Archives for Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda – TSO

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – USF2000, Pro Mazda Race 2

Oliver Askew (Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda) and Victor Franzoni (Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires) completed weekend sweeps from pole in the second of two races for each of the first two rungs on the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires ladder, as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend at the 2.439-mile, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

USF2000 logo

Like yesterday, a scattered and somewhat chaotic race for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda produced a similar result at the top of the standings: Oliver Askew has won once again.

Askew has completed his second consecutive weekend sweep and has now won five races in a row to kick off the season, driving the No. 3 Soul Red Tatuus USF-17 Mazda for Cape Motorsports.

This win today was another flag-to-flag victory in the 17-lap, 30-minute race from pole position, although behind him, there was a lot of action.

A multiple car accident on the first lap of the race took out drivers Colin Kaminsky (John Cummiskey Racing) and Dev Gore (Exclusive Autosport), while Kris Wright (JCR), Bruna Tomaselli (ArmsUp Motorsports) and Ricky Donison (Cape) were also collected in the mess, but continued.

That put the race under the first of two full course cautions with Askew then launching nicely from the restart on Lap 4.

Team Pelfrey’s Kaylen Frederick had fallen from second to third on the initial start behind Pabst Racing’s Rinus VeeKay and fell further back on the subsequent restart, out of the top-five down to as low as seventh.

Askew extended the gap over VeeKay to more than three-plus seconds over the 10-plus lap middle stint of the race before his lead evaporated when two different drivers who impressed on Friday had problems.

Pabst Racing rookie Calvin Ming of Guyana, who banked his first podium of USF2000 with third, which became second after Frederick’s disqualification, dropped off pace on Lap 13. Then two laps later, trouble struck Callan O’Keeffe, the South African rookie from Team BENIK, as he slowed to a halt at the inside of Turn 7 and needed to get pushed off course.

It briefly slowed the field for a quick one-lap full-course caution, where the pace car wasn’t even deployed and Askew was left to play pace car driver on his own, and it also wiped out a three-plus second lead.

Askew led from VeeKay, Newman Wachs Racing’s Dakota Dickerson, Pelfrey’s Robert Megennis and Frederick in the top five, with DE Force Racing’s Kory Enders, Exclusive Autosport teammates Parker Thompson and Luke Gabin, Donison – who’d recovered 10 positions from the first lap incident – and Pabst’s Lucas Kohl in the top 10 at the restart.

The green and white flags came out simultaneously for a one-lap shootout as the race was up against the 30-minute time clock.

It got a bit nutty from there as Megennis got a monster tow on Dickerson into Turn 1, before the two collided when battling over the final podium position at Turn 2, and ultimately both fell down the order.

Askew won from VeeKay by 1.2488 seconds, with VeeKay back on the podium for the fourth time this season.

Frederick was the beneficiary of the Megennis/Dickerson battle to advance into third, with Thompson and Enders completing the unofficial top-five finishers. For Enders, the fifth place finish is the first top-five in USF2000 for the rapidly improving DE Force team in its maiden season.

Gabin improved to sixth, a great result after starting 16th, ahead of Megennis, Donison, Kohl and Dickerson in the top 10.

As a result of the Team Pelfrey disqualification – more from TSO Ladder on that here – it changed the points standings even further in Askew’s favor after Friday’s race.

It was unofficially a 42-point lead from Askew to Frederick (155 to 113), but the points elimination for Frederick meant Askew entered today with a 52-point lead over VeeKay (155-103). Frederick was third with 88 points and Megennis sixth with 68 after the points were taken away heading into the day.

That lead only grows with today’s result, as Askew’s first three months in the series have been nothing short of staggering.

It’s worth noting that Askew’s driver coach – Jonatan Jorge – is not here this weekend as he’s supporting other drivers at the European Le Mans Series weekend in Monza. But Askew and Jorge, who runs JJRD, Inc., have stayed in constant contact throughout the weekend via phone. The Team USA Scholarship winner also said the track conditions were more consistent this weekend compared to the first two weekends in St. Petersburg and Birmingham; here, there is only open-wheel rubber present whereas there was sports car rubber present at those two. Askew’s restarts have been exemplary thus far this year and that’s been a big credit to his success; he said today, he had to perform another “mind trick” to prepare himself for the one-lap shootout.

Askew also praised Donison’s weekend performance, in what was the best weekend thus far for both Cape drivers. Donison could have started second on Friday but was bumped back to third after Frederick was reinstated to second after a penalty was rescinded. Then he was bumped up to third after Frederick was disqualified after the race; and that made it quirky where the Indian driver’s first career USF2000 podium was one where he did not actually get to stand on the podium. Donison’s day saw him start fourth, to being caught up in the first lap incident and fall to 19th, to finishing eighth unofficially.

