Just couple quick notes from what remains a hazy Mid-Ohio.
The session would stop 15 minutes through when Lindsay Brewer’s 93 car got stuck in the grass outside of the keyhole (between Turns 11 and 12).
We would get another red to end the session when the #4 of Ricardo Escotto slowed through Thunder Valley and was then brought back to the pits by the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team.
That late caution probably ruined the quick laps of some contenders, but when the session took the checkered and red flag, Salvador de Alba was P1.
Point leader – by 48 – Myles Rowe would time just 7th. Lirim Zendelli, Kiko Porto, Michael d’Orlando and Yuven Sundaramoorthy would round out this mornings Top 5.
By Patrick Stephan Welcome to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where I will be anchoring TSOLadder’s coverage of the USF Pro Championships action this weekend. A look toward a hazy Turn 1 at Mid-Ohio on Friday morning. TSO Photo by Patrick Today’s USF Pro activity includes both the USF 2000 and USF Pro 2000 Series…
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Welcome to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where I will be anchoring TSOLadder’s coverage of the USF Pro Championships action this weekend.
A look toward a hazy Turn 1 at Mid-Ohio on Friday morning. TSO Photo by Patrick
Today’s USF Pro activity includes both the USF 2000 and USF Pro 2000 Series presented by Cooper Tires.
The schedule is below – including the INDYCAR action for the NTT INDYCAR Series and INDY NXT, but here at TSOLadder, we’ll focus on USF action. And really, the USF action will dominate the day with the two series having practice, qualifying and the first USF2000 race all taking place today.
The first concern will of course be the weather, where our twitter friend @indycar_wxman says we might see some moisture later this afternoon.
Additionally, like much of the country, it’s pretty smoky, hazy here at Mid-Ohio. Kind of hard to tell if it’s gonna rain…or we’ll all just choke on the wildfire smoke. Being from Colorado, this isn’t unusual for us, with the notable exception that a smoke/humidity combination makes the skies here quite soupy.
One thing I always notice at these weekends is how early the USF Pro Championships crews have to arrive each day. I had a red-eye that turned in to an overnight. Landed at 4am, got my car at 5am, got to the track at 6:30 – and I feel like I was late. Super appreciative of the work these crews do to get the cars on track every day.
The Pabst Racing crew puts Jacob Douglas car through tech at 7:00am on Friday at Mid-Ohio. TSO Photo by Patrick Stephan
Under clear skies and 63F ambient temperatures, the 20 drivers in their Tatuus PM-22, Elite Engines-prepared 2-liter MZR cars in the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires got their engines fired for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America at 8:00 a.m. The race is 15 laps within a 50-minute window.
True to form on a chaotic weekend for the quartet of USF Pro Championships races on the freshly repaved Elkhart Lake, Wis. road course, the action started early – and surprisingly.
Polesitter Christian Weir (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) didn’t even make it to the start, because the two collided on the warmup lap at the apex to Turn 14. Both drivers came up the hill and pitted, and series starter Aaron Likens waved the yellow flag to halt the start.
Race Control came over the radio to report “Car 10 is the new polesitter.” So Lirim Zendeli in another TJ Speed Motorsports car moved to the point with another Turn 3 Motorsport driver, Louka St-Jean, moving into second. Everyone behind moved up a row.
Race announcers Rob Howden of Andersen Promotions and the USF Pro Championships and Eric Mueller of Road America were stupefied, noting they said as announcers they’re not speechless often, but were here.
The race resumed shortly thereafter with Zendeli ahead of the third TJ Speed Motorsports entry, driven by Francesco Pizzi, then Jonathan Browne in the third of four Turn 3 Motorsport cars third with Myles Rowe fourth in his Pabst Racing with Force Indy entry and Ricardo Escotto fifth in the first of the armada of Jay Howard Driver Development cars.
A more traditional full-course caution occurred on Lap 7 down at Turn 5 with a number of cars off course, including Escotto, St-Jean, Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) and Jackson Lee (Turn 3 Motorsport). The luckless Lee was caught up in an incident not of his own doing for yet another time this year, collateral damage following contact between Escotto and de Alba.
