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Road To Indy testing at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway – Sowery and HMD Motorsports quick in Indy Lights – Kirkwood’s momentum continues in Indy Pro 2000

Posted by  on Friday, August 16th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

The top two rungs of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires were in action yesterday at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway oval in preparation for their races next weekend.

A total of eight Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires and a dozen Indy Pro 2000 drivers took part in three test sessions (a total of 165 minutes) each.

Championship leader Oliver Askew turned in the quickest laps during the first two test sessions, but it was a pair of HMD Motorsports drivers who ended up on top of the combined timesheet when the test ended.

Yes, you read that correctly, HMD Motorsports. The team formerly known as BN Racing has moved from Chicago, Ill. to Brownsburg, Ind. and experienced USF2000 team owner, IndyCar team manager, and one-time Team Penske crew chief John Cummiskey has joined the team that also added championship-winning engineer Geoff Fickling at the Road America rounds.

Sowery’s fastest lap during a qualifying simulation on his last lap in the last session of the day was clocked at 159.086 mph, just a little quicker than Colton Herta’s pole lap of 159.075 mph from last year.

Toby Sowery on pit road for an Indy Lights test at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

“We were comfortable right out of the box,” said Sowery, who finished fourth in the Freedom 100 presented by Cooper Tires, his first-ever race on an oval. “Most every track I’ve been to this year has been new, so you can’t let that bother you. Ovals are new to me as well, but in some ways, there’s less to an oval than a road course, and the concept applies from one to another. You basically know what to expect, so it’s all about having faith in the car and knowing what it’s capable of. We had a car that allowed us to push fairly easily without taking any risks.

“I’m quietly optimistic going into the race weekend – I don’t want to jinx it, because I really do want that first series win, but I think we’ve got the car under us, it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together.”

The 23-year-old’s HMD Motorsports teammate needed a confidence boost after a hard crash ended his first Indy Lights oval experience at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the fourth turn of the first lap.

The Chicago, Ill. driver turned a total of 181 laps during the three sessions, the most of any driver. “This is the most confident I’ve felt since I started Indy Lights,” said Malukas.

“I’m still new to ovals, to preparing passes, and I didn’t have a teammate last year in Indy Pro 2000 to work with, said the 17-year-old after the test. “I won’t lie, I was a bit nervous getting back into the car, since the last time I was on an oval I had a big incident. I went in not expecting much, but we’ve made a lot of changes to the team and this was a fresh start. I was expecting to take my time getting up to speed, but we were up to pace right away in the first session.

“It’s quite difficult to pass here, as opposed to Indy, so getting practice in passing is really important, and it went really well. We put it in P1 doing a quali sim early in the third session and went back to race runs, since that’s where I struggle the most. We found a really good race setup but we were out of fuel and couldn’t compete with Toby over those last few laps, but congrats to him. All that matters is the team effort – to be one-two at the top, we’re all really happy going into the race weekend.”

Freedom 100 presented by Cooper Tires pole-sitter Robert Megennis ended the day with the third quickest time, just ahead of his teammate Askew, who worked on race runs in the final one-hour session.

None of the drivers made contact with the wall, but Andretti Autosport veteran and winner at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway had a big “oh sh*t” moment that he shared on social media.

https://twitter.com/FlyinRyanNorman/status/1162147839696363524

Combined Indy Lights Time Sheet 

RANK CAR NO DRIVER TEAM FASTEST LAP (MPH) DIFFERENCE (MPH) TOTAL LAPS
1 2 Toby Sowery HMD Motorsports 159.086 156
2 79 David Malukas HMD Motorsports 158.617 -0.469 181
3 27 Robert Megennis Andretti Autosport 158.101 -0.985 162
4 28 Oliver Askew Andretti Autosport 157.947 -1.139 152
5 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 157.828 -1.258 108
6 21 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Racing 157.574 -1.512 147
7 5 Lucas Kohl Belardi Auto Racing 156.386 -2.7 174
8 67 Dalton Kellett Juncos Racing 155.207 -3.879 110

 

Kyle Kirkwood’s hot streak continued into testing for the second oval event of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires season. The reigning Cooper Tires USF2000 Champion used final session lap clocked at 142.241mph to wipe out a rough start to start to the day that had the RP Motorsport driver in eighth after the first session.

The Italian team went back to the same set-up they used last year when Harrison Scott grabbed the pole, and that allowed Kirkwood to go to the top of the combined timesheet.

Kirkwood’s quickest lap was significantly faster than Scott’s qualifying effort of 139.738mph last year.

“We had some issues in the first session, but we went back to the team’s baseline from last year’s pole-winning car in the second session,” said the 20-year-old who is on a three-race winning streak. “In the third session, we put fresh tires on and were able to get a quick lap there at the end, though I think there’s plenty of room for improvement. The team has confidence coming into the race weekend after their performance here last year, and since this is the second oval of the year.

“This is very different from Lucas Oil Raceway, as there are fewer reference points and you’re not running up high the entire time, and we’re going a lot quicker. This is the first time I’ve been on a ‘real’ oval so it was a good experience. I think we’ll be strong next weekend.”

Kyle Kirkwood on pit road during Indy Pro 2000 testing at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

Championship leader Rasmus Lindh, like fellow title-leader Oliver Askew, led the first two sessions. The Juncos Racing rookie ended the day with the second quickest time and with the team’s past success on the 1.25-mile oval, has confidence headed into the race weekend.

“This is my first time on an oval like this and it was a good experience,” said Lindh who finished third in the first oval event of the year at Lucas Oil Raceway. “You can work more with your driving here because you can run more of a normal line in the middle of the corner, rather than having to run a high line. It took a few laps to get used to it. It’s more difficult to find time on an oval like this, but if you’re in the top three, running here feels quite easy.

“Rinus did well here last year and we were P1 in the first two sessions so we’re very confident that we have a good baseline going into the race weekend. We focused on race runs in the final session and we’re very happy with the car. We have to be careful, as Kyle is catching us a bit, but I feel as though this will be a good race weekend for us.”