A similar driver with a yo-yo day was Frederick, who felt he may have had contact on the opening couple laps, which dropped him back. But while he was unfortunate early he was smart late; opting to hold back as Megennis and Dickerson battled over third, and then snaking through to the podium once they made contact. Frederick said weekends like this one where items happen outside his control are character-building ones.

VeeKay was happy to be back on the podium after a difficult first race on Friday when he finished sixth. He and the entire Pabst team had a good weekend. Ming was second on Friday and Kohl, in ninth today, had his first top-10 finish of the season.

The next weekend for USF2000 is at Road America, the end of June, after about a month-and-a-half break.

P No Name Laps
1 3 Oliver Askew 17
2 21 Rinus VeeKay 17
3 81 Kaylen Frederick 17
4 90 Parker Thompson 17
5 11 Kory Enders 17
6 91 Luke Gabin 17
7 80 Robert Megennis 17
8 2 Ricky Donison 17
9 23 Lucas Kohl 17
10 36 Dakota Dickerson 17
11 32 Darren Keane 17
12 82 Ayla Agren 17
13 7 Devin Wojcik 17
14 12 Moises de la Vara 17
15 20 Chandler Horton 17
16 93 Jayson Clunie 17
17 79 David Malukas 16
18 22 Calvin Ming 16
19 97 Bruna Tomaselli 16
20 34 Kris Wright 16
21 31 Callan O’Keeffe 13
22 27 Colin Kaminsky
23 92 Dev Gore

Pro Mazda Logo

Some races in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires are more exciting than others, and the second Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend falls into the “others” department.

Not that Victor Franzoni minded it, following an authoritative romp to his second win to complete a dominant stretch from start-to-finish all weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Franzoni, who drives for Juncos Racing, avoided the same pitfall as Friday when he had a slow start and dropped to fourth place.

But having made it through Turns 1 and 2 without losing any positions and after fending off the challenge from Team Pelfrey drivers TJ Fischer and Carlos Cunha behind him, Franzoni promptly checked out from there.

Gaining anywhere from four to eight or nine tenths of a second per lap, Franzoni ultimately stretched the gap to a final margin of victory of 13.0798 seconds over Fischer in the 29-lap, 40-minute race.

The result also moves Franzoni into the points lead over Anthony Martin, with the Australian driver finishing off the podium for the first time this season in fourth at Cape Motorsports. Franzoni has two wins and two seconds, while Martin has two wins, a second and a fourth.

The top six drivers all finished in the same order as they started. Franzoni won from Fischer, in a career-best second place after three straight third places to start the year. In third was Cunha, with the Brazilian teenager securing his first career Pro Mazda podium.

Martin was fourth, one spot ahead the third member of Team Pelfrey, Los Angeles-based Russian Nikita Lastochkin and the first World Speed Motorsports driver, Phillippe Denes.

After the race Franzoni said that without a headwind facing him on the front straight, and after his start mistake yesterday, he was determined to not make the same mistake again. It’s been a whirlwind start to the year for him as he went from not having a ride to then only sorting a deal with Juncos just before St. Petersburg after the potential of a USF2000 ride was there, but now he feels fully part of the Juncos family after their best weekend together. Franzoni credited the team’s test in October for the performance baseline ahead of this weekend.

Fischer is now through a full year of circuits in Pro Mazda, as this weekend last year was his final one in USF2000 before he stepped up to Pro Mazda. Fischer credited his driver coach, Chuck West, and Pelfrey engineer Rick Cameron for his improvement and growth, and like Franzoni has four podiums in as many races.

Cunha was over the moon both with his first podium and with racing at Indianapolis. His eyes lit up in talking about the weekend, and this result fulfills his early season promise that has had pace but not yet results.

The next weekend for Pro Mazda is at Road America, the end of June, after about a month-and-a-half break.

P No Name Laps
1 23 Victor Franzoni 29
2 82 TJ Fischer 29
3 81 Carlos Cunha 29
4 8 Anthony Martin 29
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 29
6 15 Phillippe Denes 29
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 29
8 13 Bobby Eberle 29
9 3 Matt Machiko 29
10 44 Kevin Davis 28
11 31 Brendan Puderbach 27
12 2 Steven Ford 27
13 60 Jeff Green 27
14 57 Bob Kaminsky 15
15 83 Charles Finelli

Second and eighth place USF2000 entries disqualified – Team Pelfrey takes blame for unmalicious mistake.

