The Radford Racing School/Metal Works sponsored No. 23 of Jace Denmark led the lone Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship practice in Toronto Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy
By Steve Wittich
The first session on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit in three years, a 30-minute Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship practice, got underway a couple of minutes late, just after 8 am.
There was thrash to complete the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit, but it was ready for action after a long night of work. Unfortunately, for the youngest drivers on the Road To Indy, the track had just been washed, so it was a little damp for the start of their session.
When the session got the green flag at 8:10 am, the sun shone brightly, the ambient temperature was a comfortable 67F, and the track temperature was 74F.
There were a few changes to the entry list, with two drivers – Jackson Lee (Cape Motorsports) and Viktor Andersson (Velocity Racing Development) – not in attendance. Nicholas d’Orlando was also on the entry list with Velocity Racing Development but will be racing in Toronto with the Canadian team Exclusive Autosport.
While on his second lap, Frederik Lund, who was making his first appearance since St. Pete, tagged the wall with his right rear at the exit of the final turn. The No. 7 Jay Howard Driver Development machine was able to continue, and the crew got him on track to complete ten laps.
Championship contenders Michael d’Orlando (Cape Motorsports), Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), and leader Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing) were the quickest drivers in the first half of the session.
After 15 of 30 minutes, Denmark was the quickest of the group and was followed within a half-second by Rowe, Bijoy Garg (DEForce Racing), d’Orlando, and Christian Weir (Turn 3 Motorsport).
Weir was the first driver to get under the 75-second lap mark but was quickly joined by Denmark and Rowe.
With five minutes remaining, two drivers had incidents. The first was the No. 11 of Dylan Christie lost his front wing but was able to continue. The second was the quickest driver of the session; Denmark tagged the wall with the left rear, coming to a stop near the entrance to pit lane.
Denmark’s incident brought out the red and checkered flag.
Cooper Tire Grand Prix of Toronto practice results.
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFF | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Jace Denmark | Pabst Racing | 1:14.2457 | 1:14.2457 | 18 |
| 2 | 32 | Christian Weir | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:14.2810 | 0.0353 | 18 |
| 3 | 22 | Myles Rowe | Pabst Racing | 1:14.9107 | 0.6650 | 16 |
| 4 | 33 | Spike Kohlbecker | Turn 3 Motorsport w/Ignite Autosport | 1:14.9229 | 0.6772 | 16 |
| 5 | 4 | Michael d’Orlando | Cape Motorsports | 1:14.9355 | 0.6898 | 16 |
| 6 | 3 | Jagger Jones | Cape Motorsports | 1:15.0203 | 0.7746 | 19 |
| 7 | 90 | Jacob Douglas | Exclusive Autosport | 1:15.1335 | 0.8878 | 19 |
| 8 | 6 | Evagoras Papasavvas | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:15.2061 | 0.9604 | 18 |
| 9 | 10 | Thomas Nepveu | DEForce Racing | 1:15.4500 | 1.2043 | 17 |
| 10 | 5 | Nicky Hays | Cape Motorsports | 1:15.5334 | 1.2877 | 18 |
| 11 | 92 | Billy Frazer | Exclusive Autosport | 1:15.8682 | 1.6225 | 18 |
| 12 | 11 | Dylan Christie | DEForce Racing | 1:15.9859 | 1.7402 | 16 |
| 13 | 12 | Bijoy Garg | DEForce Racing | 1:16.1755 | 1.9298 | 11 |
| 14 | 9 | Jorge Garciarce | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:16.2743 | 2.0286 | 17 |
| 15 | 7 | Frederik Lund | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:17.3999 | 3.1542 | 10 |
| 16 | 91 | Nicholas d’Orlando | Exclusive Autosport | — | — | –.— |
The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship drivers are back on track at 12:35 pm for the first of their two qualifying sessions.