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MRTI Update #2 from Toronto – Friday – Rinus VeeKay obliterates Pro Mazda track record on the way to the pole for race #1

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

With the Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire winner in all nine previous races in Toronto, Ont., starting Saturday’’s first of two Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products races is critical.

It’s so essential that pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay wheeled a damaged car into the run-off in Turn 1 to avoid causing a red flag and losing his pole lap.

The Dutch driver’s final lap of 1:07.974 was only seven-hundredths quicker than Malukas. His pole laps obliterated the old Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire track record of 1:10.7635 set by Aaron Telitz in 2016.

VeeKay is currently the owner of the USF2000 and Pro Mazda track records on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit.

“It was really tough,” said the 17-year-old. “I was quickest in the first practice, so It started off well. But, of course, everyone gets better, so I knew it was going to be close, but not this close. Charles Crews (former Indy Lights driver), my driver coach was telling me you need half-a-tenth, and then again that you need half-a-tenth. So, I was pushing and pushing so hard, and I finally got it.”

Juncos Racing Pro Mazda rookie Rinus VeeKay gets buckled in for qualifying in Toronto. He would go on to win the pole (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

VeeKay told us that his lap time didn’t come up on his dash and because of that, he was pushing hard after crossing the timing line and tagged the wall with the right side rear of his No. 2 JUMBO sponsored Juncos Racing machine.

VeeKay, David Malukas, and Parker Thompson traded the provisional pole four times in the final five minutes and will start second and third. Sting Ray Robb will start fourth, tying his best start of the year on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

The first of two Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire Friday qualifying sessions began under blue Ontario skies at just after 10 AM. The ambient temperature was 76F, and the track temperature was 103F.

Impressively, the BN Racing crew was able to get the No. 78 race car ready for Kris Wright. The Juncos Racing gang were able to rectify the issue in the No. 1 ’s, and Carlos Cunha was able to qualify.

Unfortunately, the Cape Motorsports crew were not able to get the No. 8 repaired for Nikia Lastochkin.

At the half-way point of the 20-minute session, Rinus VeeKay, with a lap of 1:08.540 held the provisional pole by two-hundredths of a second over points leader Parker Thompson. Sting Ray Robb, David Malukas, and Robert Megennis made up the remainder of the top five.

Sting Ray Robb went to the top of the charts just past the half-way point before bringing the familiar team Pelfrey yellow and black No. 82 to pit road.

Robb didn’t hold the provisional pole for long before Thompson was able to surpass him.

Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Unofficial Qualifying #1 results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 2 Rinus VeeKay 1:07.974 –.—-
2 79 David Malukas 1:08.049 0.0760
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:08.228 0.2547
4 82 Sting Ray Robb 1:08.295 0.3218
5 9 Robert Megennis 1:08.347 0.3732
6 27 Raul Guzman 1:08.469 0.4958
7 81 Andres Gutierrez 1:08.505 0.5311
8 3 Oliver Askew 1:08.749 0.7751
9 10 Harrison Scott 1:09.260 1.2863
10 91 Antonio Serravalle 1:10.154 2.1810
11 78 Kris Wright 1:10.225 2.2512
12 1 Carlos Cunha 1:10.285 2.3118
13 83 Charles Finelli 1:15.637 7.6638
14 8 Nikita Lastochkin No Time —

The Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire drivers will be back on track for their second qualifying session at 3:30 PM for their second qualifying session.

 

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MRTI update #1 from Toronto –

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

 

Pro Mazda practice

A 25-minute Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire session opened the 32nd Indy car event at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario.

Nikia Lastochkin made contact in Turn 10 before completing his first hot lap. The team, Cape Motorsports, and driver confirmed that they had a part break that sent the Russian veteran into the concrete barriers.

At the halfway mark of the 25-minute session, Juncos Racing rookie Rinus VeeKay was the quickest driver with a lap of 1:10.091. That lap and the laps of the top six drivers were below the track record of 1:10:7635 set by Aaron Telitz during qualifying in 2016.

The Dutch driver clearly likes the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit; he currently holds the USF2000 track record.

The red flag came out with 10 minutes remaining for an incident in Turn 4 involving the No. 1 Juncos Racing machine of Carlos Cunha. We checked with Cunha after the session, and he confirmed that they had a mechanical issue in the steering and luckily he was able to feel it and didn’t make any contact.

The green flag came out for the final three minutes of the session, but no one was able to top VeeKays quickest lap from before the red flag.

At the very end of the session, the No. 78 BN Racing Mazda/Tatuus of Kris Wright made contact with the barriers in Turn 8. When the car came back to the paddock, it had damage to the nose, and the left front suspension was destroyed. The crew was already starting to take damaged parts off the car when it was on the wrecker and with only 90-minutes until qualifying the Chicago, Ill. based team will pull off an impressive feat if the 16-year-old makes it out for qualifying.

The damage on Kris Wright’s No. 78 BN Racing car after an incident in Turn 8 in practice for Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire in Toronto, Ontario. (TSO Photo Courtesy of Steve Wittich)

The dozen drivers that took to the green circuit turned a total of 144 laps.

Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Practice #1 results.

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 2 Rinus VeeKay 1:10.091 –.—- 14
2 82 Sting Ray Robb 1:10.198 0.1068 13
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:10.395 0.3036 14
4 79 David Malukas 1:10.404 0.3126 13
5 10 Harrison Scott 1:10.631 0.5393 13
6 3 Oliver Askew 1:10.649 0.5577 13
7 9 Robert Megennis 1:10.722 0.6308 12
8 81 Andres Gutierrez 1:11.003 0.9117 12
9 27 Raul Guzman 1:11.193 1.1015 12
10 1 Carlos Cunha 1:11.237 1.1452 7
11 91 Antonio Serravalle 1:12.725 2.6333 13
12 78 Kris Wright 1:13.445 3.3535 8

 

USF2000 practice

The 14 Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire drivers have a busy Fan Friday. They are back on track for a pair of qualifying sessions at 10:05 AM and 3:30 AM. They will also be part of an autograph session in the atrium of the Enercare Centre.

After a quick break, the 19 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda drivers took to the track for their lone 25-minute practice session.

There was a red flag with under 10 minutes left in the session for a quick track repair. The leader at that point of the session was Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga, who was followed by a trio of Pabst Racing drivers. Dakota Dickerson, who is back with ArmsUp Motorsports for the weekend rounded out the top five.

Late in the session, Fraga and Calvin Ming were able to improve their lap times, but it was championship leader Kyle Kirkwood who ended the session a scant two-hundredths quicker than Ming with a lap at 1:13.2848.