The restart occurred on Lap 9. The TJ Speed teammates, Pizzi and Zendeli, exchanged the lead twice but Zendeli kept the top spot by the conclusion of the lap with Pizzi second, Browne third, Kiko Porto quietly fourth for DEForce Racing and Rowe fifth.
Jordan Missig had driven up from 17th to sixth for Pabst Racing, looking to continue his momentum after a podium. But he went off at Turn 6 from sixth, with a broken suspension.
With five to go on Lap 10 and the race actually settling into a bit of a rhythm, it was Zendeli, Pizzi, Browne, Rowe and Reece Ushijima (JHDD) in the top five with Rowe sixth, Escotto seventh, Jace Denmark (Pabst), Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Exclusive) in the top 10.
The top five changed hands over the final few laps, with Porto hustling up to second and Pizzi falling down to fifth, with Browne and Rowe making headway to get to third and fourth.
But none of them was able to catch Zendeli, as the German-Albanian driver secured his first USF Pro 2000 victory by 3.5879 seconds.
Zendeli is the seventh different winner this season, joining:
Christian Brooks, No. 3 Turn 3 Motorsport, St. Petersburg Race 1
Myles Rowe, No. 99 Pabst Racing with Force Indy, St. Petersburg Race 2, Sebring Races 1 and 2
Ricardo Escotto, No. 4 Jay Howard Driver Development, IMS Road Course Race 1
Posted by Tony DiZinno on Saturday, June 17th 2023
By Tony DiZinno
Several drivers took on sets of sticker Cooper Tires for this race – VRD Racing’s Nikita Johnson and Danny Dyszelski among others starting in P8 and P9 – as the USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires prepared for the second race of the Saturday Discount Tire Grand Prix of Road America doubleheader. So that added a wrinkle into the proceedings.
Mac Clark led the field to green ahead of Simon Sikes and Lochie Hughes as the 21-car field of Tatuus USF-22 chassis with the Elite Engines-prepared 2-liter MZR entries headed for Turn 1.
Someone else lost a front wing entering the corner. There was a car off at the Kink, Sam Corry, and at the end of Lap 1 a full-course caution flew.
Hughes made it around Sikes for second in the limited green flag running.
Race resumes end of Lap 3 and the start of Lap 4. Hughes tries around the outside of Clark for the lead at Turn 3 but nope. Clark now leading a train into Turn 5 and indeed Hughes is able to make it by for the left-hander at the end of the straight.
Max Garcia was up into third with Jorge Garciarce fourth and Sikes having lost several positions – down to eighth on Lap 4. Elliot Cox in the pit needed a new front wing.
Full-course caution number two flew for Evagoras Papasavvas off course, exit of the Carousel on driver’s right.
Chase Gardner in the pits as well.
The race resumes end of Lap 6 and start of Lap 7 for the second half of the 12-lap race.
Garcia tries for the lead around the outside of Hughes at Turn 1, doesn’t get it, and falls back a couple spots by Turn 3. Hughes leading Clark and Garciarce.
Sikes had made up two spots by Lap 8, now P6. But it didn’t last long as he fell to P9 by Lap 9.
White flag at the end of Lap 11 with Hughes up 0.7118 of a second on Clark, Garcia now back by Garciarce for third and Johnson completing the top five.
Checkered flag and Hughes gets a win he’d been close to all weekend given his early pace, with Clark just 0.6273 of a second behind and Garcia ending on the podium in another Pabst Racing entry. Garciarce finished fourth with Johnson fifth.
“I have to apologize for race one. I drove like a word I can’t say! Then had a problem with the wing. But this one was perfect. It’s hard with the tow to not get freight trained, and I came out with the win,” Hughes said.
“The guys told me what to do and I can’t thank everyone enough. Great end to the weekend.”
Jacob Douglas, Gardner, Dyszelski, Ethan Ho and Sikes completed the top 10.
Sikes and Hughes inverted their positions from Race 1; they finished first and 10th.
In race two, Hughes won, Sikes finished 10th… so the points should be identical or close as they were heading into the weekend when Hughes began four points up.
