By Steve Wittich
The lone 30-minute Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire practice session before qualifying at 4:40 PM ground to a halt before it got going when Oliver Askew required a tow-in.
The green flag came back out with 18 minutes remaining in the session, and with two-thirds of the half-hour session expired, Parker Thompson, David Malukas, Rinus VeeKay, Toby Sowery and Harrison Scott were the quickest of the 14 entries.
The Cape Motorsports crew was able to get Askew’s Soul Red No. 3 back on track and the USF2000 champion was able to get up to speed.
Exclusive Autosport’s Antonio Serravalle does not show up on the time sheet but according to the team, the Canadian was experiencing transponder issues.
Thompson’s lap of 2:01.061 was 2.8 seconds under the track record. That 12-year-old record should officially fall during qualifying.
Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire Road America Practice #1 Times
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | LAP TIME | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 90 | Parker Thompson | 2:01.829 | –.—- | 9 |
| 2 | 2 | Rinus VeeKay | 2:02.061 | 0.2322 | 10 |
| 3 | 78 | Toby Sowery | 2:02.111 | 0.2821 | 10 |
| 4 | 79 | David Malukas | 2:02.428 | 0.5989 | 6 |
| 5 | 82 | Sting Ray Robb | 2:02.452 | 0.6228 | 9 |
| 6 | 1 | Carlos Cunha | 2:02.662 | 0.8328 | 8 |
| 7 | 9 | Robert Megennis | 2:02.664 | 0.8353 | 10 |
| 8 | 81 | Andres Gutierrez | 2:02.698 | 0.8688 | 9 |
| 9 | 10 | Harrison Scott | 2:02.886 | 1.0570 | 9 |
| 10 | 3 | Oliver Askew | 2:03.323 | 1.4939 | 7 |
| 11 | 27 | Raul Guzman | 2:03.328 | 1.4986 | 10 |
| 12 | 8 | Nikita Lastochkin | 2:04.667 | 2.8376 | 8 |
| 13 | 83 | Charles Finelli | 2:06.466 | 4.6372 | 10 |
| 14 | 91 | Antonio Serravalle | No Time | — | — |
You can read our full Pro Mazda preview here –> Pro Mazda at Road America – 2018 – Steve’s Preview
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