The 19 drivers that took to the green track turned a total of 144 laps.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Practice #1

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:13.285 –.—- 18
2 21 Calvin Ming 1:13.312 0.0276 18
3 91 Igor Fraga 1:13.421 0.1367 19
4 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:13.662 0.3772 13
5 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:13.762 0.4771 14
6 9 Dakota Dickerson 1:13.867 0.5822 17
7 22 Lucas Kohl 1:13.975 0.6904 11
8 36 Darren Keane 1:14.049 0.7647 16
9 12 Jose Sierra 1:14.323 1.0387 15
10 28 Keith Donegan 1:14.684 1.3994 16
11 11 Kory Enders 1:14.908 1.6236 18
12 14 Max Peichel 1:15.012 1.7268 17
13 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:15.030 1.5346 17
14 92 Danial Frost 1:15.445 1.9493 17
15 29 Russell McDonough 1:15.847 2.5619 16
16 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:15.971 2.6863 17
17 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:17.059 3.7747 13
18 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:17.070 3.7851 17
19 81 Kyle Dupell 1:17.349 4.0637 15

USF2000 will be back on track for qualifying at 12:55 PM, but before that, you can get their autograph in the atrium of the Enercare Centre at 11 AM.

category: Pro Mazda News/Results, USF2000 News/Results

MRTI Update From Road America #14 – Kirkwood makes last lap pass to win chaotic USF2000 race

Posted by  on Sunday, June 24th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Coming into today’s USF2000 race Kyle Kirkwood had led every lap in the last three races. The championship leader’s impressive streak came to an end when he led only one lap. Thankfully for him, it was the right lap. 

Kirkwood told TSO that it was satisfying to win from fourth, showing that the team can race well.

It’s the Cape Motorsports rookies fourth straight win and fifth win in the first seven races. It was the 12th win at Road America for Cape Motorsports. 

Kaylen Frederick grabbed his second straight middle step of the podium finish and was joined on the podium by his teammate Lucas Kohl. 

The 12-lap race was chaotic with a dozen cars retiring due to contact.  

Pole sitter Rasmus Lindh got the jump as the field of 26 Mazda powered Tatuus USF2000 entries took the green flag, but it was his teammate Kohl who pounced, going around the outside in Turn 1. 

Further back in the field Russell McDonough and Sabre Cook ended up in the gravel trap outside of Turn 1. 

Also just before Turn 5, Jose Sierra and Max Peichel ended up against the barriers on drivers left coming down the Moraine Sweep. 

The full course caution came out and all four cars retired. 

At the end of Lap 1 the top 10 were: Kohl, Lindh, Frederick, Kyle Kirkwood, Julian Van der Watt, Colin Kaminsky, Keith Donegan, Kory Enders, Alex Baron, and Kyle Dupell.

Darren Keane, Danial Frost, Mathias Soler-Obel and David Osbourne all came to pit road for repairs. Osbourne was forced to retire, but the other three drivers continued. 

The green flag came back out at the start of Lap 4. Lindh was able to get around Kohl to go back to the lead in Turn 1, but the veteran Brazilan was able to get back by his rookie teammate in Turn 6. 

At the end Lap 4, the top 10 were: Kohl, Lindh, Frederick, Kirkwood, Van der Watt, Kaminsky, Donnegan, Enders, Fraga, \and Baron. 

On Lap 5, Kirkwood was able to get by Frederick on in Turn 5 to grab the final podium spot.

Just as Lap 6 started the yellow flag came out again, for an incident in Turn 12. There was contact between Darren Keane, who was attempting to pass Kyle Dupell going into Canada Corner and there were reports that the Team Pelfrey No. 81 rolled before landing back on four wheels. Both drivers climbed out on their own. 

The top 10 as the field took the second yellow flag was: Kohl, Lindh, Kirkwood, Frederick, Van der WattKaminsky, Enders, Donegan, Baron, and Fraga. 

Van der Watt, who was running fifth came to pit road as the green flag came back out to begin Lap 8. 

When the leaders got to Turn 5, Lindh blew through Turn 5, allowing Kirkwood to move into second and Frederick to third. 

As the field got to Turn 6, Enders and Ming made contact precipitating the third full course caution. 

As the field took the yellow, the top 10 were: Kohl, Kirkwood, Frederick, Kaminsky, Fraga, d’Orlando, Dickerson, Donegan, Soler-Obel, and Baron. 

The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team was able to get things cleaned up in time for one more lap of action, and as the drivers were shown the green and white flags Kirkwood was right under the rear wing of Kohl. 

The green and white flag came out at the same time.

Kirkwood was right on the gearbox of Kohl coming up the hill to the green and white flag and was around Kohl before they got to Turn 1. Kohl attempted an outside pass 

Kohl, who had built a slight gap over his closest competitors, told TSO that he knew he was in trouble when he saw the caution come out and that it was Kirkwood behind him. Kirkwood was running more trimmed out and was able to get by Kohl before Turn 1 on the final restart. 

Pabst Racing now has seven of the 12 podiums in the USF-17 era of racing at Road America. 

Not only were there a lot of DNFs, there were also five post-race 30-second penalties. 

  • McDonough for avoidable contact.
  • Soler-Obel for too many men over the wall
  • Enders for avoidable contact
  • Lindh for blocking
  • Donnegan for jumping the restart

Kirkwood now holds a commanding 217 to 123 lead over Baron in the chase for the Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship. 

Provisional results of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Race #2

P No Name Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 12  
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 12 0.4663
3 22 Lucas Kohl 12 1.9915
4 27 Colin Kaminsky 12 2.1333
5 91 Igor Fraga 12 2.4779
6 51 Michael d’Orlando 12 3.0624
7 19 Alex Baron 12 3.5425
8 90 Manuel Cabrera 12 4.7305
9 9 Dakota Dickerson 12 5.0432
10 79 Jacob Abel 12 6.2765
11 82 Bruna Tomaselli 12 6.2835
12 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 12 6.5911
13 28 Keith Donegan 12 33.2321
14 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 12 34.2617
15 23 Rasmus Lindh 7 Contact
16 11 Kory Enders 7 Contact
17 21 Calvin Ming 7 Contact
18 92 Danial Frost 7 Contact
19 80 Julian Van der Watt 7 Contact
20 81 Kyle Dupell 4 Contact
21 36 Darren Keane 4 Contact
22 37 David Osborne 1 Contact
23 12 Jose Sierra — Contact
24 14 Max Peichel — Contact
25 31 Sabre Cook — Contact
26 29 Russell McDonough — Contact

The lowest rung of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will be back on the track with it’s bigger siblings in Toronto, Ontario beginning on July 12th, 2018.

category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #12 from Road America – Kirkwood scores fourth win in Saturday USF2000 race

Posted by  on Saturday, June 23rd 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Kyle Kirkwood continued his roll in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season, dominating the first Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America race this weekend.