Ending the day with the third and fourth quickest laps were DEForce Racing teammate Kory Enders and Moisés de la Vara.

Danial Frost, the winner of the first oval race of the year finished the day with the tenth quickest time, and the Exclusive Autosport crew will have some work to do, if they want to win again on an oval.

Making his Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires debut with RP Motorsport was Artem Petrov. The 20-year-old from St. Petersburg, Russia spent two years in F4, finishing fifth in the 2017 Italian F4 Championship. Last year, Petrov contested the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and has driven in Euroformula Open Championship with RP Motorsport this year.

Petrov ended up with the ninth quickest time.

There were no significant incidents, but the No. 83 Fatboy Racing! machine piloted by Charles Finelli expired, losing substantial fluid and causing a delay during clean-up.

Combined Indy Pro 2000 timesheet 

RANK CAR NO DRIVER TEAM FASTEST LAP (MPH) DIFFERENCE (MPH) TOTAL LAPS
1 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport 142.241 122
2 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing 142.116 -0.125 119
3 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 141.452 -0.789 123
4 6 Moisés de la Vara DEForce Racing 141.404 -0.837 100
5 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing 141.200 -1.041 150
6 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 140.654 -1.587 159
7 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports 140.031 -2.21 99
8 3 Antoine Comeau Turn 3 Motorsport 139.904 -2.337 135
9 5 Artem Petrov RP Motorsport 139.067 -3.174 139
10 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 139.032 -3.209 152
11 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport 138.945 -3.296 163
12 83 Charles Finelli Fatboy Racing! 136.186 -6.055 91
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Pro 2000 News / Results
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Road To Indy at Mid-Ohio – Friday – Kirkwood makes statement in dominant Indy Pro 2000 pole

Posted by  on Friday, July 26th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

Only five points separate the three drivers chasing Rasmus Lindh for the Indy Pro 2000 title, and one of them needs a statement weekend. The early advantage goes to Kyle Kirkwood, who’s pole-winning lap at 75.5151 seconds was 0.442 ahead of Lindh.

Tomorrow’s inside front row start will the 20-year-old’s fourth of the year and eighth in 24 career Road To Indy starts. It’s the first pole on the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Mid-Ohio Road Course for RP Motorsport.

The iconic Soul Red livery of Indy Pro 2000 pole winner Kyle Kirkwood on track at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

Parker Thompson, who is currently second in the championship, will start directly behind Kirkwood. The veteran Canadian will be joined by his Abel Motorsports teammate Jacob Abel, who turned in his best qualifying effort of the year.

The ambient temperature when qualifying for the first of two Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend began was 81F. The track temperature was 114F. The middle rung of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder was the final track activity of the day.

Thompson led early, but was quickly supplanted at the top of the timing screens by Kirkwood, who lap of 76.3338 seconds was the quickest at the half-way point of the 20-minute session. The rest of the top ten were: Thompson, Rodriguez, Robb, Lindh, Frost, Abel, Lastochkin, Denes and Enders.

It was at this time that most drivers came to pit road for adjustments. The 14 drivers and teams were following the Firestone Firehawk rubber for the first time this weekend.

With just over three minutes remaining in the session, Lindh was the first driver to go quicker, jumping to the second spot. Just a few seconds later, Kirkwood crossed the timing line, lowering the provisional pole time again.

Thompson was the next driver to grab the provisional pole, but that didn’t last long. Kirkwood lowered the provisional pole time one more time.

The timing screen was lit up with purple with drivers setting their fastest laps of the session in the final 60 seconds, but nobody could touch Kirkwood, whose last lap obliterated the field.

Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Qualifying #1 Results

RANK CAR. NO DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport Racing 1:15.515 –.—-
2 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing 1:15.957 0.4421
3 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports 1:16.182 0.6672
4 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 1:16.427 0.9119
5 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport Racing 1:16.436 0.9212
6 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 1:16.542 1.0267
7 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing 1:16.566 1.0513
8 98 Phillippe Denes FatBoy Racing 1:16.679 1.1640
9 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport 1:17.225 1.7099
10 6 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:17.389 1.8738
11 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:17.461 1.9455
12 3 Antoine Comeau Turn 3 Motorsport 1:17.767 2.2517
13 11 Antonio Serravalle Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development 1:17.896 2.3805
14 83 Charles Finelli FatBoy Racing 1:21.177 5.6615

Indy Pro 2000 Race #1 gets the green flag at 5 pm on Saturday. Before that, the middle rung of the Road To Indy qualifies for Race #2 at 9:10 am.

category: Indy Pro 2000 News / Results
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Road To Indy at Mid-Ohio – Friday – Points leader Lindh goes quickest in first Indy Pro 2000 practice

Posted by  on Friday, July 26th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

Points leader Rasmus Lindh started off the most-important race weekend of the season by leading the lone practice session with a quick lap of 76.058 seconds. That lap-time is below the race track record of 76. 3320 set by Rinus van Kalmthout (VeeKay) last year.

The top six drivers, including Kyle Kirkwood, Jacob Abel, Ian Rodriguez, Sting Ray Robb, and Parker Thompson were all within a half-second of Lindh.

The lone Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires practice session before qualifying started promptly at 9:35 am.

Drivers mainly utilized carry-over tires from Toronto for the session.

Abel Motorsports rookie Abel was the early leader at the half-way point of the session with a lap of 76.270 seconds. That was 0.3540 seconds ahead of Kirkwood and his Soul Red No. 28. Danial Frost, Lindh, Ian Rodriguez, Sting Ray Robb, Parker Thompson, Nikita Lastochkin, Kory Enders and Moisés de la Vara.

With 10-minutes left in the session, Lindh went to the top of the timing screen and remained there until the checkered flag came out to end the session.

The 13 drivers turned a total of 210 laps. Antonio Serravalle (Pserra Racing) and Charles Finelli (Fatboy Racing!) with 20 laps each, were the busiest drivers.

