By Steve Wittich
For the second straight Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires test session – this one shortened due to an incoming storm – it was Juncos Racing sophomore Artem Petrov who ended the session with the quickest lap time.
The Road To Success / Bell / 226ers sponsored No. 42 of Artem Petrov on track at Road America during testing (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Danial Frost (Turn 3 Motorsport) ended that session with the second quickest lap time but finished the test atop the combined timesheet with a fast lap of 120.904 seconds set during the morning session.
It was a pair of DEForce Racing drivers that were the most consistent, ending all three sessions in the top five. Veteran Parker Thompson, who will be making his 33rd Indy Pro 2000 on Friday, ended the sessions in fifth, second, and fifth. Rookie Manuel Sulaiman, who will be making his first Indy Pro 2000 start on Friday, ended the sessions with the third, fourth and fourth quickest laps.
The DEForce Racing.com / Valkyrie Velocity sponsored No. 9 of Parker Thompson on track during Indy Pro 2000 testing at Road America (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
The final Indy Pro 2000 test session got underway at 2:30 pm (CDT) with the temperature on our weather app showing a “feels like” of 94F. According to pictures that we were sent, heavy rain was imminent, which could be the last dry session before qualifying.
Right on cue, the red flag for severe weather came out with just over 25 minutes remaining in the 45-minute session. The test session was checkered, giving crews and drivers a chance to get back to the paddock to take shelter.
Incoming. (Photo Courtesy of @IndyPro2000 on Twitter)
The driver at the top of the timing screens when the red flag came out was Petrov, who had just turned his quickest lap of the session at 121.646 seconds. He was followed by Frost, Robb, Manuel Sulaiman (DEForce Racing), Parker Thompson (DEForce Racing), Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing), Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing), Devlin DeFrancesco (Andretti Steinbrenner Racing), Moisés de la Vara (DEForce Racing) and Braden Eves (Exclusive Autosport), who made up the top 10.
The 16 Indy Pro 2000 entries were able to get 85 laps completed before the red flag.
The second rung of the Road To Indy is slated to be back on track for practice at 5 pm (CDT), but that could change depending on the weather.
Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix Of Road America Presented By Cooper Tires Honoring First Responders Test #3 Results
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Artem Petrov | Juncos Racing | 2:01.467 | –.—- | 8 |
| 2 | 9 | Parker Thompson | DEForce Racing | 2:01.738 | 0.2705 | 11 |
| 3 | 2 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | 2:02.278 | 0.8107 | 6 |
| 4 | 8 | Manuel Sulaiman | DEForce Racing | 2:02.434 | 0.9662 | 11 |
| 5 | 1 | Braden Eves | Exclusive Autosport | 2:02.533 | 1.0652 | 15 |
| 6 | 18 | Hunter McElrea | Pabst Racing | 2:02.649 | 1.1812 | 14 |
| 7 | 19 | Colin Kaminsky | Pabst Racing | 2:02.670 | 1.2030 | 9 |
| 8 | 68 | Danial Frost | Turn 3 Motorsport | 2:02.979 | 1.5113 | 16 |
| 9 | 17 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | 2:03.367 | 1.8997 | 13 |
| 10 | 3 | Antoine Comeau | Turn 3 Motorsport | 2:03.765 | 2.2972 | 16 |
| 11 | 36 | Jacob Loomis | BN Racing with Team Benik | 2:04.330 | 2.8629 | 13 |
| 12 | 37 | Sabre Cook | BN Racing with Team Benik | 2:04.834 | 3.3668 | 14 |
| 13 | 69 | Nate Aranda | Juncos Racing | 2:05.793 | 4.3252 | 12 |
| 14 | 57 | Bob Kaminsky | Pabst Racing | 2:05.821 | 4.3541 | 14 |
| 15 | 6 | Moises de la Vara | DEForce Racing | 2:06.159 | 4.6914 | 11 |
| 16 | 83 | Charles Finelli | FatBoy Racing | 2:07.096 | 5.6285 | 14 |