The young American took his fourth win in six races and extended his championship lead in the process, driving the No. 8 Cape Motorsports Tatuus USF-17 Mazda.

He started second but got around polesitter Rasmus Lindh of Pabst Racing almost immediately after the green flag, and never looked back en route to a flag-to-flag victory.

The race ended under full-course caution conditions. Kaylen Frederick upheld Pabst’s honor with second in his No. 24 car, while Keith Donegan scored his first USF2000 podium finish in his first weekend with his new team, BN Racing.

Kirkwood grabs the lead around the outside of Lindh at Turn 1 off the start, and is already out to a 0.7 lead after the first lap.

Both Donegan, now at BN Racing, and Dakota Dickerson, in an ArmsUp Motorsports entry, were big movers on the first lap. Donegan leapt from 10th to fourth while Dickerson moved from 20th to 12th. Lucas Kohl meanwhile had a nightmare first lap for Pabst, falling from sixth to 25th.

The first full-course caution flew on Lap 4, with Sabre Cook in trouble at the Carousel to drop from 17th down to 26th and last. This erases Kirkwood’s 1.427-second lead.

Although the restart got a bit crazy with periods of three, four and even five wide action, there were no incidents as the race resumed on Lap 6 of 12.

Michael d’Orlando’s and Manuel Cabrera’s races took turns for the worse after the restart. D’Orlando pitted, while Cabrera pulled off course on Lap 7 at Turn 3, removing one of the three Exclusive Autosport entries from the race.

On Lap 8, Jose Sierra defended against Mathias Soler-Obel in Turn 12. Both cars took wide exits at “Canada Corner,” but survived the exit without further drama.

There was also a big change for position up front. Lindh, who was second, fell to fifth behind Frederick, Donegan and Kory Enders who all got past the speedy Swede. Ming is now sixth, and Baron seventh ahead of Fraga.

With just three laps to go, Frederick sets the fastest lap of the race and is 1.5535 seconds behind Kirkwood for the lead. Lindh got past Enders at Turn 1 for fourth to regain one of his lost spots. South African rookie Julian van der Watt pits his Team Pelfrey machine from 17th place.

A second full course caution flies at the end of Lap 10 for Cook. She’s stopped between Turns 7 and 8 on driver’s right.

The white and yellow flags fly simultaneously at Lap 11, which means this race will finish under caution.

It’s Kirkwood, Frederick, and Donegan on the podium with Lindh fourth, Enders fifth, then Ming, Baron, Fraga, Sierra and Keane in the top 10.

For Kirkwood, he said it wasn’t his favorite win of the year because he won it under yellow flag conditions. He was surprised Lindh seemed to crowd Kirkwood close to the grass on the run up the hill, but then realized the tactics failed once he was able to get by at Turn 1.

Kirkwood said the concern about the draft here isn’t as bad as at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Even though there are long straights here, he said teams are carrying more downforce, which means you’re not a sitting duck. He restarted fine off the first full-course caution and wasn’t headed.

Frederick, who along with Kirkwood exchanged the fastest lap of the race before Kirkwood got it, started fourth and was unable to mount a serious challenge for the win. He hailed the Pabst Racing team in its home race – it’s amazing how much they know about this place – and says that with a 1-2-3 on the grid for Sunday’s race they’ll be poised to deliver Augie Pabst a win not far from their Oconomowoc, Wis. base. He also looks forward to racing in cooler temperatures tomorrow morning.

Donegan, who’s had a whirlwind week, spoke highly of the BN Racing group for how fast he integrated into the team. About his move forward from 10th to third, Donegan said, “Coming from 10th to third wasn’t easy! Our lane was moving quite quick. I got a good run and once I got to the inside, I got another spot. Then I started picking more cars off. Moving forward early allowed us to race well from there. We didn’t expect to be this far up. It’s a relief to get a podium.”

Unofficially Kirkwood is on 186 points, with Baron second on 109 and Sierra third on 102.

Provisional USF2000 Race #1 Results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 12
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 12 0.4865
3 28 Keith Donegan 12 1.0410
4 23 Rasmus Lindh 12 1.3778
5 11 Kory Enders 12 1.7529
6 21 Calvin Ming 12 2.4620
7 19 Alex Baron 12 3.3370
8 91 Igor Fraga 12 3.7933
9 12 Jose Sierra 12 4.1262
10 36 Darren Keane 12 5.5223
11 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 12 6.1389
12 27 Colin Kaminsky 12 6.9012
13 81 Kyle Dupell 12 7.7310
14 9 Dakota Dickerson 12 7.9871
15 79 Jacob Abel 12 8.8713
16 29 Russell McDonough 12 9.4021
17 82 Bruna Tomaselli 12 10.0379
18 37 David Osborne 12 10.8958
19 92 Danial Frost 12 11.7026
20 14 Max Peichel 12 12.4976
21 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 12 13.1335
22 51 Michael d’Orlando 12 14.0735
23 22 Lucas Kohl 12 15.2164
24 80 Julian Van der Watt 9 Running
25 31 Sabre Cook 8 Contact
26 90 Manuel Cabrera 6 Contact
category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #9 from Road America – Lindh completes pole sweep for race #2, for Pabst 1-2-3

Posted by  on Friday, June 22nd 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Augie Pabst’s Oconomowoc, Wis.-based team will have the top three starting positions for Sunday’s second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda race of the weekend, which will go green at 8 a.m.

Rasmus Lindh completed a Friday sweep of pole positions, with the Swede setting himself up nicely to carry on the Pabst Racing team’s streak of victories in USF2000 competition at Road America. Rinus VeeKay won both races last year for Pabst, which marked the talented Dutch teenager’s first Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires wins.

The USF2000 series capped off a busy day of activity with qualifying for its second race late Friday night, starting at 5:35 p.m.

Competitors in the 26-car field experienced all kinds of track conditions during the day, with an 8 a.m. practice and 12:45 p.m. first qualifying.

The opening laps were in the 2:11 bracket before first Kory Enders and then Lindh dropped into the 2:10 bracket. That is still more than a second off Lindh’s rapid pace and qualifying record set earlier Friday.

Halfway through the 20-minute session, Lindh led from Alex Baron, Jose Sierra, Kory Enders and Mathias Soler-Obel. Kyle Kirkwood had not yet set a time.

Team Pelfrey’s Julian van der Watt posted a 2:10.2573 to briefly take the provisional pole away from Lindh. Igor Fraga then jumped into third behind van der Watt and Lindh.