Phillippe Denes does not show as turning any laps, but the Fatboy Racing! driver was dealing with a faulty transponder, so his laps didn’t register.

Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Practice #1 Results

RANK CAR. NO DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing 1:16.058 –.—- 16
2 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport Racing 1:16.269 0.2105 18
3 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 1:16.270 0.2113 13
4 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport Racing 1:16.308 0.2493 18
5 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing 1:16.379 0.3205 16
6 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports 1:16.518 0.4594 19
7 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 1:16.719 0.6609 17
8 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport 1:16.912 0.8538 18
9 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:17.430 1.3717 10
10 3 Antoine Comeau Turn 3 Motorsport 1:17.438 1.3794 18
11 6 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:17.548 1.4898 7
12 11 Antonio Serravalle Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development 1:17.760 1.7017 20
13 83 Charles Finelli FatBoy Racing 1:19.642 3.5840 20
14 98 Phillippe Denes FatBoy Racing No Time — —

The Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires drivers are the last track activity for the day, qualifying at 4:15 pm.

category: Indy Pro 2000 News / Results

Road To Indy in Toronto – Friday – Kirkwood leads first Indy Pro 2000 season

Posted by  on Friday, July 12th 2019     

For the second straight event, it was Kyle Kirkwood and the Soul Red No. 28 that led the first practice session of the weekend.

The next three drivers, Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports), championship leader and Juncos Racing rookie Rasmus Lindh and Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Racing) were within a scant three-tenths of Kirkwood.

Thompson had to jump straight from his PM-18 to his ride in the Porsche GT3 ride for the second of his five practice session on the day.

The Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series had their 25-minute practice session delayed by a few minutes after the extended USF2000 session.

Mirroring their smaller siblings, the red flag came out after only two minutes for the No. 51 of Jacob Abel, which had ground to a halt on the front straight. His Abel Construction/Bell Helmets No. 51 was damaged when he was hit by Moisés de la Vara’s  UAG/I.E.P. /MOTUL/JUMEX/Oil Depot sponsored No. 51 as the Mexican driver from the DEForce Racing stable exited pit road. The green flag on the 25-minute session came back out with just under 14-minutes remaining. The rest of the session was run under green flag conditions.

Kirkwood, coming off a pair of wins at Road America, Kirkwood led the majority of the session.

With five minutes remaining, it was Thompson that moved to the top of the timing screens.

With three minutes left in the session, championship leader Lindh went quickest, but was surpassed by Kirkwood on the next lap.

Eleven of the 13 drivers turned a total of 134 laps in anger.

Indy Pro 2000 Practice #1 Results

RANK CAR NO NAME TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport Racing 1:09.747 –.—- 13
2 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports 1:09.939 0.1913 13
3 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing 1:09.970 0.2227 11
4 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing 1:10.051 0.3034 13
5 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport 1:10.533 0.7858 12
6 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 1:10.795 1.0481 9
7 11 Antonio Serravalle Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development 1:10.836 1.0884 13
8 98 Phillippe Denes FatBoy Racing 1:11.199 1.4520 12
9 6 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:11.396 1.6485 13
10 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport Racing 1:11.579 1.8322 12
11 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:11.858 2.1110 13

The Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series is back on track at 2:05 pm for their first qualifying session.

category: Indy Pro 2000 News / Results

Road To Indy testing at Mid-Ohio – Frost tops Indy Pro 2000 – Crawford tops USF2000 – championship contenders are all close

Posted by  on Friday, June 28th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

A pair of drivers, Danial Frost, and Jak Crawford put behind forgettable weekends in Wisconsin behind them to top the timesheets during a two-day USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 test at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Both series will be back at the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course in a month for each series ninth and tenth round.

Whether it occurs in May, June or July, an official test for the bottom two rungs of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires test has been part of the schedule (except in 2017) since 2012.

The schedule included three 45-minutes sessions each day, equaling six total sessions of 4.5 hours of total track time.

Teams were allotted five fresh sets of Cooper Tire slicks as well as having the option to use a carryover set from last weekend at Road America.

Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires testing

Exclusive Autosport rookie Frost, a winner on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval to end the “Month of May, failed to finish either race at Road America last weekend. ‘Winning’ a test only days after is an excellent way to start the second half of the season.

Danial Frost and the his No. 68 Exclusive Autosport PM-18 led two days of Indy Pro 2000 testing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

Frost’s quickest lap of 76.2167 seconds in Thursday’s fifth session, is below the race track record, set last year by Rinus van Kalmthout (VeeKay).

The 17-year-old was one of four drivers, who are all in championship contention, to lead one of the six sessions. Current points leader, Juncos Racing rookie Rasmus Lindh, another 17-year-old, led a pair of sessions and ended up with the second quickest time on the combined timesheet.

Parker Thompson, a winner at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in USF2000, led the opening and closing sessions in his No. 8 Abel Motorsports PM-18 and ended the two-day test with the fourth quickest lap on the combined timesheet.

Double Road America winner and reigning USF2000 champion Kyle Kirkwood ended up third on the combined timesheet after leading the fourth test session on Thursday morning.

The lone newcomer was Antoine Comeau, a veteran of Radical racing who was testing with the Peter Dempsey owned Turn 3 Motorsport.

The top nine drivers were all within one second of Frost.

A dozen drivers completed 1,441 laps (3,253.8 miles). Frost’s Exclusive Autosport teammate Nikita Lastochkin, who totaled 139 circuits, was the busiest driver.