Posted by Tony DiZinno on Saturday, June 17th 2023
By Tony DiZinno
The 21 drivers in their Tatuus PM-22, Elite Engines-prepared 2-liter MZR cars in the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires got their engines fired for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America at 2:40 p.m. The race is 15 laps within a 50-minute window.
The start was waved off because Nicholas Monteiro’s No. 81 NeoTech Motorsport entry was pulled off course at Turn 5. Additionally, Charles Finelli’s No. 83 FatBoy Racing entry did not start so that left 19 cars for the green flag.
That lap was run under yellow and polesitter Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) led the field away at the conclusion of Lap 1. Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing with Force Indy) made a move to get into third. Further back, Jackson Lee was contacted at Turn 3 (the corner, not the team) and was stuck by Yuven Sundaramoorthy, which pitched Lee’s car into the air and the gravel trap. Another Turn 3 Motorsport driver, Louka St-John, got thrown off the road with Francesco Pizzi exiting Turn 6. He fell down to 13th.
This brought out the second full-course caution in as many laps with d’Orlando leading Rowe, Reece Ushijima (Jay Howard Driver Development), Christian Weir (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Bijoy Garg (DEForce Racing).
Green flag flew at the end of Lap 3 with Rowe now second behind d’Orlando. Lee was able to resume after getting taken out of the gravel trap.
Rowe got to the lead on Lap 5, outside of d’Orlando and into Turn 6 with Ushijima following shortly.
Another full-course caution, the third, flew with Lirim Zendeli (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Bijoy Garg (DEForce Racing) having issues into the Kink. Zendeli came out of the dirt with Garg stuck against the barrier. Weir, who’d started second, had also fallen down the order to 16th.
By Lap 4 the order was Rowe, Ushijima, d’Orlando, Pizzi, Denmark, Missig, Porto, Escotto, St-Jean and de Alba top 10 with Browne, Granfors and Brewer next.
There were some position changes enforced under this yellow flag. Pizzi and Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing) were told to go to the back for jumping the restart.
Revised order as of Lap 6 of 15: Rowe, Ushijima, d’Orlando, Missig and Porto the new top five with St-Jean, Escotto, de Alba, Browne and Granfors the rest of the top 10. Brewer, Sundaramoorthy, Miller, Weir, Pizzi and Denmark still running on the lead lap, with Lee out a lap down.
The restart came at the end of Lap 7, almost halfway. Ushijima makes a run around the outside of Rowe into Turn 1 and completes the pass for the lead. Rowe having to fend off d’Orlando and others for second. Another TJ Speed Motorsports car, Weir, around in the back.
Ushijima has a nightmare Lap 9 though, falling behind Rowe, d’Orlando and Missig down to fourth.
Granfors threw his car up the inside of another car at Turn 1, his Exclusive Autosport teammate de Alba, who was then left in the beach. Miller in his car was collateral damage with nowhere to go on the outside.
Fourth full-course caution of the race flies at the end of Lap 10. New order: Rowe, d’Orlando, Missig, Ushijima, Escotto, St-Jean, Pizzi, Porto, Browne and Denmark into the top 10. Miller pits, and de Alba out of the gravel trap.
Green flag flies again at the end of Lap 11, start of Lap 12. D’Orlando tries to the outside of Rowe, can’t get there.
More contact between Escotto and Pizzi at Turn 6, Pizzi to the inside and collecting Escotto and looping him around.
Meanwhile d’Orlando got back to the lead by Lap 12 by Rowe with Missig now by too.
Granfors pits with a drive-through for avoidable contact.
Rowe got back by Missig on Lap 13 to get back into second, 0.8706 of a second behind d’Orlando with Missig just 0.3 behind him.
Brewer, attempting to pass her Exclusive teammate Sundaramoorthy for 11th, spins and recovers at Turn 5. This drops her back only one spot after what had been a steady and clean race to that point.
D’Orlando brings it home 0.8184 of a second ahead of Rowe to secure his first USF Pro 2000 victory, with Rowe and Missig completing the podium.
“It’s been a hard season; Turn 3 can agree with that! We’ve had the speed and pace but troubling to not have got the wins and podiums. My streak is finally open, the Turn 3 No. 1 car is up there and it’s a monster!” he said.