By Steve Wittich

A few hours after the first USF2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation took the checkered flag, USF2000 officials issued the official results that disqualified the No. 80 and No. 81 entries from the Team Pelfrey stable. Kaylen Frederick lost his second place finish, and Robert Megennis lost his eighth place finish for a violation of USF2000 rule no. 14.28.9

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda rule book lists Rule 14.28.9 as follows:

14.28.9. Uprights – Uprights must be used as specified by the chassis Manufacturer. Only the approved bearings and seals may be used without modification. Hybrid and/or ceramic bearings are not approved for use

Michelle Kish, the series COO, confirmed to TSO Ladder that Team Pelfrey’s violation of Rule 14.28.9 stemmed from modifications, and that no modifications to the listed parts is allowed.

TSO had a chance to chat with Team Pelfrey General Manager Jonathan Baker, who accepted responsibly for the team’s error.

“It’s (the modifications) been a standard industry operating procedure for a number of years, but with the new Tatuus, they’ve clamped down on that,” Baker told TSO. “We have to respect the decision, and ultimately we made a mistake. There was no malicious intent, and we have to move on. I feel bad for our drivers who did a good job, but we just have to go out and win some motor races.”

The disqualification cost rookie Frederick 25 points, and dropped the 14 year-old from second place in the championship and a 42 point deficit to Oliver Askew, to third place and 67 points adrift of Askew.

Sophomore Megennis lost the 13 points he would have received for his eighth place finish, dropping him from fourth to sixth in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda title fight.

Frederick will start this morning’s second race on the outside of the front row and Megennis will start on the inside of the third row.

The second USF2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation goes green at 10:05am (Eastern) and you can follow all the action with the below options.

Don’t miss any of the action:

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – USF2000, Pro Mazda Race 1

Polesitters Victor Franzoni (Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires) and Oliver Askew (Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda) converted those perfect starting positions into victories in the first of two races for each series on the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The win is Franzoni’s first in Pro Mazda in the series’ third race of the year. Meanwhile Askew has his fourth consecutive win in USF2000, in that series’ fifth race.

Pro Mazda Logo

Victor Franzoni saw his lead disappear at the start of the 30-minute third round of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires season.

But the Brazilian then made the gap disappear shortly thereafter, before emerging back up front in a brilliant passing maneuver after a two-lap battle with Anthony Martin.

Franzoni is now a winner in the Pro Mazda series for Juncos Racing, and has made significant inroads into Martin’s championship lead after the Australian won both races at St. Petersburg to open the season on top.

Finishing third for the third time in as many races was TJ Fischer, which in keeping the theme of threes alive again made him first of the three Team Pelfrey cars.

Given Franzoni’s dominance in practice and qualifying thus far this weekend, the only way he figured to be headed was if he had a bad start in the race – which he did.

He was swarmed at the start and Martin, who’d qualified third, made it into the lead by the end of the first lap with Franzoni falling to fourth. Franzoni recovered, however, to make it back to second at the end of the lap.

A slightly altered order after the first lap saw Martin ahead of Franzoni, Nikita Lastochkin, Fischer, Phillippe Denes and Carlos Cunha.

Franzoni quickly lowered the gap to 0.4606 of a second on Lap 3 and 0.2353 of a second on Lap 4, which meant a pass was going to be imminent.

On Lap 5, Franzoni darted in behind Martin exiting the final corner. Martin held the lead as Franzoni drafted down the frontstraight before Franzoni darted to the outside through Turns 1 and 2.

The two drivers promptly ran side-by-side through the right, left and pair of right-handers through Turn 4 before Martin held him off into the Turns 5/6 chicane.

But having had a dry run at the passing attempt on the previous lap, Franzoni completed it to perfection a lap later on Lap 6. Having tried to Martin’s outside at Turn 1, it again positioned him to the inside for Turn 2, and he made it past.

Gaps of 0.7036 of a second after Lap 6 followed by 1.3712 on Lap 7, 1.9838 on Lap 8 and 2.4719 on Lap 9 were proof positive Franzoni was in the clear for the rest of the race.

Other than a minor hiccup on Lap 10 when Franzoni lost 1.5 seconds to Martin, he was never challenged the rest of the way, and had to control the race from there en route to the victory, by 5.0012 seconds.

Behind the top two, Fischer rebounded from a slow start as he fell from second down to fourth to emerge at the head of the Pelfrey scrap and make it back to the podium once more. Cunha was fourth followed by Denes in fifth, and Lastochkin dropped to sixth.