Indy Pro 2000 session leaders

  • Wednesday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #1 – Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) – 76.7062 seconds
  • Wednesday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #2 – Rasmus Lindh (Juncos Racing) – 76.7276 seconds
  • Wednesday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #3 – Rasmus Lindh (Juncos Racing) – 76.4068 seconds
  • Thursday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #4 – Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport) – 76.3949 seconds
  • Thursday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #5 – Danial Frost (Exclusive Autosport) – 76.2167 seconds
  • Thursday – Indy Pro 2000 Test Session #6 – Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) – 76.8355 seconds

Indy Pro 2000 combined timesheet

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM SESSION # BEST TIME (seconds) DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 5 76.2167 136
2 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing 5 76.3178 -0.1011 124
3 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport 4 76.3949 -0.1782 131
4 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports 4 76.5555 -0.3388 130
5 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport 2 76.8217 -0.6050 113
6 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 2 76.8886 -0.6719 124
7 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing 2 77.0487 -0.8320 116
8 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport 6 77.0760 -0.8593 139
9 98 Phillippe Denes Fatboy Racing! 4 77.1436 -0.9269 108
10 6 Moisés de la Vara DEForce Racing 5 77.4538 -1.2371 117
11 3 Antoine Comeau Turn 3 Motorsport 5 77.6405 -1.4238 119
12 11 Antonio Serravalle Pserra Racing 2 77.7702 -1.5535 84

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship testing

A late Thursday afternoon thunderstorm ended the two-day test before the bottom rung of the Road To Indy could get on track for their sixth and final session.

DEForce Racing rookie Jak Crawford set the quickest lap of the day during Thursday morning’s fourth session, a lap that was timed at 81.3106 seconds.

14 year-old DEForce Racing rookie was the quickest of 18 drivers during two days of USF2000 testing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

Championship contender Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) led the second and fifth sessions, while his veteran teammate Colin Kaminsky led the first session on Wednesday morning. Cape Motorsports veteran Darren Keane, who has had the quickest race lap in three of the seven USF2000 races so far this season was the fastest driver in Wednesday afternoon’s third session.

Keane’s teammate and championship leader Braden Eves didn’t lead a session, but the 20-year-old had the second quickest lap on the combined timesheet.

The top four drivers on the combined timesheet, Crawford, Eves, McElrea, and newcomer Kiko Porto, were all within one-tenth of a second.

Porto, a double-winner through the first six races of the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda, was testing with DEForce Racing and ended up with the fourth quickest time.

The top eight drivers were all within a half-second of the 14-year-old Crawford, with the top 14 within one-second.

The 18 drivers completed a total of 1,767 circuits of the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course. Jay Howard Driver Development rookie Christian Bogle was the busiest driver, completing 129 laps.

USF2000 session leaders

  • Wednesday – USF2000 Test Session #1 – Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing) – 81.9564 seconds
  • Wednesday – USF2000 Test Session #2 – Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) – 81.5681 seconds
  • Wednesday – USF2000 Test Session #3 – Darren Keane (Cape Motorsports) – 81.5927 seconds
  • Thursday – USF2000 Test Session #4 – Jak Crawford (DEForce Racing) – 81.3106 seconds
  • Thursday – USF2000 Test Session #5 – Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) – 81.3468 seconds

USF2000 combined timesheet

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM SESSION # BEST TIME (seconds) DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 52 Jak Crawford DEForce Racing 4 81.3106 109
2 8 Braden Eves Cape Motorsports 4 81.3392 -0.0286 109
3 22 Hunter McElrea Pabst Racing 5 81.3468 -0.0362 94
4 11 Kiko Porto DEForce Racing 4 81.4018 -0.0912 92
5 23 Colin Kaminsky Pabst Racing 4 81.4806 -0.1700 113
6 2 Darren Keane Cape Motorsports 3 81.5927 -0.2821 108
7 6 Christian Rasmussen Jay Howard Driver Development 4 81.6742 -0.3636 118
8 21 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Pabst Racing 5 81.7947 -0.4841 101
9 12 Manuel Sulaiman DEForce Racing 4 81.8750 -0.5644 101
10 41 Eduardo Barrichello Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 4 81.9580 -0.6474 99
11 73 Cameron Shields Newman Wachs Racing 3 82.0283 -0.7177 65
12 24 Bruna Tomaselli Pabst Racing 4 82.0738 -0.7632 102
13 3 Reece Gold Cape Motorsports 4 82.1575 -0.8469 117
14 27 Matthew Round-Garrido BN Racing 5 82.4101 -1.0995 95
15 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 4 82.7278 -1.4172 73
16 36 Nolan Siegel Newman Wachs Racing 5 82.8081 -1.4975 117
17 7 Christian Bogle Jay Howard Driver Development 4 82.8691 -1.5585 129
18 77 Timmy Paglusio Jay Howard Driver Development 3 90.1023 -8.7917 25

Both series have two weekends off before they are back on-track again north of the border in Toronto. Practice on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit begins on Friday, July 12, 2019.

category: Indy Pro 2000 News / Results, USF2000 News/Results
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Indy Pro 2000 at Road America – Saturday – Kirkwood grabs his first Indy Pro 2000 at Road America – joined on the podium by teammate Ian Rodriguez

Posted by  on Saturday, June 22nd 2019     

For the second straight Road To Indy race, it was a Soul Red car of a scholarship winner that drove to victory lane at Road America. Reigning USF2000 champion Kyle Kirkwood made a strong pass on a restart and led 13 of 15 laps to win his first Indy Pro 2000 race. It’s the 13th career Road To Indy win for the 20-year-old RP Motorsport pilot.

An impressive sixth to second place drive by Guatemalan Ian Rodriguez secured a one-two finish for RP Motorsport, matching the one-two finish in the middle-rung of the Road To Indy ladder at Road America last year.

Pole-sitter Parker Thompson, a solo Abel Motorsports this weekend, got his season back on track with his ninth Indy Pro 2000 and 27th career Road To Indy podium.

When the green flag flew to start the 15-lap race, pole sitter Thompson got a significant jump on outside front row sitter Sting Ray Robb and the entire outside lane. Kyle Kirkwood, who started right behind Thompson was able to follow the Canadian cleanly through the high-speed Turn 1.

Behind them, Robb, Danial Frost, and Rasmus Lindh went three-wide into the first corner. An incident between the three drivers left Frost stranded on course, with Robb and Lindh both falling back a few positions.