Van der Watt improved a tenth to 2:10.1748, then Baron beat that at a 2:10.1425.

Kirkwood was first in the 2:09 bracket, at 2:09.6864. He was second this morning and tried to advance to pole for race two later. Keith Donegan then leapt up to 2:10.0400 in the BN Racing entry.

Frederick advanced into second place at 2:10.0219, ahead of Donegan.

Lindh got into the 2:09 bracket near the end of the session, at 2:09.8760, and that vaulted him up to second ahead of Pabst Racing teammates Frederick and Kohl.

Kohl and Lindh leapt past Kirkwood in the final minute, at 2:09.6850 and 2:09.6275.

Frederick jumped up to second right at the end of the session, at 2:09.5409.

So it’s Lindh, Frederick, Kohl, Kirkwood and van der Watt in the top five for race two.

Donegan is sixth, his best road or street course start this year. Michael d’Orlando continued his impressive weekend pace for Team BENIK, and will start seventh, ahead of Colin Kaminsky, Enders and Kyle Dupell.

Provisional Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race #2 qualifying results

P No Name FTime Diff
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 2:09.408 –.—-
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 2:09.541 0.1332
3 22 Lucas Kohl 2:09.685 0.2773
4 8 Kyle Kirkwood 2:09.686 0.2787
5 80 Julian Van der Watt 2:09.933 0.3055
6 28 Keith Donegan 2:10.040 0.6323
7 51 Michael d’Orlando 2:10.067 0.4400
8 27 Colin Kaminsky 2:10.078 0.6702
9 11 Kory Enders 2:10.093 0.6854
10 81 Kyle Dupell 2:10.125 0.4975
11 19 Alex Baron 2:10.137 0.7289
12 12 Jose Sierra 2:10.200 0.7925
13 91 Igor Fraga 2:10.349 0.7219
14 9 Dakota Dickerson 2:10.453 1.0456
15 21 Calvin Ming 2:10.494 1.0868
16 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 2:10.569 1.1610
17 79 Jacob Abel 2:10.652 1.0243
18 14 Max Peichel 2:11.209 1.8017
19 90 Manuel Cabrera 2:11.486 1.8585
20 29 Russell McDonough 2:11.491 2.0834
21 36 Darren Keane 2:11.508 2.1001
22 31 Sabre Cook 2:11.679 2.2709
23 37 David Osborne 2:11.713 2.0858
24 82 Bruna Tomaselli 2:11.961 2.5534
25 92 Danial Frost 2:12.306 2.6784
26 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 2:12.852 3.2241
category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #6 from Road America – Lindh’s last lap flyer puts the Pabst Racing rookie on pole

Posted by  on Friday, June 22nd 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Speed producing overcast skies and refreshing temperatures greeted the 26 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda drivers for first qualifying session of the Road America weekend.

With only 20 minutes available for qualifying, and 2+ minute laps, it was essential to maximize every lap.

Pabst Racing Rookie Rasmus Lindh threw down a last-minute flyer of 139.258 to grab his first career Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires pole. The 16 year-olds previous best start was in his last race at Lucas Oil Raceway Park.

The Sweedish drivers lap also topped the track record of 2:09.656 set by Scott Anderson in 2012.

Lindh snagged the Wisconsin based teams third Road America pole, joining Rinus VeeKay and his engineer, Tonis Kasemits as pole winners for the Augie Pabst, led squad.

Championship leader Kyle Kirkwood will start outside of the front row for the fifth time in six USF2000 starts.

Lindh’s three Pabst Racing teammates will all start in the first three rows along with Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga.

With just over 11 minutes left in the 20 minutes session, rookie Rasmus Lindh went to the provisional pole and was followed by Kory Enders, Lucas Kohl, Calvin Ming, Keith Donegan, Kyle Dupell, Kyle Kirkwood, Igor Fraga, Julian Van der Watt and Kaylen Frederick in the top ten.

Lindh was the first driver to break the 130-second mark in the qualifying session. The Swedes time on the provisional pole was short lived when championship leader Kirkwood turned his quickest lap of the session.

The Pabst Racing trio of Frederick, Lindh, and Kohl all made runs at the Cape Motorsports rookie, and the American’s held the provisional pole until the very end of the session when Lindh was able to leapfrog Kirkwood.

Kirkwood still had a chance to disappoint Lindh. He was able to go faster on his final lap, but fell two-hundredths shy of snagging his fourth straight pole.

Provisional Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race #1 qualifying results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 2:09.258 –.—-
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 2:09.279 0.0206
3 21 Calvin Ming 2:09.462 0.2032
4 24 Kaylen Frederick 2:09.525 0.2669
5 91 Igor Fraga 2:09.873 0.5941
6 22 Lucas Kohl 2:09.877 0.6187
7 11 Kory Enders 2:09.982 0.7239
8 80 Julian Van der Watt 2:09.995 0.7161
9 81 Kyle Dupell 2:10.085 0.8065
10 28 Keith Donegan 2:10.251 0.9930
11 51 Michael d’Orlando 2:10.297 1.0179
12 12 Jose Sierra 2:10.335 1.0764
13 19 Alex Baron 2:10.349 1.0909
14 36 Darren Keane 2:10.663 1.4045
15 82 Bruna Tomaselli 2:10.726 1.4468
16 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 2:10.919 1.6606
17 14 Max Peichel 2:10.951 1.6928
18 27 Colin Kaminsky 2:11.181 1.9231
19 79 Jacob Abel 2:11.187 1.9082
20 9 Dakota Dickerson 2:11.341 2.0830
21 90 Manuel Cabrera 2:11.365 2.0865
22 29 Russell McDonough 2:11.739 2.4806
23 37 David Osborne 2:12.046 2.7670
24 31 Sabre Cook 2:12.186 2.9276
25 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 2:12.214 2.9356
26 92 Danial Frost 2:12.661 3.3824

The third and final Friday USF2000 session is qualifying for race #2 begins at 5:35 PM.

category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #3 from Road America – Rasmus Lindh leads USF2000 for local team Pabst Racing

Posted by  on Friday, June 22nd 2018     

By Steve Wittich

USF2000 practice at 8 AM kicks off a busy day of Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires (MRTI) action at Road America.

Today will feature two practice sessions, four qualifying sessions, a Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire race and a pair of autograph sessions. If you are a fan of the ladder series (like we are), today is a perfect day for you.

I (Steve) will be handling the majority of the MRTI coverage this weekend, with help from Tony DiZinno.

Pabst Racing began the Road America race weekend right where they left off in 2017. Rasmus Lindh had the quickest lap of the half-hour session and was joined in the top 10 by his teammates Kohl, Frederick, and Ming.