Franzoni said afterwards he’d play the move on Martin depending on which way Martin darted. The confidence boost in the win comes with Juncos Racing’s preparation, and Franzoni noted how cool it was to win in a series team owner Ricardo Juncos knows, Pro Mazda, before making his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in the Indianapolis 500.

Martin said his only realistic chance to pass Franzoni for the win would be on the start. While he defended as best he could and could thank Franzoni for racing him clean, as they have in USF2000 before Pro Mazda, he was unable to hold him back fully.

Fischer said he recovered from a poor start nicely and carved his way back through the field. It was a solid result for him at a race where a year ago, his USF2000 season came apart and ultimately led to his Pro Mazda debut that came the next month at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Franzoni again has the pole for Saturday’s race, which gives him a great chance to equalize Martin on two wins for the year and tighten up the points race even further. The window for the 40-minute race runs from 8:15 to 9:05 a.m.

P No Name Laps
1 23 Victor Franzoni 22
2 8 Anthony Martin 22
3 82 TJ Fischer 22
4 81 Carlos Cunha 22
5 15 Phillippe Denes 22
6 80 Nikita Lastochkin 22
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 22
8 13 Bobby Eberle 22
9 57 Bob Kaminsky 22
10 60 Jeff Green 22
11 3 Matt Machiko 22
12 44 Kevin Davis 22
13 2 Steven Ford 21
14 83 Charles Finelli 18
15 31 Brendan Puderbach 0

USF2000 logo

Very little in terms of an actual race occurred for the opening Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race of the weekend, interrupted by a waved off initial start and then a crash that ate nearly two-thirds of the clock for the 30-minute race.

And additionally, very little changed at the top of the leaderboard, either.

Oliver Askew completed a start-to-finish drive in what wound up as only a 15-lap race to continue a number of streaks, taking the checkered flag by 3.3461 seconds over Kaylen Frederick.

It is the talented Floridian’s fourth consecutive win this season. It is the fifth straight win for Cape Motorsports on the IMS road course, now its first with the Tatuus USF-17 Mazda after four straight with the previous Van Diemen chassis. It is the sixth straight win by the polesitter in USF2000 at IMS.

He did so after a bit of delay to get the race going. The initial start was waved off, and then on the second attempt to get going, a heavy crash between Kory Enders (DE Force Racing) and Kris Wright (John Cummiskey Racing) occurred at Turn 7 and put the race under a full-course caution period.

After 17-plus minutes and seven laps, the race resumed on Lap 8, with Askew leading Frederick. He gained 1.3166 seconds on the first lap, and that was all the margin he needed to streak away from there in his No. 3 Soul Red Mazda.

Frederick lost anywhere from one to four tenths per lap in the remaining 11-plus minutes of the race after the initial restart, but nonetheless was able to stay in second place for the third consecutive race in the No. 81 Team Pelfrey entry.

In third, after starting fourth and passing Ricky Donison of Cape on the opening lap, was Guyana driver Calvin Ming. This is Ming’s first career podium finish in USF2000 in his No. 22 Pabst Racing entry.

Donison was fourth in the second Cape car, the No. 2 entry, for his best result this season and Dakota Dickerson completed the top five in the No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing entry.

Series debutantes Callan O’Keeffe in the No. 31 Team BENIK Tatuus and David Malukas in the No. 79 BN Racing Tatuus impressed to finish sixth and 11thh after starting sixth and 15th, respectively.

O’Keffe was ahead of Rinus VeeKay, Robert Megennis, Ayla Agren and Moises de la Vara in the top 10.

It was a tough race for Exclusive Autosport with Luke Gabin the best of its four cars in 12th. Parker Thompson pitted on the opening lap and again during the yellow, and was left to finish a frustrating 21st, a tough result to take for last year’s series runner-up.

Post-race, Askew said it almost becomes a “mind trick” to try to keep your head in the game when there is a long yellow. He hasn’t had much time to run behind people this week as he has been fastest in most sessions, but said that with a little bit of a draft, you can be quicker. This is his first win at Indianapolis and he called it a dream; this is the first year he will be able to attend the Indianapolis 500 in person.

Frederick was surprised by how strong Askew’s restart was. He also said his rear tires fell off a little bit faster even in the limited green flag running. He said that for a day as long as this, with two qualifying sessions and the race, keeping your mind focused is key to success. He said the track grip and conditions were good without having any sports car rubber down; just the Cooper for the Mazda Road to Indy and Firestone for IndyCar is down here.