“Myles was up there. We got up there and had some good moves to make it work.”
A great day for two Midwest-based teams, Peter Dempsey’s Mundelein, Ill.-based Turn 3 Motorsport ahead of the Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Pabst Racing.
Ushijima and Browne complete the top five, with Porto, Pizzi, Denmark, St-Jean and Weir rounding out the top 10.
Race two is tomorrow morning, bright and early at 8:00 a.m.
L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America Race 1 Unofficial Results
Posted by Tony DiZinno on Saturday, June 17th 2023
By Tony DiZinno
The 21 drivers in their Tatuus USF-22, Elite Engines-prepared 2-liter MZR cars fired their engines slightly delayed at 11:15 a.m. for the Discount Tire Grand Prix of Road America, the first of two races in the USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires weekend. The session was pushed back by five minutes owing to track cleaning post a red flag-laden practice for the NTT INDYCAR Series just beforehand.
With only 12 laps to run within a 45-minute window, time is of the essence for drivers to make their moves.
Title rivals Lochie Hughes (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Simon Sikes (Pabst Racing) started from the front row with Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park winner Mac Clark (DEForce Racing) just behind. Jorge Garciarce (DEForce Racing) and Sam Corry (VRD Racing) completed the top five on the grid.
The opening few corners were clean through Turn 5 before Turn 6, when leader Hughes ran wide on the exit of Turn 6 and dropped to third behind Sikes and Clark.
Full course yellow on Lap 2. Al Morey (JHDD) was slow through the Kink but able to limp back around. Meanwhile there was an incident for two cars into Turn 1. Zach Ping (VRD Racing) and Avery Towns (Exclusive Autosport) involved; they were 17th and 18th.
The race restarted at the conclusion of Lap 4 and start of Lap 5.
Hughes had issues on Lap 5 with his rear wing collapsing and falls to sixth. Max Garcia (Pabst Racing) off course at Turn 3 and loses his front wing, which brought out the second caution of the race.
This caution only lasted a lap and the green flew at the conclusion of Lap 6, start of Lap 7. Hughes hit the pit lane as the field restarted.
Clark looked to the outside of Sikes into Turn 1, but Sikes was able to defend. Garciarce ran wide at the exit of Turn 5 as he had a big run from fourth. Clark then went off at top of the hill Turn 6 and in trouble too, as was Corry who was in third.
This brought out the third full course caution at the end of Lap 7, start of Lap 8.
It’s been a significantly shuffled order from Laps 5 to 7.
Lap 5 was Sikes, Clark, Corry, Garciarce and Douglas fifth ahead of Hughes, Taylor, Johnson, Cox and Gardner in the top 10.
By Lap 7 the order was now Sikes, Douglas, Taylor, Cox and Gardner fifth with Johnson, Papasavvas, Garcia, Jamieson and Garciarce in the top 10.
Restart end of Lap 8 with the Pabst Racing pair 1-2.
Big battle behind them though with Gardner up to third, Cox fourth and Johnson fifth with Papasavvas sixth and Taylor having had a tough lap down to seventh. Garcia, with his front wing woes, backed up the rest of the field behind him.
White flag came out at the end of Lap 11 with the first real rhythm of the race, Sikes a full 3.4147 seconds ahead of Douglas in his debut race with Pabst, and Johnson now past Gardner for third.
Hughes had recovered to ninth. On the last lap Papasavvas goes wide trying to pass Cox but loses a couple spots at Canada Corner.
Sikes brought it home for Pabst, 4.3876 seconds clear of Douglas to give Augie Pabst’s Oconomowoc, Wis.-based team a 1-2 on home soil, with Johnson third. Gardner and Cox complete the top five. Taylor, Ho, Papasavvas, Garciarce and Hughes rounding out the top 10.
Big points day for Sikes before the second USF2000 race of the day as he’ll take over the points lead from Hughes.
Posted by Tony DiZinno on Saturday, June 17th 2023
The Saturday polesitter for Sunday’s race two is Christian Weir, driver of the No. 32 TJ Speed Motorsports, EComfort.com, Ferguson, ProFlow Tatuus PM-22. Photo courtesy: Gavin Baker – Andersen Promotions
By Tony DiZinno
The second qualifying session of the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires weekend at Road America for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America produced a late surprise and a record-tying mark.