The yellow flag came out to retrieve Frost’s Exclusive Autosport No. 68 and the running order at the end of the first lap was: Thompson, Kirkwood, Ian Rodriguez, Moisés de la Vara, Robb, Lindh, Phillippe Denes, Nikita Lastochkin, Kory Enders, Jacob Loomis and Frost (who was retired).

RP Motorsport rookie Kirkwood was able to make a move to the lead on the restart, leading his first lap of the season.

On lap five, Lindh was able to get by de la Vara to move up to fourth, and seven laps later moved up to the final spot on the podium.

Behind the top five, Lastochkin was able to gain three spots in five laps to move to fifth after getting by de la Vara.

On Lap 8, the yellow flag came out when de la Vara’s DEForce Racing No. 6 skipped across the gravel trap and into the tire barriers on the outside of the Carousel.

The running order when the green flag came out with five laps to go was: Kirkwood, Thompson, Rodriguez, Lindh, Lastochkin, Robb, Denes, Loomis and Enders.

Thompson, for the second straight restart, lost positions. This time, it was the second RP Motorsport driver, Rodriguez, who along with Lindh, was able to get past the veteran on the first lap back to green.

Kirkwood’s lead at the start of the second to the last lap was 2.4 seconds over his RP Motorsport teammate, who was being pressured heavily by Lindh.

The battling between the No. 5 and No. 10 allowed Thompson to get back into the fight, with the three cars covered by less than a second.

Rodriguez, in only his third Road To Indy start, was able to hold Lindh and Thompson behind him to complete an RP Motorsport one-two result.

Thompson got a great exit of Turn 3 on that final lap and was able to make a text-book pass of Lindh on the inside of Turn 5.

Thompson was able to get back on the podium, passing Lindh on the inside into Turn 5, taking back the final step of the podium and outscoring championship leader Lindh.

Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Elite Engines Indy Pro 2000 Race #1 Unofficial Results.

RANK CAR NO DRIVER TEAM DIFFERENCE
1 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport Racing 15 LAPS
2 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport Racing -4.7096
3 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports -5.2599
4 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing -5.9208
5 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport -6.6035
6 98 Phillippe Denes FatBoy Racing -7.5689
7 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing -7.9741
8 9 Jacob Loomis JDL Racing -10.5813
9 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing -12.7469
10 6 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing -11.4078
11 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport -15 LAPS

Indy Pro 2000 gets the green flag for their second race of the weekend at 10:05 am on Sunday.

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Exclusive Autosport drivers Danial Frost and Manuel Cabrera lead USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 testing at Lucas Oil Raceway

Posted by  on Monday, May 13th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

A trio of drivers representing Exclusive Autosport set the pace as the bottom two rungs of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder get prepared for their first oval races of the year on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval.

Danial Frost turned was the fastest in Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires testing, followed by his veteran teammate Nikita Lastochkin. In Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship testing it was Manuel Cabrera that was quickest for the Brownsburg, Ind. based Canadian owned squad.

Each series was allotted three sessions totaling 115 minutes. But, before getting on track, the drivers took part in a mandatory 90-minute oval clinic.

Leading the classroom session of the test was Gerardo Bonilla, Lucas Oil School of Racing Director of Operations and former Indy Pro 2000 driver. Joining Bonilla were 2013 Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan, five times Indianapolis 500 starter Johnny Unser and NTT IndyCar Series Race Director Kyle Novak.

“It’s good to have someone who is successful to talk to the kids,” explained the 1997 Indy Lights champion. “It was a pleasure to come talk to them – if I put one thing into their heads that will help them drive today and in the race next week, then that’s a good thing. I came to America and went straight into Indy Lights, and I was lucky to have a mentor like (former Tasman Motorsports Team Principal) Steve Horne, and I repeated much of what he told me to the drivers today.

“This is the beauty of being part of the Road to Indy. The ladder series is part of INDYCAR and all the drivers support it. This is the future – in a few years, I’ll be watching the races and I’ll see drivers in the Indy 500 and I can say ‘I remember talking to those kids!’ I think that is why the ladder series has been so strong: everyone puts a lot of effort into making this work. I don’t see anything like this anywhere in the world so to me, this is the best place to be.”

In Indy Pro 2000, 17-year-old Frost led all three sessions by fairly wide margins. His lap of 121.739 mph was 2.73 mph quicker than veteran teammate Lastochkin to serve notice that he will be one of the drivers to beat when the series returns for the Carb Night Freedom 90. For reference, the 12 drivers from Lastochkin on down were separated by a similar 2.97 seconds.

Exclusive Autosport rookie Danial Frost led all three sessions of the Indy Pro 2000 testing on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

“Tony gave me confidence in being here this morning,” said Frost after testing, realizing that he still has a lot to learn. “The timing of passing is something I need to learn and his talk this morning helped. It’s nothing like the road course, it’s a totally new thing for me.

“I did a lot of sim work before I came here, to prepare as much as possible. It’s difficult, coming from the road course at Indianapolis to the oval at Lucas Oil. Going left the whole time is much harder than it looks from the outside. Being close to the wall, taking that line to be quick, it’s all a new thing for me.

“Learning the timing of when to get past someone, not getting blocked and losing my momentum, it’s something that Exclusive Autosport has been working on with me. They’re really training me and helping me to make that possible. It was cold this morning, so we’re learning how the car and the tires work at different times of the day, in different conditions. The car is very good, the pace is there, so we just need a bit more on our race craft and we’ll be right there.”

Moisés de la Vara was quick on the Gateway Motorsports Park oval last year, finishing a solid fourth. So, it should be no surprise that the DEForce Racing driver turned in the third quickest time of the session.

Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport) and Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports) were the fourth and fifth quickest drivers.

The top two drivers in the championship, Rasmus Lindh and Parker Thompson, were the sixth and eighth quickest drivers, respectively.

