By Steve Wittich
Simon Sikes was less than pleased with how Saturday’s USF2000 Championship, Presented By Cooper Tires winner Lochie Hughes raced him in Sunset Bend on the race’s final lap.
That must have provided extra motivation for the 22-year-old, who obliterated the field with a lap at 124.424 seconds, almost six-tenths of a second ahead of his young Pabst Racing teammate Max Garcia, who will start on the outside of the front row for the second straight race.
Sikes now has three career USF2000 poles; all have occurred in the last three races.
The pole start is the 40th in USF2000 for the Oconomowoc, Wisc.-based Pabst Racing.
Hughes will start from the inside of the second row for the second straight race, the same position he won from on Saturday.
Celebrating his 19th birthday today, Mac Clark will start outside the second row, his best start of the young season.
When qualifying for the second USF2000 Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring race got underway, the skies in Sebring, Fla. were sunny, and the ambient temperature was a comfortable 75F.
With only 20 minutes available for qualifying, the 3.74-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway road course was quickly busy with the buzzing of the 19 Elite Engine-prepared, MZR-based 2.0 liter engines.
Drivers spent the first two laps carving out space for themselves and getting the proper amount of heat in their Cooper Tires.
In the No. 97, Zack Ping had a spin in Turn 1 on his second lap of the session but could continue. He came to the attention of the Velocity Racing Development crew, who got him back out on the track.
Race #1 pole winner Sikes was the early leader as lap times continued falling as the clock ticked to the halfway mark of qualifying.
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development rookie Elliot Cox grabbed the provisional pole at the halfway point of the session before Sikes returned to the top of the timing screens. With ten minutes remaining, the top ten drivers were within one second of Sikes.
Lap times continued to drop, with Ho taking the provisional pole with five minutes remaining. Hughes grabbed the top spot less than a minute later, almost breaking the 125-second barrier.
With two minutes remaining, Sikes threw down a massive lap 0.6 seconds quicker than Hughes.
On his final lap of the session, Sike’s Pabst Racing young rookie teammate Garcia turned his quickest lap of qualifying, putting himself between Sikes and Hughes.
USF2000 Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring Unofficial Qualifying Results
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFF. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Simon Sikes | Pabst Racing | 2:04.424 | —— |
| 2 | 24 | Max Garcia | Pabst Racing | 2:05.005 | 0.581 |
| 3 | 8 | Lochie Hughes | Jay Howard Driver Development | 2:05.029 | 0.605 |
| 4 | 1 | Mac Clark | DEForce Racing | 2:05.169 | 0.745 |
| 5 | 68 | Ethan Ho | DC Autosport | 2:05.346 | 0.922 |
| 6 | 17 | Nikita Johnson | VRD Racing | 2:05.370 | 0.946 |
| 7 | 67 | Elliot Cox | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Dev | 2:05.372 | 0.948 |
| 8 | 6 | Evagoras Papasavvas | Jay Howard Driver Development | 2:05.408 | 0.984 |
| 9 | 90 | Jacob Douglas | Exclusive Autosport | 2:05.630 | 1.206 |
| 10 | 14 | Sam Corry | VRD Racing | 2:05.754 | 1.330 |
| 11 | 10 | Jorge Garciarce | DEForce Racing | 2:06.000 | 1.576 |
| 12 | 97 | Zack Ping | VRD Racing | 2:06.098 | 1.674 |
| 13 | 95 | Chase Gardner | Exclusive Autosport | 2:06.153 | 1.729 |
| 14 | 9 | Louka St-Jean | Jay Howard Driver Development | 2:06.258 | 1.834 |
| 15 | 18 | Danny Dyszelski | VRD Racing | 2:06.681 | 2.257 |
| 16 | 19 | Gordon Scully | VRD Racing | 2:06.792 | 2.368 |
| 17 | 7 | Al Morey | Jay Howard Driver Development | 2:06.885 | 2.461 |
| 18 | 93 | Avery Towns | Exclusive Autosport | 2:07.057 | 2.633 |
| 19 | 12 | Maxwell Jamieson | DEForce Racing | 2:07.300 | 2.876 |
The second USF2000 Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring will get the green flag at 1:40 pm. Video and timing.