After his first podium, Ming said he got a good run on Donison at the initial start, which was enough to secure third place around the outside.

Unofficially Askew stretches his points lead to 42 over Frederick, 155 to 113, with VeeKay in third at 102 points and the only other driver north of 100 scored this year.

The second 30-minute race is in the 10:05 to 10:45 window tomorrow morning.

P No Name Laps Status
1 3 Oliver Askew 15
2 81 Kaylen Frederick 15
3 22 Calvin Ming 15
4 2 Ricky Donison 15
5 36 Dakota Dickerson 15
6 31 Callan O’Keeffe 15
7 21 Rinus VeeKay 15
8 80 Robert Megennis 15
9 82 Ayla Agren 15
10 12 Moises de la Vara 15
11 79 David Malukas 15
12 91 Luke Gabin 15
13 7 Devin Wojcik 15
14 27 Colin Kaminsky 15
15 20 Chandler Horton 15
16 97 Bruna Tomaselli 15
17 93 Jayson Clunie 15
18 23 Lucas Kohl 15
19 32 Darren Keane 14
20 92 Dev Gore 14 Off Course
21 90 Parker Thompson 14
22 11 Kory Enders 1 Contact
23 34 Kris Wright 1 Contact

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – USF2000, Pro Mazda Qualifying 2

After having their first qualifying sessions this morning, both the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires had second qualifying sessions later on this morning as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

Here is TSO Ladder’s report from the first qualifying sessions.

Quick pre-session notes, and reports from both second sessions are below.

USF2000 logo

TSO had the opportunity to chat with a few USF2000 drivers before the second of two qualifying sessions, as the Grand Prix weekend schedule at the IMS road course is rather abnormal.

With no sports car content on this weekend, as there has been at both St. Petersburg and Barber with various series, it means the Mazda Road to Indy gets more track time, but it’s odd in that the races come later in the afternoon rather than an earlier morning time slot.

Additionally, some drivers had ear buds in to listen to music or other audio prior to the session, as they prepared to amp themselves up for a second straight qualifying session on the day before racing later.

There was one other change prior to the USF2000 second session. Kaylen Frederick was originally determined to have blown the checkered flag at the end of the first session.

However, following a video review, officials determined Frederick had not been issued the checkered flag. That promotes him back to starting second for today’s first race of the weekend, rather than fourth after an initial two-spot penalty.

Lastly, Cape has Matthew Brabham here this weekend in a coaching capacity, as he has done on and off in his career. Brabham won both the USF2000 and Pro Mazda titles, but never competed in either series here on the Mazda Road to Indy – but he won at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Raceway in Pro Mazda in 2013. He won his only Indy Lights race at the road course in 2014 with Andretti Autosport. Brabham also made his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in this race last year, and impressed with the PIRTEK Team Murray operation.

He is here this weekend following a double duty weekend in the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden, making his Australian V8 Supercars debut, and one of Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks in Perth, Australia.

Alas, at 11:15 a.m., the second 20-minute qualifying session for USF2000 kicked off.

Pabst Racing’s Calvin Ming was the early chart topper at 1:25.3773, by only 0.01 of a second over Frederick and Robert Megennis. But that was before Oliver Askew went out, a little later in the session, and promptly delivered a 1:24.7843 on his second timed lap of the session.

Askew later dropped the hammer to a 1:24.7400, which was slightly off his morning pole time of 1:24.6831. But nonetheless, this gives Askew four poles in a row in his No. 3 Cape Motorsports Tatuus USF-17 Mazda. He has a chance to go for four wins in a row this season in the first USF2000 race of the weekend later today.

Frederick was again second – this time in more conventional manner – in his No. 81 Team Pelfrey entry at 1:25.0539.

Rinus VeeKay was third for Pabst Racing in the No. 21 car, with the Dutch driver posting a best time of 1:25.1795. Ricky Donison has his second top-five qualifying effort of the day with fourth for Cape at 1:25.2088 and Robert Megennis completed the top five in the second of three Pelfrey cars at 1:25.2271.

The first USF2000 race of 30 minutes runs from 2:30 to 3:10 p.m. later today.