The baker’s dozen drivers that took part in the test turned a total of 2,106 laps (1,382.98 miles) with Frost’s 208 circuits leading the way.

Combined timesheet from Indy Pro 2000 testing on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval

Rank

Car

Name

Team

Top Speed (MPH)

Session #

Total Laps

1

68

Danial Frost

Exclusive Autosport

121.739

2

208

2

90

Nikita Lastochkin

Exclusive Autosport

119.008

2

115

3

6

Moisés de la Vara

DEForce Racing

118.936

3

111

4

28

Kyle Kirkwood

RP Motorsport

118.717

3

153

5

51

Jacob Abel

Abel Motorsports

118.675

3

179

6

10

Rasmus Lindh

Juncos Racing

118.517

1

156

7

2

Sting Ray Robb

Juncos Racing

117.685

3

148

8

8

Parker Thompson

Abel Motorsports

117.344

2

139

9

11

Antonio Serravalle

PSerra / Jay Howard Driver Development

116.776

3

177

10

5

Ian Rodriguez

RP Motorsport

116.392

3

191

11

83

Charles Finelli

Fatboy Racing!

116.378

3

126

12

98

Phillippe Denes

Fatboy Racing!

116.327

3

169

13

7

Kory Enders

DEForce Racing

116.039

1

144

 

A trio of different drivers led the three USF2000 test sessions, and the field was a bunch more tightly than in Indy Pro 2000.

Exclusive Autosport’s Cabrera, who finished 10th of 21 drivers in his oval debut at Lucas Oil Raceway last year, turned a lap at 111.675 mph to lead the first session. That ended up being the quickest lap of the day in USF2000. Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, he experienced his first oval contact at the end of the session.

Exclusive Autosport’s Manuel Cabrera works through traffic during a USF2000 test on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval. (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

We checked in with Exclusive Autosport team owner Michael Duncalfe, and he said that the crew got the car fixed and they were pleased with the job the Mexico City, Mexico born driver did during the test.

“Tony Kanaan had some great advice for us this morning, about focusing the entire time and pushing hard but not so hard as to do what I did this morning, in hitting the wall,” said Cabrera, who will head to another oval track in LaCrosse, Wis., this week as he continues preparations for the race at Lucas Oil Raceway on Friday, May 24. “His advice really helped me.

“We have such a solid car, to make those kinds of laps,” he continued. “It feels great to have had such a good first session, with the quickest lap on the oval. It’s a great moment for me and the team but we have to stay focused for the race next week.

“We had a good race here last year, and I took that experience this morning and put everything together. I was trying to push so hard this morning – the ovals make you want to push hard. I will put that (incident) behind me and focus ahead.”

The second session was led by Pabst Racing rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy, who was also third quickest in the morning session. The 16-year-old ended up with the second fastest lap, only 0.015 mph slower than Cabrera.

Yuven Sundaramoorthy in testing on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval in preparation for the Freedom 75 on Carb Day. (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

DEForce Racing rookie Jak Crawford led the final session of the day and ended up with the fourth fastest lap overall. The four Pabst Racing cars sat out the last session of the day.

The 14-year-old Crawford was joined in the top ten by fellow 14-year old Nolan Siegel (Newman Wachs Racing) in ninth and 15-year-old Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) in seventh.

Sundaramoorthy’s veteren teammate Colin Kaminsky was the third quickest driver. Pabst Racing’s Hunter McElrea, who is currently second in the USF2000 championship ended up fifth.

Championship leader Braden Eves turned in the sixth fastest lap.

The 19 USF2000 drivers that took part in the 115 minutes of testing turned a total of 2,637 laps (1808.98 miles) on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval. Newman Wachs Racing rookies Siegel and Cameron Shields both turned 196 laps, the most of any of the drivers.

Combined timesheet from USF2000 testing on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway Oval

Rank

Car

Name

Team

Top Speed (MPH)

Session #

Total Laps

1

90

Manuel Cabrera

Exclusive Autosport

111.675

1

47

2

21

Yuven Sundaramoorthy

Pabst Racing

111.659

2

123

3

23

Colin Kaminsky

Pabst Racing

111.617

1

128

4

52

Jak Crawford

DEForce Racing

111.173

3

156

5

22

Hunter McElrea

Pabst Racing

111.038

2

129

6

8

Braden Eves

Cape Motorsports

111.005

2

163

7

40

Jack William Miller

Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

110.896

3

177

8

2

Darren Keane

Cape Motorsports

110.860

3

148

9

36

Nolan Siegel

Newman Wachs Racing

110.760

3

196

10

14

Alexandre Baron

Legacy Autosport

110.758

3

114

11

41

Eduardo Barrichello

Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

110.711

3

176

12

3

Reece Gold

Cape Motorsports

110.350

3

193

13

73

Cameron Shields

Newman Wachs Racing

110.272

3

196

14

6

Christian Rasmussen

Jay Howard Driver Development

110.175

3

84

15

12

Manuel Sulaiman

DEForce Racing

110.148

3

150

16

27

Zach Holden

BN Racing

110.076

3

109

17

24

Bruna Tomaselli

Pabst Racing

109.359

1

132

18

5

Matthew Round-Garrido

Jay Howard Driver Development

107.235

3

140

19

7

Christian Bogle

Jay Howard Driver Development

106.221

1

76
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Road To Indy on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – Lindh’s second straight Indy Pro 2000 win vaults him to points lead

Posted by  on Saturday, May 11th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

Rasmus Lindh joined Braden Eves as back-to-back Road To Indy winners on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The Juncos Racing rookie doubled his career win total, leading all 25 laps on the way to a 2.0669-second victory over his Juncos Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb.

“The start was perfect from my perspective,” explained the 17-year-old. “I never let up. I saw that Sting Ray was behind me and while I knew I had been faster than him all weekend, I know where my weakness is and where I’m strong. So I focused forward, working on getting a gap and driving away as fast as I could. Once the gap got up to two seconds, I worked on keeping that gap. It was a perfect weekend for the team. But I still can’t believe it. We didn’t have the speed to win here last year (in USF2000), so I said to myself that I need to win here this year, and I did, so I am very happy for that.”

