The technicians for Cooper Tire busy at work during Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires spring training at Barber Motorsports Park (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

By Steve Wittich

Mirroring USF2000, the second Indy Pro 2000 session was led by Jay Howard Driver Development rookie Wyatt Brichacek. The 20-year-old also led the first Indy Pro 2000 session of spring training.

Slotting in just behind Brichacek was Turn 3 Motorsport rookie James Roe, who was joined in the top five by Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development), Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing), and Cameron Shields (DEForce Racing).

Much like the first Indy Pro 2000 session, the top 15 pilots were within one second of Brichacek’s No. 5 PM-18.

With 15 of the 60-minutes allotted for the second Indy Pro 2000 session completed, only 11 of the 17 drivers had turned a lap.

One of those was Enaam Ahmed, who ran afoul of race control immediately after the first session, was forced to sit the first ten minutes of the second session as punishment. The RP Motorsport driver recovered nicely to end his first day in an Indy Pro 2000 car less than four-tenths-of-a-second behind Brichacek.

At that point of the session, the leader was Juncos Racing rookie Gold, with a lap timed at 78.0225 seconds. He was followed immediately by his teammates Manuel Sulaiman and Kyffin Simpson, who were both within three-tenths-of-a-second of the No. 55.

After an early flurry of quick laps, the drivers settled into a rhythm, with only first session leader Wyatt Brichacek making a move. The Jay Howard Driver Development rookie put in a lap that was only five-hundredths of a second behind Gold.

Other drivers to turn their quickest in a couple of minutes before the 30-minute point of the session were Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing), Cameron Shields (DEForce Racing), James Roe (Turn 3 Motorsport), and Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsport).

Times started to fall during the final fifteen minutes of the session, with McElrea, Shields, and finally Brichacek jumping to the top of the timesheet.

Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires spring training at Barber Motorsports Park test session #2 timesheet.

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 5 Wyatt Brichacek Jay Howard Driver Development 1:17.3432 26
2 3 James Roe Turn 3 Motorsport 1:17.5966 0.2534 21
3 1 Christian Rasmussen Jay Howard Driver Development 1:17.6287 0.2855 26
4 18 Hunter McElrea Pabst Racing 1:17.6317 0.2885 24
5 7 Cameron Shields DEForce Racing 1:17.6603 0.3171 25
6 77 Enaam Ahmed RP Motorsport USA 1:17.7393 0.3961 24
7 11 Hunter Yeany Velocity Racing Development 1:17.8468 0.5036 24
8 55 Reece Gold Juncos Racing 1:17.8848 0.5416 27
9 27 Colin Kaminsky Pabst Racing 1:17.9078 0.5646 24
10 21 Kyffin Simpson Juncos Racing 1:17.9930 0.6498 28
11 22 Manuel Sulaiman Juncos Racing 1:18.1669 0.8237 27
12 42 Artem Petrov Exclusive Autosport 1:18.2934 0.9502 20
13 74 Enzo Fittipaldi RP Motorsport USA 1:18.3497 1.0065 30
14 91 Braden Eves Exclusive Autosport 1:18.4206 1.0774 19
15 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 1:18.4398 1.0966 26
16 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 1:18.4834 1.1402 32
17 20 Flinn Lazier Legacy Autosport 1:19.6739 2.3307 11