With his first pole of the year and his USF Pro 2000 career, Christian Weir in his No. 32 TJ Speed Motorsports Tatuus PM-22 edged erstwhile polesitter Michael d’Orlando in his No. 1 Turn 3 Motorsport car by 0.2370 of a second, down to 2:01.7070 over d’Orlando’s best lap fo 2:01.9440.
Those were the only two drivers in the morning qualifying session, set with temperatures of 64F ambient and 75F degrees on track, under the 2:02 bracket.
Weir’s pole means he’s the eighth different polesitter in nine races to start the season, which equals a USF Pro 2000 record also set in 2007 and 2020.
The other seven are:
Christian Brooks, No. 3 Turn 3 Motorsport, St. Petersburg Race 1
Francesco Pizzi, No. 55 TJ Speed Motorsports, St. Petersburg Race 2
Jace Denmark, No. 20 Pabst Racing, Sebring Race 1
Michael d’Orlando, No. 1 Turn 3 Motorsport, Sebring Race 2 and Road America Race 1
Myles Rowe, No. 99 Pabst Racing with Force Indy, IMS Road Course Race 2
Jack William Miller, No. 40 Miller Vinatieri Motorsports, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
Weir only got the opportunity to run late after a one-lap shootout brought on by two red flags.
The first came with Jack William Miller spun and stopped off Turn 14 prior to pit in with 14 minutes complete. At that point, the Turn 3 trio of d’Orlando (2:01.9440), Louka St-Jean (2:02.4060) and Jonathan Browne (2:02.5459) were running 1-2-3.
Shortly after the restart, Browne slowed exiting Turn 3 with his engine running rough and stopped. He continued but only after a second red flag came out, and was instructed to park in Turn 5. He was penalized for causing the red flag and dropped down to seventh.
The green flag flew with 3 minutes, 46 seconds to go allowing for one out lap and one flyer, where Weir took the top spot.
Qualifying 2 Unofficial Results
P
No
Name
Team
FTime
Diff
Laps
FL
1
32
Christian Weir
TJ Speed Motorsports
2:01.7070
2:01.7070
8
8
2
1
Michael d’Orlando
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:01.9440
0.2370
9
4
3
10
Lirim Zendeli
TJ Speed Motorsports
2:02.1081
0.4011
8
8
4
3
Louka St-Jean
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:02.4060
0.6990
9
5
5
2
Jonathan Browne
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:02.5459
0.8389
9
5
6
55
Francesco Pizzi
TJ Speed Motorsports
2:02.6346
0.9276
8
8
7
99
Myles Rowe
Pabst Racing
2:02.7768
1.0698
8
8
8
4
Ricardo Escotto
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:02.9067
1.1997
8
8
9
91
Salvador De Alba
Exclusive Autosport
2:02.9952
1.2882
8
8
10
47
Jackson Lee
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:03.0530
1.3460
8
5
11
6
Reece Ushijima
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:03.0733
1.3663
8
8
12
7
Bijoy Garg
DEForce Racing
2:03.2322
1.5252
8
4
13
12
Kiko Porto
DEForce Racing
2:03.3276
1.6206
8
4
14
20
Jace Denmark
Pabst Racing
2:03.4096
1.7026
8
8
15
81
Nicholas Monteiro
NeoTech Motorsport
2:03.4119
1.7049
8
8
16
92
Joel Granfors
Exclusive Autosport
2:03.9133
2.2063
8
8
17
19
Jordan Missig
Pabst Racing
2:04.1747
2.4677
8
3
18
90
Yuven Sundaramoorthy
Exclusive Autosport
2:04.3763
2.6693
6
6
19
40
Jack William Miller
Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
2:04.4453
2.7383
5
4
20
93
Lindsay Brewer
Exclusive Autosport
2:04.8128
3.1058
8
4
21
83
Charles Finelli
FatBoy Racing
2:09.8068
8.0998
8
3
Here are the times for the remainder of the weekend:
Saturday
12:55 pm – USF Pro 2000 Autograph Session (fan zone)
2:40 pm – L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America – Race #1 (15 laps or 50 minutes)
Sunday
8:50am – L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America – Race #2 (15 laps of 50 minutes)
Polesitter for USF Pro 2000 Race 1, it’s last year’s USF2000 champion Michael d’Orlando, in the No. 1 Turn 3 Motorsport, Focused Project Management Tatuus PM-22. Photo courtesy: Gavin Baker – Andersen Promotions
By Tony DiZinno
Heading into L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wis., the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires sees Pabst Racing with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe at the top of the tables with a 32-point lead on Exclusive Autosport’s Joel Granfors (165-133).