Championship leader Kirkwood and his closest competitor ended up with the second and third quickest times.

The 26 Mazda powered Tatuus machines were headed to the false grid just as Tony and I were walking back from The Gearbox concession stand where I devoured a Wieser egger (egg, bacon, sausage, ham and cheese on a kaiser roll).

If they were still asleep at 8 AM, the plethora of campers were the recipients of alarm clock consisting of 26 buzzing Mazda 2.0L engines.

At the halfway mark of the lone half-hour session, the top ten were: Lucas Kohl, Kyle Kirkwood, Kory Enders, Calvin Ming, Kyle Dupell, Alex Baron, Colin Kaminsky, Jose Sierra, Julian Van der Watt, and Keith Donegan.

With eight minutes remaining in the session, Lindh turned the first sub-130-second lap of the weekend, and after the 30-minute session, five drivers had gone under that mark.

The lap of 129.509 by the Swedish 16-year-old was under the track record of 129.656 seconds.

The final five minutes of the session saw the most driver turn their quickest laps, but nobody could surpass the Pabst Racing rookies fast lap.

The drivers turned a total of 286 laps.

Sabre Cook does not turn up on timing and scoring, but the BENIK racer was on track with a faulty transponder.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda practice #1 results

RANK CAR NO DRIVER QUICK LAP GAP TOTAL LAPS
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 2:09.509 –.—- 12
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 2:09.644 0.1354 12
3 19 Alex Baron 2:09.823 0.3135 12
4 22 Lucas Kohl 2:09.853 0.3438 13
5 51 Michael d’Orlando 2:09.888 0.3789 11
6 24 Kaylen Frederick 2:10.097 0.5877 10
7 80 Julian Van der Watt 2:10.139 0.6303 13
8 21 Calvin Ming 2:10.285 0.7761 12
9 11 Kory Enders 2:10.385 0.8760 11
10 81 Kyle Dupell 2:10.421 0.9115 12
11 28 Keith Donegan 2:10.599 1.0899 12
12 12 Jose Sierra 2:10.608 1.0989 10
13 91 Igor Fraga 2:10.807 1.2980 12
14 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 2:10.822 1.3130 12
15 82 Bruna Tomaselli 2:10.906 1.3967 12
16 36 Darren Keane 2:10.921 1.4114 12
17 27 Colin Kaminsky 2:10.943 1.4342 11
18 79 Jacob Abel 2:11.659 2.1497 9
19 9 Dakota Dickerson 2:11.728 2.2185 12
20 37 David Osborne 2:11.933 2.4237 12
21 29 Russell McDonough 2:12.084 2.5750 11
22 90 Manuel Cabrera 2:12.168 2.6587 12
23 92 Danial Frost 2:13.150 3.6414 13
24 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 2:13.420 3.9108 12
25 14 Max Peichel 2:16.354 6.8453 6
26 31 Sabre Cook No Time — —

There has been some movement between teams and a new addition to the grid overnight.

After starting the season with ArmsUp Motorsports, Keith Donegan, the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout winner, has moved to BN Racing to partner with Russell McDonough.

The Borland’s drafted in a familiar face to USF2000 fans to fill in. Dakota Dickerson who made 22 USF2000 starts across the 2016 and 2017 seasons will be in the local team’s second car this weekend.

If you are at Road America make sure you head to the Verizon IndyCar Series fan village for the USF2000 autograph session at 11:10 AM. The next track activity for the lowest rung of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder is their first qualifying session at 12:45 PM.

 

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USF2000 at Road America – 2018 – Steve’s preview

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 20th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

To say that Kyle Kirkwood has an early stranglehold on the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda might actually be an understatement.

The Cape Motorsports rookie currently holds a 59 point advantage through the first five rounds of the 14 race USF2000 championship. To put that lead into perspective, Alex Baron who now sits second on the points table has 56 point lead over 16th place Mathias Soler-Obel.

The 19-year-old has three wins, three poles, four podiums, and led 84 straight and 104 of 138 laps so far this season.

Kyle Kirkwood and his Cape Motorsports team will look to keep the celebration going at Road America (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

“We still have the same approach as always,” asserted Kirkwood, whose own streak of five consecutive top-five finishes, including three wins, has taken him to a commanding 61-point lead in the chase for a $325,000 Mazda Scholarship to advance to Pro Mazda in 2019. “I think this entire year we’ve been pretty risk-less. So I believe our current strategy is quite good… in any situation. Technically, we only have to maintain, but we will always strive for wins.”

Current Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda points.

RANK DRIVER POINTS
1 Kyle Kirkwood – R 154
2 Alex Baron 95
3 Jose Sierra – R 90
4 Igor Fraga – R 76
5 Lucas Kohl 74
6 Rasmus Lindh – R 74
7 Darren Keane 71
8 Calvin Ming 67
9 Kaylen Frederick 62
10 Kory Enders 60
11 Julian Van der Watt – R 58
12 Keith Donegan – R 49
13 Colin Kaminsky 45
14 Manuel Cabrera – R 41
15 Jamie Caroline – R 40
16 Mathias Soler-Obel – R 39
17 Bruna Tomaselli 35
18 Zach Holden – R 32
19 Kyle Dupell – R 30
20 James Roe – R 26
21 David Osborne – R 22
22 Oscar DeLuzuriaga – R 20
23 Sabre Cook – R 18
24 Russell McDonough – R 16
25 Max Peichel – R 15
26 Michael D’Orlando – R 13
27 Jayson Clunie 5

Saturday Afternoon’s Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Mazda will be the 25th USF2000 race held on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course. The series first visited the Kettle Moraine region of Central Wisconsin where Chris Simmons won from pole.

Cape Motorsports has been the dominant USF2000 team for almost two decades. Drivers from the St. Petersburg, Fla. based squad have won ten times, started on pole nine times, and finished on the podium 22 times.

Jonathan Bomarito, Charlie Kimball, and Tonis Kasemits on the USF2000 podium at Road America (Photo courtesy of USF2000)

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda winners at Road America.

