain hitting around the 2 p.m. hour.

Qualifying times are below.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 8 Anthony Martin 1:21.047 0.000 19
2 2 Parker Thompson 1:21.319 0.2713 19
3 18 Dakota Dickerson 1:21.654 0.6066 15
4 22 Garth Rickards 1:21.681 0.6335 17
5 9 Victor Franzoni 1:21.791 0.7440 17
6 91 Luke Gabin 1:21.949 0.9015 17
7 21 Jordan Lloyd 1:21.991 0.9434 18
8 80 Robert Megennis 1:22.029 0.9819 18
9 3 Nikita Lastochkin 1:22.096 1.0482 19
10 4 Jordan Cane 1:22.126 1.0790 17
11 23 Yufeng Luo 1:22.193 1.1456 18
12 33 Ayla Agren 1:22.264 1.2171 20
13 92 Cameron Das 1:22.365 1.3171 15
14 34 Lucas Kohl 1:22.401 1.3534 19
15 5 Austin McCusker 1:22.474 1.4263 19
16 77 Sam Chastain 1:22.759 1.7119 16
17 72 Tazio Ottis 1:23.269 2.2217 19
18 17 Christian Munoz 1:23.274 2.2268 16
19 19 Michai Stephens 1:23.298 2.2506 13
20 20 Clint McMahan 1:24.268 3.2206 12
21 12 Eric Filgueiras 1:24.566 3.5190 13
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