That 32-point margin from Rowe to Granfors is the exact same margin as Granfors in second has to sixth place, which right now is a three-way tie among Reece Ushijima (Jay Howard Driver Development), Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport).
Sandwiched among them are Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed Motorsports), Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) and Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), so there’s seven different teams among the top eight drivers in points.
You can read Steve’s extensive USF Pro 2000 weekend preview here.
We don’t expect the USF Pro 2000 track records to fall this weekend, but we do expect the times to tumble significantly from 2022 owing to the fresh new surface covering the 4.014-mile Road America.
The reasoning? Compared to when the Tatuus PM-22 was first introduced in 2018 (pre-halo addition and other chassis enhancements), the Andersen Promotions-operated series made an engine spec adjustment (slightly reduced horsepower and rpm) that has improved reliability.
Heading into the weekend, lap records were:
Race: Toby Sowery, June 22, 2018, 2:01.3306
Qualifying: David Malukas, June 22, 2018, 1:59.8151
So while the times are unlikely eclipse those marks, they should be much quicker than in 2022.
Last year’s winners came from Exclusive Autosport (Louis Foster) and Jay Howard Driver Development (Braden Eves).
—
Practice 1 Notes
The best time in any 2022 session was 2:04.3105 in Q1 set by Reece Gold. And in Thursday’s second test session, the fastest time was three seconds under that, set by Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport). D’Orlando ran a best time of 2:01.2671.
In Friday’s official practice session, Turn 3 Motorsport was a solid 1-2-4. Jonathan Browne led it at 2:01.4481 with d’Orlando second and Louka St. John fourth. The lone interloper was Ushijima, best of the JHDD brigade, in third.
—
Qualifying 1 Notes
The aforementioned team parity carried into the first qualifying session of the weekend, with four different teams in the top four positions.
The Peter Dempsey-led Turn 3 squad continued its momentum with d’Orlando capturing the pole at 2:01.7851, edging TJ Speed’s Christian Weir by just 0.0056 of a second (2:01.7907). That’s a nice bounce back for Weir after an incident on the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park oval last month.
Ushijima (JHDD) and Rowe (Pabst with Force Indy) complete the top four.
Qualifying 1 Unofficial Results
P
No
Name
Team
FTime
Diff
Laps
FL
1
1
Michael d’Orlando
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:01.7851
2:01.7851
6
5
2
32
Christian Weir
TJ Speed Motorsports
2:01.7907
0.0056
8
5
3
6
Reece Ushijima
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:02.1503
0.3652
8
6
4
99
Myles Rowe
Pabst Racing
2:02.2038
0.4187
6
3
5
3
Louka St-Jean
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:02.2329
0.4478
8
6
6
7
Bijoy Garg
DEForce Racing
2:02.3165
0.5314
8
8
7
12
Kiko Porto
DEForce Racing
2:02.4049
0.6198
8
3
8
55
Francesco Pizzi
TJ Speed Motorsports
2:02.5072
0.7221
8
6
9
2
Jonathan Browne
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:02.5073
0.7222
8
6
10
20
Jace Denmark
Pabst Racing
2:02.5760
0.7909
7
6
11
4
Ricardo Escotto
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:02.6823
0.8972
7
5
12
10
Lirim Zendeli
TJ Speed Motorsports
2:02.6879
0.9028
7
2
13
91
Salvador De Alba
Exclusive Autosport
2:02.7646
0.9795
7
5
14
19
Jordan Missig
Pabst Racing
2:03.0014
1.2163
8
4
15
47
Jackson Lee
Turn 3 Motorsport
2:03.1827
1.3976
6
5
16
90
Yuven Sundaramoorthy
Exclusive Autosport
2:03.4858
1.7007
8
8
17
93
Lindsay Brewer
Exclusive Autosport
2:03.6928
1.9077
8
6
18
92
Joel Granfors
Exclusive Autosport
2:03.8542
2.0691
7
3
19
40
Jack William Miller
Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
2:04.0310
2.2459
8
8
20
81
Nicholas Monteiro
NeoTech Motorsport
2:04.6963
2.9112
6
6
21
83
Charles Finelli
FatBoy Racing
2:06.9823
5.1972
9
6
USF Pro 2000 has its second qualifying session of the weekend Saturday at 8:00 a.m., with races occurring Saturday at 2:40 p.m. and Sunday at 8:00 a.m.