YEAR DRIVER TEAM
2017 Race #2 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing
2017 Race #1 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing
2016 Race #2 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2016 Race #1 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2012 Race #3 Scott Anderson Belardi Auto Racing
2012 Race #2 Matthew Brabham Cape Motorsportsm
2012 Race #1 Matthew Brabham Cape Motorsports
2011 Race #2 Petri Suvanto Cape Motorsports
2011 Race #1 Spencer Pigot Andretti Autosport
2010 Race #2 Sage Karam Andretti Autosport
2010 Race #1 Sage Karam Andretti Autosport
2006 Race #2 J.R. Hildebrand Cape Motorsports
2006 Race #1 Dane Cameron Cape Motorsports
2005 Race #2 Jay Howard Aiken Racing
2005 Race #1 Joey Foster Cape Motorsports
2004 Race #2 Bobby Wilson Cape Motorsports
2004 Race #1 Adam Pecorari Andersen Racing
2003 Race #2 Charlie Kimball PR1 Motorsports
2003 Race #1 Charlie Kimball PR1 Motorsports
2001 Race #2 Tonis Kasemets Pabst Racing
2001 Race #1 Tonis Kasemets Pabst Racing
2000 Race #2 Marc-Antoine Camirand Key Motorsports
2000 Race #1 Aaron Justus Cape Motorsports
1993 Chris Simmons SOTARE Racing

Here are some highlights from the year 2000.

Pabst Racing and ArmsUp Motorsports will be hoping a little home cooking kick starts their seasons.

Pabst Racing has had the pace this year, Kaylen Frederick and Rasmus Lindh have the third and fourth best race lap average, but the results so far have been lackluster.

Four of the six podium spots during the pair of inaugural USF-17 races at Road America were scored by Pabst Racing drivers, including a pair of wins by Rinus VeeKay. The first of two Badger State teams entered this weekend is located in Oconomowoc, and has decades of experience at “America’s National Park of Speed.”

Founder Augie Pabst, Jr has extensive experience at Road America winning two SCCA US Road Racing Championship races in 1963 and 1964. Current team principal Augie Pabst, III, raced at Road America in Sports Car Club of America events and was also a winner at Road America in a Shelby Can-Am car. The team-wide success has not just been limited to team ownership. Engineer and driver coach Tonis Kasemits has one Atlantic Series win to go along with two additional podiums. The Estonian born Kasemits has also has made one IndyCar, and some USF2000 starts at Road America.

The team has a total of four wins at Road America (a pair by VeeKay last year and a pair by Kasemits) and drivers Kaylen Frederick, and Lucas Kohl turned in the quickest lap times at the recent test.

Veteran Kohl and his rookie teammate Rasmus Lindh are currently tied for fifth in the championship, with the Swedish 16-year-old Lindh using the “Month of May” to move up from 18th after St. Petersburg.

Calvin Ming, who had second and fourth place finishes at Road America last year is currently seven points behind his teammates.

Headquartered just 10 miles from Road America in Sheboygan Falls, Wisc., ArmsUp Motorsports will be fielding a pair of cars in their home race.

Keith Donegan, the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout winner is coming off his best two finishes of the young season and will be joined by Max Peichel who made his Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires debut with the team on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Baron, Sierra, and Fraga need to start winning races

Alex Baron has had better pace than championship leader Kyle Kirkwood, but a pair of DNF’s have negated his two trips to victory lane. The Swan-RJB Motorsports driver was only the 12th quickest driver at the recent test and will have to find some more pace during practice. More importantly, the Frenchman must start finishing races and finishing races ahead of Kirkwood.

Outside of a mechanical issue in the second race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, DEForce Racing pilot Jose Sierra has shown the pace and racecraft needed to win races and stay in championship contention. Qualifying up front, as the 19-year-old Mexican did in the season-opening race, would go a long way to helping with that.

Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga has shown potential to be a front-runner in USF2000 but seems to need that extra push to become a consistent podium finisher. That kick this weekend could come from a new teammate (see below).

Other drivers, we’re watching.

After a disappointing 19th place finish in the season opener, Sierra’s DEForce Racing teammate Kory Enders has three top ten finishes. And, after ending the open test last week with the fourth quickest lap, the 20-year-old is well positioned to capture his first Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires podium.

Darren Keane, who is only five points out of fourth place in championship chase had a forgettable opening race at on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway recovered nicely with a fourth-place finish in race two and an impressive eighth-place finish in his first career oval race.

The Team Pelfrey driver ready for a break out performance is Julian Van der Watt, who recovered nicely from a disappointing race on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway to collect the sixth quickest lap at last weeks open test. If the South African driver has shown, he has the race craft to fight for podiums but just needs to find that few tenths to qualify in the first few rows.

Returnee

Jacob Abel and the family-run Abel Motorsports have been regulars in the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda the past two seasons. The Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Mazda twin-bill we be the first time the team has crossed over to the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, but Abel did make two USF2000 starts with Newman Wachs Racing racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2017. The Louisville, Ky. based pilot finished the recent test at Road America with the 15th quickest time.

Newcomer

Danial Frost will be making his USF2000 debut with Exclusive Autosport at Road America this weekend. Despite being only 16-years-old, the Singaporean has made 74 starts across the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship, the F4 Japanese Championship, Formula Masters Asian Series, F4 Danish Championship and MRF Challenge series. A combination of nine wins and 32 podiums have resulted in three top-six championship finishes. It will be interesting to see how the young driver adapts to the Mazda powered Tatuus which should be reasonably similar to the Formula Masters car, which is also a Tatuus chassis powered by a 2.0L engine.

Extras

  • The pole sitter has won 13 of the 24 USF2000 races at Road America, and the winner has only come from outside of the first two rows on one occasion, in 2006 when J.R. Hildebrand won from 13th on the grid.
  • In the 11 races at Road America since Dan Andersen resurrected the series in 2010, the pole sitter has won eight times, finished second twice and third once.
  • Before 2010, the pole sitter finished outside of the top ten on five occasions.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda schedule

Friday

8 AM – 8:30 AM – Practice #1
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM – Autograph Session
12:45 PM – 1:15 PM – Qualifying #1
5:35 PM – 5:55 PM – Qualifying #2

Saturday

1:10 PM – 1:50 PM – Race #1

Sunday

8 AM – 8:40 AM – Race #2

 

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Saturday – MRTI Update #8 – IMS Road Course – Kirkwood controls chaotic second USF2000 race

Posted by  on Saturday, May 12th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Kirkwood controls an otherwise chaotic race two

Motivated to win Saturday after losing a win he felt he probably deserved on Friday, Cape Motorsports’ Kyle Kirkwood executed a controlled drive Saturday morning to win the second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda race of the weekend. It’s his second win of the season.

The 20-lap, 40-minute race featured a waved off start and a finish under yellow but like on Friday, featured no shortage of action to cap off USF2000’s portion of the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

The race start was waved off due to debris on course. Before the green Michael d’Orlando’s tough weekend continued as he pitted his repaired No. 51 Team BENIK car. He’d need to catch up the field when the race restarted.

It went green on Lap 2, but without one of Friday’s podium finishers Jose Sierra. The Mexican driver pitted his No. 12 DEForce Racing car and retired from the race. Baron passed Kohl for second and tried by Kirkwood on the outside of Turn 7 to try to emulate his move from Friday, but to no avail. Caroline got by Kohl for third.

