By Patrick Stephan
Myles Rowe took his 3rd USF Pro 2000 pole of 2023 in qualifying this afternoon on the Toronto street circuit.
Coming in to the event with a 40 point lead over Kiko Porto, and having just picked up the Mid-Ohio race #2 pole and race win, Rowe is solidly in command of the championship with 7 races remaining. Two here, two at COTA in August, and a trio at the season finale in Portland.
Rowe was leading the Race #1 Qualifying session when with 8 minutes run, the red came out for Francesco Pizzi who smacked the Turn 11 wall hard with the right side. Turns out though that he had the classic street circuit crash. He appeared to clip the wall on the inside of the corner, then shot to the outside wall at corner exit for the big impact.
The session went back to green with Myles Rowe still leading with a lap of 1:09.6146, over d’Orlando, de Alba, Denmark, and Porto.
And thanks to another red flag with a minute to remain, drivers weren’t able to make a final run, giving the pole to Rowe, the championship leader – though just 5th quick this morning – so perhaps some others had a shot at the top spot if we’d stayed green.
Jack William Miller was trying to get inside of Christian Weir as everyone was searching for clear track. Weir moved to the outside at Turn 5, and Miller went inside, but couldn’t make the corner (cold tires) and nosed in to the tire barrier.
That red likely caught a lot of driver’s out, as most weren’t able to make their late run in order to improve on where they ran the first stint. Escotto – P2 in this morning’s practice would have been the most impacted – just judging by the time sheet.
Race #2 Qualifying is the next on track activity for USF Pro 2000 – tomorrow morning at 9:15am ET.
USF Pro 2000 Toronto Race #1 Qualifying Results
| P | No | Name | Best Time | Diff | Best Lap | Total Laps | Hometown | Team |
| 1 | 99 | Myles Rowe | 1:09.6146 | 1:09.6146 | 6 | 10 | Powder Springs GA | Pabst Racing |
| 2 | 1 | Michael d’Orlando | 1:10.2744 | 0.6598 | 6 | 10 | Hartsdale NY | Turn 3 Motorsport |
| 3 | 91 | Salvador de Alba | 1:10.4915 | 0.8769 | 6 | 9 | Guadalajara Mexico | Exclusive Autosport |
| 4 | 20 | Jace Denmark | 1:10.6454 | 1.0308 | 4 | 9 | Phoenix AZ | Pabst Racing |
| 5 | 12 | Kiko Porto | 1:10.6538 | 1.0392 | 5 | 9 | Recife Brazil | DEForce Racing |
| 6 | 92 | Joel Granfors | 1:10.7185 | 1.1039 | 4 | 8 | Eskilstuna Sweden | Exclusive Autosport |
| 7 | 10 | Lirim Zendeli | 1:10.7325 | 1.1179 | 4 | 9 | Bochum Germany | TJ Speed Motorsports |
| 8 | 55 | Francesco Pizzi | 1:10.7694 | 1.1548 | 3 | 5 | Rome Italy | TJ Speed Motorsports |
| 9 | 19 | Jordan Missig | 1:10.8291 | 1.2145 | 5 | 9 | Joliet IL | Pabst Racing |
| 10 | 2 | Jonathan Browne | 1:10.8709 | 1.2563 | 6 | 9 | Dublin Ireland | Turn 3 Motorsport |
| 11 | 7 | Bijoy Garg | 1:10.9098 | 1.2952 | 5 | 8 | Stanford CA | DEForce Racing |
| 12 | 32 | Christian Weir | 1:10.9140 | 1.2994 | 5 | 9 | Naperville IL | TJ Speed Motorsports |
| 13 | 44 | Christian Brooks | 1:10.9724 | 1.3578 | 6 | 10 | Santa Clarita CA | Turn 3 Motorsport |
| 14 | 4 | Ricardo Escotto | 1:11.1655 | 1.5509 | 5 | 9 | Mexico City Mexico | Jay Howard Driver Development |
| 15 | 90 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | 1:11.1760 | 1.5614 | 6 | 9 | Oconomowoc WI | Exclusive Autosport |
| 16 | 40 | Jack William Miller | 1:11.2787 | 1.6641 | 5 | 7 | Westfield IN | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports |
| 17 | 81 | Nicholas Monteiro | 1:11.9455 | 2.3309 | 5 | 8 | Sao Paulo Brazil | NeoTech Motorsport |
| 18 | 3 | Louka St‑Jean | 1:11.9921 | 2.3775 | 3 | 7 | Laval Quebec Canada | Turn 3 Motorsport |
| 19 | 93 | Lindsay Brewer | 1:12.1014 | 2.4868 | 3 | 9 | Denver CO | Exclusive Autosport |