P No Name FTime
1 3 Oliver Askew 1:24.740
2 81 Kaylen Frederick 1:25.054
3 21 Rinus VeeKay 1:25.180
4 2 Ricky Donison 1:25.209
5 80 Robert Megennis 1:25.227
6 31 Callan O’Keeffe 1:25.233
7 36 Dakota Dickerson 1:25.238
8 22 Calvin Ming 1:25.287
9 32 Darren Keane 1:25.326
10 90 Parker Thompson 1:25.422
11 82 Ayla Agren 1:25.474
12 23 Lucas Kohl 1:25.480
13 11 Kory Enders 1:25.621
14 34 Kris Wright 1:25.721
15 12 Moises de la Vara 1:25.768
16 91 Luke Gabin 1:25.852
17 79 David Malukas 1:25.868
18 7 Devin Wojcik 1:26.115
19 97 Bruna Tomaselli 1:26.184
20 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:26.292
21 92 Dev Gore 1:26.638
22 20 Chandler Horton 1:27.008
23 93 Jayson Clunie 1:27.408

Pro Mazda Logo

The second Pro Mazda qualifying session was 10 minutes shorter than this morning – 20 minutes versus 30 – but the result was nearly identical throughout the 15-car grid.

As this morning, Juncos Racing’s Victor Franzoni scored the pole. The driver of the No. 23 car was a little bit slower this session – his best time was only 1:23.5698 compared to a 1:23.3476 this morning – but the track slowed as the temperatures heated up and the sun began to emerge from behind the clouds.

Team Pelfrey’s TJ Fischer will again start second in his No. 82 car. He improved his best time to a 1:23.7790, just ahead of a 1:23.8108 this morning. So while Franzoni’s gap to Fischer was 0.4632 of a second in qualifying one, it was just 0.2092 this time.

Carlos Cunha and points leader Anthony Martin swapped spots compared to this morning. Cunha will start third for race two and Martin fourth. Martin was 0.011 of a second adrift of the teenaged Brazilian.

Positions five through eight are nearly identical compared to this morning with Pelfrey’s Nikita Lastochkin ahead of three World Speed Motorsports entries. The only change was Bobby Eberle getting one spot higher this session, edging Sting Ray Robb for seventh behind Phillippe Denes in sixth.

The 40-minute Pro Mazda race one runs from 3:25 to 4:05 p.m.

P No Name FTime
1 23 Victor Franzoni 1:23.570
2 82 TJ Fischer 1:23.779
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:23.988
4 8 Anthony Martin 1:23.999
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:24.473
6 15 Phillippe Denes 1:24.780
7 13 Bobby Eberle 1:25.008
8 14 Sting Ray Robb 1:25.217
9 60 Jeff Green 1:26.102
10 3 Matt Machiko 1:26.205
11 57 Bob Kaminsky 1:26.239
12 44 Kevin Davis 1:26.778
13 31 Brendan Puderbach 1:28.686
14 2 Steven Ford 1:30.408
15 83 Charles Finelli No Time

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – USF2000, Pro Mazda Qualifying 1

A busy day is on tap for the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires from the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

There’s nine sessions – one practice session (Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires), five qualifying sessions (two apiece for Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and one for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires) and three races (one for each series) – as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America.

Under overcast skies and ambient temperatures in the mid-50s, USF2000 and Pro Mazda kicked off the day with a pair of qualifying sessions for race one. The USF2000 session was only 20 minutes long with the Pro Mazda session 30 minutes.

USF2000 logo

The new Tatuus USF-17 Mazda was always likely to break the prior qualifying track record, the question being by how much. Last year’s champion Anthony Martin set a qualifying record of 1:26.1053.

Within his first few laps though, Oliver Askew hadn’t just beat the mark but obliterated it. The young Floridian, who is Martin’s Soul Red Mazda scholarship and Cape Motorsports teammate, laid down an early time of 1:24.9033.

And then on his ninth lap after a pit stop, Askew dropped the hammer even further to a best lap of 1:24.6831.

The second time stood for the pole position, and extended a couple different streaks. The pole position is Askew’s third in a row this season, and it’s the fifth in a row for the Capes in USF2000 at the IMS Road Course.

How important is that latter statistic? The polesitter has won this race in USF2000 the last five times. Adrian Starrantino won 2014’s second race, Nico Jamin won both 2015 races and Martin (race one) and Parker Thompson (race two) won both races last year. Starrantino’s win is the last non-Cape USF2000 win at the IMS road course. Will Owen, who won the first USF2000 race in 2014, is the only non pole-winner to win – and he won from 13th in an odd, rain-affected race where an excellent tire strategy call from Pabst Racing helped propel him to the victory.

Askew is looking for his fourth straight win this season, and led the points by 34 points heading into this weekend.