Baron’s race went away from him on Lap 3, following contact with Caroline at Turn 7. Caroline tried to Baron’s inside but the two drivers made contact, which pitched Baron into a spin and around, and dropped him to 24th. Keep that in mind though for how this race progressed.

With the contact, Caroline moved into second ahead of all four Pabst Racing cars in succession: Kohl (No. 22), Lindh (No. 23), Ming (No. 21) and Frederick (No. 24), with Holden now best of DEForce’s quartet in seventh. Soler-Obel, van der Watt and Keane complete the top 10.

Lindh is closing on the leaders as he sets the fastest race lap on Lap 4 from third place. Kirkwood though has extended his lead to 2.4405 seconds.

The Swede’s race takes a turn for the worse on Lap 5 as he drops to eighth. Kohl, Holden, Frederick, Soler-Obel and van der Watt are all past for position on this lap. Lindh isn’t the only Pabst Racing car in trouble as Ming pits his No. 21 car with front wing damage.

Reset on Lap 6 is Kirkwood, Caroline, Kohl, Holden, Soler-Obel, Frederick, van der Watt, Keane, Lindh and Roe in the top 10. Fraga has improved to 16th from 22nd and Baron is back to 20th from 24th.

As Kirkwood gaps the lead up to 7.3982 seconds over the field, Caroline now has a train of cars behind him in his No. 28 BN Racing entry.

It all gets a bit crazy on Lap 10 as Holden passes Kohl for third in the Turns 3 and 4 complex, but contact for him later in the lap wounds his No. 10 DEForce car and ends his podium chances.

At Lap 10, the revised order is Kirkwood is leading by 9.2926 seconds, with Frederick now second after starting 12th, then Caroline third, Kohl fourth, Soler-Obel fifth, then van der Watt, Lindh, Holden, Keane ande Roe in the top 10. Holden parks his car in the runoff at Turn 1.

Then on Lap 11 at Turn 4, there’s contact that takes out Caroline and Frederick. Frederick’s No. 24 Pabst car is beached at Turn 4, while Caroline limps his No. 28 BN car into the pits and retires from the race.

It’s a drastically shaken up order as the race goes to its second full-course caution. Kirkwood’s lead is erased and he’s now leading Lindh, Keane who’s rocketed up to third, Roe now fourth, Enders fifth, Kaminsky sixth, Soler-Obel seventh, Dupell eighth, Baron miraculously back to ninth and Cabrera in the top 10. Then it’s Fraga, Kohl, Peichel, van der Watt, Tomaselli, Osborne, d’Orlando, Donegan, Cook and DeLuzuriaga in the top 20.

The restart comes at the end of Lap 13 and start of Lap 14. Kirkwood gets a good jump and leads away from Lindh, while Roe tries a move on Keane for third around the outside into Turn 1. He’s unable to complete it in either Turn 1 or Turn 7.

Baron gains two more spots on the restart and is up to seventh, past Soler-Obel and Dupell.

The top three broke away while Roe held back a train of cars, running fourth in the second Swan-RJB car. The Irishman has a quick turnaround to finish this race, and then will fly to Watkins Glen International after it.

Baron gains three spots on Lap 15, and is back to fourth after getting around Kaminsky, Enders and Roe, and is now just 0.6479 behind Keane in third.

On Lap 15 with just five to go, Lindh is within 0.6261 of Kirkwood. He maintains the gap at 0.6636 of a second. Baron is now just a tenth behind Keane for third and is right on his gearbox coming through the exit of Turn 4.

Contact further back at Turn 4 occurs between the No. 37 Newman Wachs Racing car of David Osborne with d’Orlando’s No. 51 Team BENIK car. Osborne and d’Orlando were running 16th and 17th at the time. Osborne’s car is beached in the gravel trap, and this brings out the third full-course caution of the race. Dupell’s No. 81 Team Pelfrey car ran deep at Turn 12 just prior to this, and the caution allows him an opportunity to restart, although he headed into the pits.

Baron made it past Keane for third just prior to this yellow and will restart just behind Lindh in second and leader Kirkwood.

As the field passes under the start/finish line at the end of Lap 18, we get the one to go before green signal from Race Control, so we’ll get a one-lap dash.

The order before this restart is Kirkwood, Lindh, Baron, Keane, Roe, Enders, Kaminsky, Kohl, Soler-Obel and Fraga in the top 10. Van der Watt is 11thh ahead of Cabrera, Peichel, Tomaselli, Ming, Donegan, McDonough, DeLuzuriaga, d’Orlando and Cook the top 20 and all drivers on the lead lap.

Even before the restart, contact occurs further back as Tomaselli’s No. 82 Team Pelfrey car is stopped on course at Turn 12 without its rear wing. The Brazilian driver hops out of her car and scrambles off track.

Race Control lets the race proceed under green for the start of the lap through Turn 7 before throwing the fourth and final full-course caution of the race, before the field hits Tomaselli’s stricken and stranded Pelfrey car.

Baron had gotten into second just before the yellow flag here, and crossed the line behind race winner Kirkwood under yellow.

Kirkwood and Baron split the weekend in USF2000, just as they did in St. Petersburg, except in the reverse order. There, Kirkwood won race one and Baron race two. Here, it was Baron winning race one and Kirkwood winning race two.

Lindh’s weekend promise ends with the Swede scoring his first career USF2000 podium finish, and joins Kohl as a Pabst driver with a podium this year.

Keane and Roe started ninth and 10th and finish fourth and fifth, Roe posting an impressive top-five finish in only his second start in USF2000, and confirming Swan-RJB Motorsports gets its first double top-five finish.

Enders and Kaminsky uphold the day for DEForce in sixth and seventh, with Kohl, van der Watt and Cabrera in the top 10. Cabrera was just ahead of Exclusive Autosport teammate Fraga for the final top-10 position.

Kaminsky’s No. 27 car has significant front end damage and goes through the runoff at oval Turn 1, road course Turn 12. He’s listed seventh provisionally.