A freshly repaved track and the fastest USF2000 driver on Friday. It’s Lochie Hughes, in the No. 8 Jay Howard Driver Development, JHDD, CSU One Cure, Lucas Oil Products, LHP Tatuus USF-22. Photo courtesy: Gavin Baker – Andersen Promotions
By Tony DiZinno
Heading into the weekend for the USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, the Discount Tire Grand Prix of Road America, it’s a two-horse race between Lochie Hughes (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Simon Sikes (Pabst Racing) with Sikes seeking to win in the home race for the Oconomowoc, Wis.-based team. Just four points (208-204) separates the pair of drivers as they head here to Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Third-placed Nikita Johnson (VRD Racing) is in a spot of his own, on 170 points, with Evagoras Papasavvas (JHDD) and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park winner Mac Clark (DEForce Racing) a bit further back on 144 and 140 points, respectively.
The big talking point heading into this weekend is of course the repave of the 4.014-mile Road America road course. Times, naturally, are expected to tumble compared to previous records.
Will that impact the pacesetters and winners? We’ll see about that.
Pabst (Jace Denmark) and Cape Motorsports (Michael d’Orlando) split the two races last year, which wound up running only 12 (31 minutes) and 11 laps (45 minutes).
—
Practice 1 Notes
Heading into the weekend, lap records were:
Race: Scott Anderson, August 17, 2012, 2:09.656
Qualifying: Rasmus Lindh, June 22, 2018, 2:09.2583
By Friday’s first official sessions on the Discount Tire Grand Prix of Road America, we were heading towards new records after the opening practice session for USF2000 before two qualifying sessions are later today at 10:45 (Q1) and 1:00 (Q2).
Hughes led both of Thursday test sessions on the freshly repaved track and it followed up in FP1 with best time of 2:08.1636, more than one second quicker than the qualifying lap record set here by Rasmus Lindh in 2018.
In fact the top eight drivers in FP1 down to Jacob Douglas were all under Lindh’s mark. The top 15 were within 1.9 seconds, a relatively small margin on the 4-plus mile course.
—
Qualifying 1 Notes
When the green flag fell for the first of two qualifying sessions, the 11-year record held by Scott Anderson was always going to fall. It was a question of who would break it best, and also how many of the 21 competitors would beat it.
In the end, Hughes carried through his momentum to lead his fourth consecutive session of the weekend with a new qualifying record of 2:07.8964 (112.895 mph).
This time was a full 1.7596 seconds under Anderson’s old mark. Hughes led his title protagonist, Sikes, by 0.1304 of a second. Clark was third ahead of Jorge Garciarce (DEForce Racing) and Sam Corry (VRD Racing). A full 17 of the 21 competitors clocked in under the previous track record.
