CAPE MOTORSPORTS CONTINUES USF2000 WIN STREAK AT INDIANAPOLIS

Anthony Martin and Parker Thompson split victories on Indy road course

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 18, 2016) – After dominating the action in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park in late-April, Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing fueled their momentum even further when two of their drivers split the victories during the Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.  Australian talent Anthony Martin drew first blood on Friday as he scored his maiden Mazda Road to Indy win, while Canadian Parker Thompson made it three wins in four races as he was victorious on Saturday, adding to his double-win total from Alabama. Cape’s third driver, Russian-born Nikita Lastochkin, was collected in an incident on Friday and then battled back to 11^th in the second race on Saturday.

“What a brilliant job our whole USF2000 team did at IMS,” offered Nicholas and Dominic Cape. “It’s a constant fight every session to try to be on top, with all the front runners pressing as hard as they can. Anyone could be on the pole and anyone could win a race, it’s truly fantastic to be a part of.”

In the opening race on Friday afternoon, Martin led from the green flag after starting on the pole thanks to turning the fastest lap during morning qualifying.  Thompson started alongside his teammate but was outrun into the opening corner by Pabst Racing’s Jordan Lloyd.  Contact deeper in the pack on the opening lap put the race into a full course caution and, on the ensuing restart, Martin again managed his lead while Thompson found a way around Lloyd to move into second.  For the remainder of the 30-minute race, Parker pushed hard to chase down Anthony, but it was not in the cards as the 2015 USF2000 Rookie of the Year was brilliant all day and cruised to the first Mazda Road to Indy win of his young career by a margin of 0.514 seconds in his #8 Burgess BLA entry.  Thompson had a large gap over the third place car, while Lastochkin was not able to finish the race after he was struck by another car that was attempted to get back onto the track after an off into the grass.  He was officially classified in 23^rd.

Thompson’s second fastest lap in qualifying earned him the pole for Race 2 on a chilly Saturday morning, and the Canadian bolted away at both the green flag and on the restart after a long early yellow flag period in his #3 Weyburn Energy / Uber / #AlbertaStrong Van Diemen. The series point leader picked up where Martin left off from Friday, running off to a 0.711-second win, his third of the year and Cape’s fourth straight triumph. Martin never gave up the chase for his second victory of the weekend and finished in the runner-up position, vaulting him to second overall in the championship standings behind Thompson, who now leads by 28 points. Lastochkin was able to avoid issue, and finished in the 11^th position in his #2 Russkaya Mekhanika entry.

The team is definitely on a roll with four straight wins and first and second in the standings.  They will return to competition in Indianapolis on the May 26-27 on the banked 5/8^th mile oval at Lucas Oil Raceway for the newly scheduled Carb Night Classic in the Friday evening before the Indianapolis 500.  The USF2000 pilots will run on a 75-lap main event, called the Freedom 100.

For more information on the team, please visit www.capemotorsports.com.

DRIVER PERFORMANCE – ROUNDS 5/6

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – INDIANAPOLIS, IN

PARKER THOMPSON – #2

Qualifying: 2^nd – 1:26.173

Race #1: 2^nd

Race #2: 1^st

Driver Quote: “”The Grand Prix of Indianapolis treated the #2 Cape Motorsports car very well. We knew what we had to do, and that was to maintain solid finishes for the championship. It was another near perfect weekend for us. My hat goes off to the entire Cape Motorsports crew for preparing us great cars for the start of the season. I can’t thank Weyburn Energy, Uber and my remaining partners enough for all of their support. Things are feeling great at the moment, but it’s time to put my blinders on and focus hard on the midway point of the season coming up.”

ANTHONY MARTIN – #8

Qualifying: 1^st – 1:26.105

Race #1: 1^st

Race #2: 2^nd

Driver Quote: “Coming out of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis with a win gives me more confidence going into the next race, the Freedom 75 at Lucas Oil Raceway. Having finally got a win under my belt and an strong weekend overall, I’ve moved to second in the championship and now I can strive hard to gain more points on my teammate!”