It was a wild race but the weekend, confirmed Kirkwood and Baron as the primary title contenders from here.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – Race #2 Unofficial Results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 20
2 19 Alex Baron 20 0.8372
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 20 1.0947
4 36 Darren Keane 20 1.8199
5 20 James Roe 20 2.1358
6 11 Kory Enders 20 2.5477
7 27 Colin Kaminsky 20 3.2046
8 22 Lucas Kohl 20 3.7785
9 80 Julian Van der Watt 20 4.4584
10 90 Manuel Cabrera 20 4.8462
11 91 Igor Fraga 20 5.3294
12 14 Max Peichel 20 5.9986
13 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 20 6.4100
14 21 Calvin Ming 20 7.0058
15 29 Russell McDonough 20 7.4479
16 30 Keith Donegan 20 7.6930
17 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 20 8.4177
18 31 Sabre Cook 20 8.9076
19 51 Michael d’Orlando 20 10.7945
20 37 David Osborne 19 Running
21 24 Kaylen Frederick 19 Running
22 82 Bruna Tomaselli 18 Retired
23 81 Kyle Dupell 16 Retired
24 28 Jamie Caroline 11 Retired
25 10 Zach Holden 10 Retired
26 12 Jose Sierra 1 Retired

—

After raising $6,000 during the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America last year, the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock hopes to raise double that amount over the next few days. You can do your part by donating here —>please make a donation in the #RaceToEndLupus

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Friday – MRTI Update #5 – IMS Road Course – Baron edges Kirkwood after intense USF2000 battle

Posted by  on Friday, May 11th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Baron edges Kirkwood after intense battle in race one

In only 27-plus minutes and 15 laps of racing, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda put on a show at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Ultimately Alex Baron captured the win following an intense battle with Kyle Kirkwood, having started second and first, respectively in the first race of the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

Baron, who drives for Swan-RJB Motorsports, has now ended Cape Motorsports’ win streak in USF2000 competition at this road course. Cape had won six straight races here prior to this result. Nico Jamin swept 2015, Anthony Martin and Parker Thompson split 2016 and Oliver Askew swept 2017. Jamin, Martin and Askew have all gone on to win the series championship at year’s end.

The engines fired on the field of 26 Tatuus USF-17 Mazdas at 2:45 p.m. ET on Friday, under sunny skies and warm ambient and track temperatures hovering in the mid-80s ambient and mid-110s on track.

Off the start, Kirkwood led away from Rasmus Lindh, who got past Baron for second, with Kaylen Frederick and Jamie Caroline completing the top five.

Kirkwood got out to a quick lead of more than 1.4 seconds on Lap 3, but that got erased following the first full-course caution of the race. Three cars were in trouble, as Darren Keane (Newman Wachs Racing) and Michael d’Orlando (Team BENIK) pitted without front wings, and Lucas Kohl (Pabst Racing) got eliminated from the race. Kohl ran eighth, Keane 11th and d’Orlando 21st at the end of the first lap. Under this yellow, Bruna Tomaselli (Team Pelfrey) and Zach Holden (DEForce Racing) also made visits to the pits.

The order under yellow was Kirkwood, Lindh, Baron, Frederick, Caroline, Sierra, Ming, Fraga, van der Watt and Enders in the top 10. Behind them it’s Kaminsky, Roe, Soler-Obel, Holden, Cabrera, Dupell, Donegan, McDonough, Cook, Tomaselli, Peichel, Osborne and DeLuzuriaga with Keane, d’Orlando and Kohl either off or out.

The restart occurred on Lap 7 with Kirkwood working to defend against Lindh and Baron. Lindh, however, slowed exiting Turn 2 and limped around as nearly the entire field went past. Another car needed to take evasive action around the outside of Lindh, going through the gravel.

Baron moved around Kirkwood in the brief green flag period before the second caution period of the race. Lindh’s demise opened the door for Caroline, Sierra and Ming to move up into the top five positions. Fraga, Enders, van der Watt, Cabrera and Soler-Obel moved up into the top 10. Roe, Dupell, Kaminsky, Donegan and Peichel complete the top 15.

The restart comes on Lap 12, and Baron and Kirkwood streak away from the rest of the field, by 1.4 seconds over Sierra who’s gotten past Caroline for third. Fraga has also passed Ming for fifth.

Kirkwood makes it past Baron for the lead through the Turns 1 and 2 complex on Lap 13, but doesn’t hold it through the end of the lap. Baron is back past and leads Kirkwood by just 0.2554 of a second with two laps to go, and Sierra is right there at just 0.8056 of a second behind in third. Caroline is now by himself in fourth and Fraga is fifth, still ahead of Ming, Enders and van der Watt.

The white flag flew at the end of Lap 14 with Baron, Kirkwood and Sierra within 0.8003 of a second and Caroline close but not quite there at 1.6458 seconds back. Enders is now up to fifth with a fading Ming now holding up van der Watt, Fraga, who’s lost a couple spots, Kaminsky and Cabrera in the top 10. Roe is on the fringes of a top-10 finish in his debut.

Swan-RJB Motorsports’ Baron is able to hold off Kirkwood by just 0.4344 of a second to snap Cape Motorsports’ six-race winning streak in USF2000 at the IMS road course. Sierra brings it home in third for DEForce Racing. Caroline is fourth for BN Racing and Enders makes it two DEForce cars in the top five.

Ming holds on for sixth ahead of van der Watt, Fraga, Kaminsky and Holden, up to a top-10 result to make it all four DEForce cars in the top-10. Holden had actually pitted earlier in the race, and as of Lap 7 he was 17th.

The top three in the race are the top three in the championship, albeit not in the same order.

Unofficially Kirkwood has 74 points, Baron 67 and Sierra 63, with no one else having more than 51 (Fraga in fourth).

The second USF2000 race of the weekend comes at 9:15 a.m. ET and local time on Saturday morning.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – Race #1 Unofficial Results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 19 Alex Baron 15
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 15 0.4344
3 12 Jose Sierra 15 1.2364
4 28 Jamie Caroline 15 2.0410
5 11 Kory Enders 15 3.9397
6 21 Calvin Ming 15 5.8504
7 80 Julian Van der Watt 15 6.1918
8 91 Igor Fraga 15 6.6899
9 27 Colin Kaminsky 15 7.1147
10 10 Zach Holden 15 8.1029
11 90 Manuel Cabrera 15 8.4697
12 20 James Roe 15 8.4942
13 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 15 8.6089
14 23 Rasmus Lindh 15 9.0988
15 37 David Osborne 15 10.6740
16 81 Kyle Dupell 15 10.7012
17 14 Max Peichel 15 16.0014
18 29 Russell McDonough 15 17.2898
19 82 Bruna Tomaselli 15 17.6225
20 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 15 18.1201
21 31 Sabre Cook 15 33.0280
22 24 Kaylen Frederick 14 1 LAPS
23 36 Darren Keane 13 2 LAPS
24 30 Keith Donegan 8 OFF COURSE
25 51 Michael d’Orlando 7 OFF COURSE
26 22 Lucas Kohl 2 OFF COURSE

—

After raising $6,000 during the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America last year, the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock hopes to raise double that amount over the next few days. You can do your part by donating here —>please make a donation in the #RaceToEndLupus

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