Qualifying 1 Official Results
P
No
Name
Team
FTime
Diff
Laps
FL
1
8
Lochie Hughes
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:07.8964
2:07.8964
9
7
2
22
Simon Sikes
Pabst Racing
2:08.0268
0.1304
8
8
3
1
Mac Clark
DEForce Racing
2:08.2069
0.3105
9
9
4
10
Jorge Garciarce
DEForce Racing
2:08.4026
0.5062
9
9
5
14
Sam Corry
VRD Racing
2:08.5012
0.6048
7
5
6
23
Jacob Douglas
Pabst Racing
2:08.6719
0.7755
9
7
7
24
Max Garcia
Pabst Racing
2:08.7171
0.8207
9
7
8
68
Ethan Ho
DC Autosport
2:08.8156
0.9192
9
7
9
6
Evagoras Papasavvas
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:08.8398
0.9434
9
5
10
67
Elliot Cox
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development
2:08.8433
0.9469
7
5
11
18
Danny Dyszelski
VRD Racing
2:08.9300
1.0336
6
6
12
17
Nikita Johnson
VRD Racing
2:08.9550
1.0586
5
4
13
95
Chase Gardner
Exclusive Autosport
2:08.9947
1.0983
9
9
14
33
Max Taylor
VRD Racing
2:09.2531
1.3567
4
4
15
92
Jack Jeffers
Exclusive Autosport
2:09.3168
1.4204
6
6
16
12
Maxwell Jamieson
DEForce Racing
2:09.3369
1.4405
9
9
17
19
Gordon Scully
VRD Racing
2:09.5026
1.6062
8
6
18
9
Dane Scott
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:09.8190
1.9226
9
6
19
93
Avery Towns
Exclusive Autosport
2:09.9723
2.0759
9
7
20
97
Zack Ping
VRD Racing
2:10.1082
2.2118
6
4
21
7
Al Morey
Jay Howard Driver Development
No Time
0
0
—
Qualifying 2 Notes
In marginally warmer conditions compared to this morning – still just cresting 60F ambient with cloud cover still hovering – the second qualifying session confirmed that apparently, Hughes is human.
After leading four straight sessions, Hughes ended third in the second qualifying session of the day.
Instead, the new man on top was the same man on top at the IRP oval in Clark of DEForce Racing.
Times were a little bit slower, Clark ending at 2:08.3365 with Sikes second again, 0.1100 behind, and Hughes third. Max Garcia (Pabst Racing) was fourth with Corry fifth.
Only 10 of the 21 drivers were under Anderson’s old mark in this session.
Qualifying 2 Unofficial Results
P
No
Name
Team
FTime
Diff
Laps
FL
1
1
Mac Clark
DEForce Racing
2:08.3365
2:08.3365
8
4
2
22
Simon Sikes
Pabst Racing
2:08.4465
0.1100
8
4
3
8
Lochie Hughes
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:08.4879
0.1514
8
8
4
24
Max Garcia
Pabst Racing
2:08.6040
0.2675
8
3
5
14
Sam Corry
VRD Racing
2:08.7173
0.3808
7
7
6
10
Jorge Garciarce
DEForce Racing
2:08.8029
0.4664
7
4
7
23
Jacob Douglas
Pabst Racing
2:08.8170
0.4805
8
3
8
17
Nikita Johnson
VRD Racing
2:08.8951
0.5586
7
6
9
18
Danny Dyszelski
VRD Racing
2:09.1680
0.8315
7
4
10
6
Evagoras Papasavvas
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:09.4810
1.1445
9
7
11
68
Ethan Ho
DC Autosport
2:09.6104
1.2739
9
8
12
33
Max Taylor
VRD Racing
2:09.8224
1.4859
9
4
13
7
Al Morey
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:09.9350
1.5985
8
7
14
95
Chase Gardner
Exclusive Autosport
2:10.0169
1.6804
8
4
15
9
Dane Scott
Jay Howard Driver Development
2:10.0539
1.7174
9
4
16
67
Elliot Cox
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development
2:10.0889
1.7524
8
4
17
97
Zack Ping
VRD Racing
2:10.2390
1.9025
8
3
18
19
Gordon Scully
VRD Racing
2:10.3416
2.0051
8
3
19
12
Maxwell Jamieson
DEForce Racing
2:10.5590
2.2225
8
7
20
93
Avery Towns
Exclusive Autosport
2:10.6565
2.3200
8
6
21
92
Jack Jeffers
Exclusive Autosport
2:43.5195
35.1830
1
1
USF2000 races twice on Saturday, with the first at 11:10 a.m. and the second at 3:45 p.m.