The win moved the Gothenburg, Sweden native to the top of the points table, grabbing an 11 point lead over Parker Thompson, who lacked pace in his No. 8 from the Abel Motorsports stable. It was only Thompson’s race craft that saved the weekend from being a total disaster for the 21-year-old veteran, who’s 13th to a 5th place run on Saturday, followed a 12th to 5th place charge on Saturday.

Juncos Racing teammates Rasmus Lindh and Sting Ray Robb congratulate each other after finishing 1-2 in Saturday’s second Indy Pro 2000 race (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

The second place finish was Robb’s career best and the solid weekend kept him within two points of Danial Frost in third and within 26 points of teammate Lindh on top of the championship standings.

Danial Frost continued his solid start to the season, collecting his third straight bottom step of the podium finish and moving closer to second place in the championship fight.

“The first corner was rough because I lost two places, but I gained them back by Turn Four,” said the Singapore native. “I had good pace and was catching Sting Ray, but it was hard to get close in the aero wash. But we showed that we are strong here and that the car could do what I wanted it to do – Exclusive Autosport gave me a great car. Next time we’ll be able to get to the front. But I will remember this weekend, with double podiums at Indianapolis, as one of my biggest achievements.”

After one extra pace-lap to bring to help get their Cooper Tires up to temperature, Juncos Racing racing teammates Lindh and Robb brought the 14-car Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires field to the green flag.

Kirkwood, Frost, and Lastochkin all got better starts than outside front row starter Robb and fall four drivers reached the entry to Turn 1, and something had to give. Unfortunately for reigning USF2000 champion, Kirkwood, it was the front wing on his NO. 28 Soul Red PM-18. The Jupiter, Fla. native was forced to pit road and the attention of his RP Motorsport crew. He rejoined the field but was one lap down. He was able to earn the bonus point for the quickest lap of the race,

“The start was hectic,” explained Robb when asked about the start of Saturday’s race. “Rasmus, the team and I had talked about the start and how we could get away, but it didn’t go as planned. He got a great start and I lagged a bit and fell to fourth. I was able to get back up to second, but getting around Kyle, he slid out just a little bit at the apex and caught my rear tire with his nose. I was worried about a puncture but we were good. The team is working hard to get me toward the front and we’re going in the right direction, but a podium here is really special. I got my first podium here last year so to come back and do it again means a lot.”

The Indy Pro 2000 field goes four wide into Turn 1 ((Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

The running order at the end of the first lap was Lindh, Robb, Lastochkin, Frost, Rodriguez, Loomis, Thompson, de la Vera, Serravalle, Denes, Abel, Enders, Finelli, and Kirkwood.

On Lap 2, Frost was able to get past his Exclusive Autosport teammate Lastochkin and quickly turned the quickest lap of the race to that point.

After five laps, Lindh’s lead over Robb was 1.3 seconds, but both drivers were feeling pressure from Frost in third the quickest driver on the track.

With ten laps down, Lindh’s lead was a comfortable 1.8 seconds over his teammate. Frost was still pressuring Robb. The front three were cover by 2.5 seconds and had a 4.6-second gap to fourth place Lastochkin, who was starting to feel pressure from Rodriguez.

Further, back Thompson was right under the rear wing of Loomis and de la Vera was followed closely by Serravalle and Denes.

At just past the half-way point of the 25 lap race, Lindh had extended his lead to 1.9 seconds over Robb, who had a more comfortable one second lead over Frost.

On lap 15, Robb turned his quickest lap of the race to that point, and Denes was able to get around Serravalle for 9th.

With five laps remaining Lindh had a 2.1 second lead over Robb, who was still working hard to hold off Frost in third.

Rodriguez slowed noticeably due to a mechanical issue, bottlenecking Loomis and Thompson and allowing de la Vara and Serravalle back into the fray. Thompson made a move on Loomis, which allowed de la Vera to get by both of them. Loomis ended up falling back to 11th.

Unfortunately for DEForce Racing newcomer Rodriguez was forced to retire with the result that did not represent his pace in his first Indy Pro 2000 race weekend.

With three laps remaining, de la Vera and Thompson went by Rodriguez to move up to fifth and sixth.

With two laps remaining, Thompson was able to get by de la Vera to move into the Top 5, eight spots higher than he started the race.

Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Race #2 Results

RANK

CAR NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

GAP

1

10

Rasmus Lindh

Juncos Racing

25 LAPS

2

2

Sting Ray Robb

Juncos Racing

2.0669

3

68

Danial Frost

Exclusive Autosport

2.7186

4

90

Nikita Lastochkin

Exclusive Autosport

18.6584

5

8

Parker Thompson

Abel Motorsports

27.9877

6

6

Moises de la Vara

DEForce Racing

30.5674

7

51

Jacob Abel

Abel Motorsports

31.7432

8

98

Phillippe Denes

FatBoy Racing

32.1513

9

11

Antonio Serravalle

Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development

32.9492

10

7

Kory Enders

DEForce Racing

33.7431

11

9

Jacob Loomis

JDL Racing

35.0240

12

5

Ian Rodriguez

RP Motorsport Racing

40.1603

13

28

Kyle Kirkwood

RP Motorsport Racing

-1 LAP

14

83

Charles Finelli

FatBoy Racing

– 1 LAP
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Road To Indy on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Lindh resets track record on the way to 2nd pole – Robb joins him on an all Juncos Racing front row

Posted by  on Friday, May 10th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

A few quick updates on the first qualifying session

  • Sting Ray Robb lost his quickest lap due to qualifying interference.
  • Ian Rodriguez, Antonio Serravalle, Jacob Abel, and Danial Frost were all penalized two grid spots for not reducing their speed by at least 15% through a local yellow flag.

Rasmus Lindh will start on pole for Saturday’s second Indy Pro 2000 race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, lowering the track record he had set 2 ½ hours earlier by a slim 0.003 seconds.