So who are the drivers looking to stop the Askew and Cape streaks? Askew’s Barber nemesis, Kaylen Frederick of Team Pelfrey, was the only other driver in the 1:24 bracket at 1:24.9784. However following qualifying, the 14-year-old was assessed a two position penalty by the Race Director, and drops from second to fourth on the grid with a revised time (blew the checkered flag).

This promotes Indian driver Ricky Donison of Cape to second, after by far his best qualifying run of the season at 1:25.0610, and Pabst’s Calvin Ming will now start third. (1:25.1305). Frederick is fourth with Newman Wachs Racing’s Dakota Dickerson fifth (1:25.2285). Team BENIK driver Callan O’Keeffe impressed in his first qualifying session with sixth, with Robert Megennis, Rinus VeeKay, Lucas Kohl and Ayla Agren completing the top 10.

Thompson struggled to 11th, best of the four Exclusive Autosport cars. O’Keeffe is the first on the grid of three drivers making their debuts. David Malukas is 15th, and Jayson Clunie 23rd.

USF2000 has qualifying for race two from 11:15 to 11:35 a.m., and race one from 2:30 to 3:10 p.m. It’s a 30-minute race.

P No Name FTime
1 3 Oliver Askew 1:24.683
2 2 Ricky Donison 1:25.061
3 22 Calvin Ming 1:25.114
4 81 Kaylen Frederick 1:25.178
5 36 Dakota Dickerson 1:25.228
6 31 Callan O’Keeffe 1:25.230
7 80 Robert Megennis 1:25.251
8 21 Rinus VeeKay 1:25.312
9 23 Lucas Kohl 1:25.416
10 82 Ayla Agren 1:25.438
11 90 Parker Thompson 1:25.517
12 32 Darren Keane 1:25.633
13 34 Kris Wright 1:25.641
14 11 Kory Enders 1:25.711
15 79 David Malukas 1:25.740
16 7 Devin Wojcik 1:25.923
17 12 Moises de la Vara 1:26.113
18 91 Luke Gabin 1:26.155
19 97 Bruna Tomaselli 1:26.341
20 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:26.690
21 92 Dev Gore 1:26.961
22 20 Chandler Horton 1:27.177
23 93 Jayson Clunie 1:27.411

Pro Mazda Logo

Victor Franzoni has entered this weekend with a lot of confidence for Juncos Racing following a strong test at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test in October.

He backed that up this morning with an authoritative qualifying performance for his first Pro Mazda pole position as he looks for his first win in the series, two years after he made his series debut here.

Franzoni has just under half a second on the rest of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires field in qualifying. A best lap of 1:23.3476 was enough to secure the top spot. The polesitter has won the last five races at the IMS road course in Pro Mazda.

Franzoni has three podiums at the IMS road course in USF2000 and was second in both Pro Mazda races to kick off the season at St. Petersburg.

The Brazilian is well positioned, as he’ll start alongside TJ Fischer of Team Pelfrey. Fischer ran a best time of 1:23.8108 to slot into second right at the end of the session, an impressive effort for the Californian to get onto the front row.

Anthony Martin, who swept the St. Petersburg weekend to open the year, could only manage to qualify third in the lone Cape Motorsports entry. His best time was 1:23.8527.

Fischer’s two teammates from Team Pelfrey, rookies Carlos Cunha and Nikita Lastochkin, rounded out the top five ahead of a trio of World Speed Motorsports entries.

Pro Mazda has qualifying for race two from 11:50 a.m. to 12:10 a.m., and race one from 3:25 to 4:05 p.m. It’s a 40-minute race.

Unofficial qualifying results are below:

P No Name FTime
1 23 Victor Franzoni 1:23.348
2 82 TJ Fischer 1:23.811
3 8 Anthony Martin 1:23.853
4 81 Carlos Cunha 1:23.885
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:24.365
6 15 Phillippe Denes 1:24.563
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 1:25.050
8 13 Bobby Eberle 1:25.256
9 60 Jeff Green 1:25.720
10 57 Bob Kaminsky 1:25.733
11 3 Matt Machiko 1:25.898
12 44 Kevin Davis 1:27.197
13 83 Charles Finelli 1:28.209
14 2 Steven Ford 1:29.707
15 31 Brendan Puderbach No Time

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – USF2000, Pro Mazda Practice 1

After a pair of test sessions held earlier Thursday on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, it was time for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series to hold their first official practice sessions to cap off track activity for the day ahead of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

Pro Mazda Logo

Victor Franzoni paced Pro Mazda’s only practice session before Saturday’s qualifying. The Brazilian, in his No. 23 Juncos Racing entry, set a best time of 1:24.340 in the 30-minute session. The overall best time of the day was Franzoni in the second test session, at 1:23.446.