NIKITA LASTOCHKIN – #3

Qualifying: 7^th – 1:26.768

Race #1: 23^rd

Race #2: 11^th

Driver Quote: “Indy was a very tough weekend for me, as after the day of testing I got sick and was running a fever, which was getting only worse throughout the weekend. In the first race, I made a late pass on a car that went on the grass coming out of the previous corner, but he did not see me and turned into the back of my car, which got airborne. There was a lot of damage to both the chassis and engine, but my team did a phenomenal job in putting the car back together for the race the next day. On Saturday, we had quite a long safety car period and I made a mistake on the restart, which cost me a few spots. All in all, I have to say big thank you to Cape Motorsports, as everyone on the team helped me get through the weekend. Right now, I’m focusing on getting well rested and being ready to for Lucas Oil.

CAPE MOTORSPORTS’ PRO MAZDA PILOTS CONSISTENT ON INDY ROAD COURSE

Jamin and Eidson continue to improve pace during rookie season

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 18, 2016) – Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last week (May 11-14) for the fifth and sixth rounds of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, and their rookie drivers Nico Jamin and Jacob Eidson turned in solid performances to solidify their positions in the top six of the championship point standings.  Jamin, the reigning Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series champion, posted a pair of top-five results that have moved him into fifth in points, while Eidson finished sixth and seventh in the doubleheader and now sits sixth overall in the title chase.  The team improved its pace throughout the road course event and now has its sights set on the Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Raceway on May 27, the first of two oval events on the Pro Mazda schedule.

“We’re extremely pleased with our drivers, as we got another good solid performance from our guys,” offered Dominic and Nicholas Cape. “We’ll just keep working as hard as we can to close the gap.”

Cape’s Pro Mazda duo ran two one-hour sessions on the track’s 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course in an official Promoter’s Test on Wednesday and continued to make progress during both of Thursday’s 30-minute practice opportunities as well.  On Friday, Jamin and Eidson began the day with qualifying in the cooler morning hours, warmed by sun and blue skies, and the speed’s reflected the ideal conditions. Jamin was seventh quickest in his #2 Soul Red Mazdaspeed Pro Mazda, while Eidson was eighth at the end of the half-hour timed session.

The opening race of the weekend went caution-free, and despite that fact that Jamin’s car had a little too much downforce to allow for maximum straightaway speed, he was still able to overtake two competitors to move from seventh to fifth at the end of the 40-minute race.   Eidson was able to advance early and grab a couple of spots, and although he would give one up later in the race after a minor miscue in Turn 7, he was rewarded with a strong sixth place finish.

In the second main event, which was held early Saturday morning in chilly 45-degree temperatures, Jamin was able to hustle his car after dropping two spots at the green flag.  After making adjustments to the aero levels on the car, Nico was happy with the added straight-line speed and was able adjust to the decreased grip to advance three positions back to fifth just past the midway point, setting up a battle with Juncos Racing’s Garett Grist.  Jamin made a stunning last lap move on Grist to take over the position, and finished fourth.  This was his sixth consecutive top-six finish and has advanced him to fifth in the championship standings, just four points out of third.  Eidson was embroiled a thrilling battle for sixth, battling three-wide in a few corners, and at the checkered flag, he finished in the middle of the fight with two Juncos Racing drivers to take seventh.

The 2016 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires will head back to Indianapolis on May 26-27 for the Carb Night Classic at the banked 5/8-mile Lucas Oil Raceway where Cape’s Pro Mazda drivers will compete in the annual Freedom 90 event.

For more information on Cape Motorsports, please visit www.capemotorsports.com.

DRIVER PERFORMANCE – ROUNDS 5/6

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – INDIANAPOLIS, IN

NICO JAMIN – #2

Qualifying: 7^th – 1:23.961

Race #1: 5^th

Race #2: 4^th

Driver Quote: “It was great to be back in The Racing Capital of the World and have the chance to race at Indianapolis. I enjoyed every second of it, and we had a pretty good weekend overall with fifth and a fourth place finishes. It was big in terms of points for the championship and I am getting closer to the podium of the drivers’ standing. I am very excited to race on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway during Carb Day before the 100th running of the Indy 500. We have high expectations, and I am definitely looking to get the first oval win of my career.”

JACOB EIDSON – #3

Qualifying: 8^th – 1:24.214

Race #1: 6^th

Race #2: 7^th

Driver Quote: “We battled a lot of obstacles at the Grand Prix of Indy last weekend. It was a very challenging few days of racing for both the team and myself, but we handled it very well and made great progress in Race 1 and Race 2. I also love being able to race at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and can’t wait for our first oval race at Lucas Oil Raceway.”