It’s the Swedish driver’s fifth career Road To Indy pole and the seventh for Juncos Racing in this event.

Lindh’s veteran teammate Sting Ray Robb was his closest competitor, ensuring Saturday’s race will feature an all Juncos Racing front row.

The second row will feature reigning USF2000 champion Kyle Kirkwood and Exclusive Autosport rookie Danial Frost.

Nikita Lastochkin (Exclusive Autosport), and Robb, both improved by four spots between the two qualifying sessions.

At the half-way point of the 20-minute session Lindh held the provisional pole with a lap of 79.116 seconds. Frost, Robb, Kirkwood, and Lastochkin made up the rest of the top five.

The only change in the top-five with five minutes remaining was RP Motorsport newcomer Ian Rodriguez moving to a provisional fifth place starting spot.

With three minutes left, Robb and Kirkwood moved ahead of Frost but were still behind Lindh.

Lindh must have sensed the pressure coming, turning a lap just that little bit quicker than his track record from first qualifying session of the day.

Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Qualifying #2 (Unofficial) Results

RANK

CAR NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

QUICK LAP

DIFFERENCE

TOTAL LAPS

1

10

Rasmus Lindh

Juncos Racing

1:18.890

–.—-

10

2

2

Sting Ray Robb

Juncos Racing

1:19.144

0.2539

10

3

28

Kyle Kirkwood

RP Motorsport Racing

1:19.348

0.4582

12

4

68

Danial Frost

Exclusive Autosport

1:19.479

0.5893

12

5

5

Ian Rodriguez

RP Motorsport Racing

1:19.587

0.6967

11

6

90

Nikita Lastochkin

Exclusive Autosport

1:19.695

0.8050

13

7

7

Kory Enders

DEForce Racing

1:19.843

0.9531

13

8

9

Jacob Loomis

JDL Racing

1:19.871

0.9814

9

9

51

Jacob Abel

Abel Motorsports

1:19.968

1.0778

11

10

6

Moises de la Vara

DEForce Racing

1:19.974

1.0846

13

11

11

Antonio Serravalle

Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development

1:20.081

1.1913

11

12

98

Phillippe Denes

FatBoy Racing

1:20.109

1.2192

11

13

8

Parker Thompson

Abel Motorsports

1:20.156

1.2662

12

14

83

Charles Finelli

Fatboy Racing!

No Time

—

—

The first Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend rolls off at 3:40 pm this afternoon.

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Road To Indy on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – Lindh on pole with a track record setting lap

Posted by  on Friday, May 10th 2019     

By Steve Wittich

Juncos Racing rookie Rasmus Lindh, with a lap of 68.893 seconds, will start on pole for the first of two Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires. The scorching lap lowered the Indy Pro 2000 track record that was set by Oliver Askew in 2018.

This afternoon’s race will be the fourth time in his Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires career that the 17-year-old will start on the pole.

Lindh will be joined on the front row by fellow rookie Danial Frost (Exclusive Autosport) with a lap of 69.171 seconds, which was also below the track record.

Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport) and Phillippe Denes (Fatboy Racing!) will start on the second row.

Surprisingly, current championship leader Parker Thompson could only manage the 13th quickest time and will start on the back row. It should be fun to see him try and come through the field.

Lindh joins Timothe Buret, Victor Franzoni and Spencer Pigot as pole winners for Juncos Racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The Speedway, Ind. team now has six poles in 12 attempts at their home track.

The session began under overcast skies and cold temperatures with drivers getting heat in their Cooper Tire slicks during the first half of the session.

At the half-way point of the 20-minute session, Lindh, who led the single practice session on Thursday was the quickest driver by almost a half-second with a track record-setting lap of 68.995 seconds.

Frost, Robb, Kirkwood, and Rodriguez made up the remainder of the top five at that point.

With five minutes remaining the session it was still Lindh leading the way, followed by the same four drivers in the top five. At this point in the session, seven of the 14 entries were within one second of Lindh.

Lindh was able to go even quicker on his ninth lap of the session with four minutes remaining. Fatboy Racing! driver Denes jumped up to third, with Kory Enders and Jacob Abel moving to within one second of Lindh.

Denes was quickly supplanted by defending USF2000 champion Kirkwood.

Frost, on his ninth lap of the session, was able to go quicker but was still more than four-tenths adrift of Lindh. The Exclusive Autosport rookie went quicker on the next lap, moving to within 0.27 seconds of his fellow rookie.

Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Qualifying #1 (Unofficial) Results

RANK

CAR NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

QUICK LAP

DIFFERENCE

TOTAL LAPS

1

10

Rasmus Lindh

Juncos Racing

1:18.893

–.—-

11

2

68

Danial Frost

Exclusive Autosport

1:19.171

0.2784

11

3

28

Kyle Kirkwood

RP Motorsport Racing

1:19.481

0.5880

11

4

98

Phillippe Denes

FatBoy Racing!

1:19.630

0.7370

12

5

5

Ian Rodriguez

RP Motorsport Racing

1:19.661

0.7681

11

6

2

Sting Ray Robb

Juncos Racing

1:19.670

0.7768

13

7

7

Kory Enders

DEForce Racing

1:19.982

1.0890

14

8

51

Jacob Abel

Abel Motorsports

1:19.996

1.1028

14

9

6

Moises de la Vara

DEForce Racing

1:20.015

1.1216

13

10

90

Nikita Lastochkin

Exclusive Autosport

1:20.123

1.2297

12

11

11

Antonio Serravalle

Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development

1:20.342

1.4485

9

12

9

Jacob Loomis

JDL Racing

1:20.381

1.4878

5

13

8

Parker Thompson

Abel Motorsports

1:20.414

1.5206

14

14

83

Charles Finelli

Fatboy Racing!

No Time

—

—

 

Teams will have just over two hours to prepare for the second Indy Pro 2000 qualifying session that will start at 11:30 am.

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