The primary Juncos driver bested all three drivers from Team Pelfrey, with TJ Fischer, Carlos Cunha and Nikita Lastochkin all running in succession from second to fourth. It was a slight surprise to see St. Petersburg double race winner Anthony Martin only in fifth for Cape Motorsports.

Pelfrey has won the last three Pro Mazda races at this track, with Santiago Urrutia (Race 3, 2015) and Pato O’Ward (both races last year), while Juncos and Andretti Autosport also won in the abnormal Indianapolis triple-header of 2015 (NOLA race two was postponed until here due to weather).

It has been since 2014, when Scott Hargrove swept the weekend, when Cape last won in Pro Mazda here, and that’s an interesting wrinkle to note going into the rest of the race weekend.

The second Juncos driver in the field, Jeff Green, caused a red flag halfway through the session but returned to the pits. Green was eighth in the session, only 0.9458 of a second off the pace and behind the first two World Speed Motorsports cars of Phillippe Denes and Sting Ray Robb in sixth and seventh.

Qualifying is from 8:30 to 9 a.m. ET and local time tomorrow.

P No Name FTime
1 23 Victor Franzoni 1:24.340
2 82 TJ Fischer 1:24.414
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:24.581
4 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:25.012
5 8 Anthony Martin 1:25.057
6 15 Phillippe Denes 1:25.067
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 1:25.162
8 60 Jeff Green 1:25.285
9 13 Bobby Eberle 1:25.631
10 57 Bob Kaminsky 1:26.462
11 3 Matt Machiko 1:26.626
12 31 Brendan Puderbach 1:28.187
13 2 Steven Ford 1:28.678
14 44 Kevin Davis No Time
15 83 Charles Finelli No Time

USF2000 logo

Kaylen Frederick took his No. 81 Team Pelfrey Tatuus USF-17 Mazda to the top of the charts in the opening 30-minute practice session in USF2000 at 1:25.298.

The 14-year-old out of Baltimore will look to break Oliver Askew’s recent stranglehold on the top of the USF2000 field, as Askew has won three straight races and leads Frederick and Rinus VeeKay by 34 points (122-88) heading into this weekend.

Frederick’s fast start has been an interesting story to kick off the USF2000 season, particularly compared to veteran teammates Ayla Agren and Robert Megennis. NBC Sports’ Tony DiZinno has a longer form feature about Frederick’s start, which is linked here.

Askew, meanwhile, had the fastest time of the day with 1:24.703 set in the second test session held earlier in the day.

Behind the top two in this session, it was Exclusive Autosport’s Parker Thompson in third, then Megennis fourth and Pabst Racing’s Calvin Ming in fifth.

Team BENIK driver Darren Keane did not set a time in this session, the only driver of 23 unable to do so.

This is the only USF2000 official practice. On Friday, qualifying one takes place from 7:55 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. ET and local time.

P No Name FTime
1 81 Kaylen Frederick 1:25.298
2 3 Oliver Askew 1:25.576
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:25.640
4 80 Robert Megennis 1:25.704
5 22 Calvin Ming 1:25.705
6 21 Rinus VeeKay 1:25.815
7 82 Ayla Agren 1:25.820
8 23 Lucas Kohl 1:25.927
9 36 Dakota Dickerson 1:26.045
10 31 Callan O’Keeffe 1:26.185
11 2 Ricky Donison 1:26.221
12 11 Kory Enders 1:26.306
13 7 Devin Wojcik 1:26.338
14 91 Luke Gabin 1:26.477
15 34 Kris Wright 1:26.601
16 12 Moises de la Vara 1:26.685
17 97 Bruna Tomaselli 1:26.861
18 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:26.893
19 92 Dev Gore 1:27.122
20 93 Jayson Clunie 1:27.588
21 20 Chandler Horton 1:27.609
22 79 David Malukas 1:27.620
23 32 Darren Keane No Time

Here is the Friday Mazda Road to Indy schedule at the track.

7:55-8:15 a.m. USF2000 Q1
8:30-9 a.m. Pro Mazda Q1
10:15-11 a.m. Indy Lights P1
11:15-11:35 a.m. USF2000 Q2
11:50-12:10 a.m. Pro Mazda Q2
1:45-2:15 p.m. Indy Lights Q1
2:30-3:10 p.m. USF2000 Race 1
3:25-4:05 p.m. Pro Mazda Race 1
5:50-6:50 p.m. Indy Lights Race 1

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Thursday Testing Notes

Thursday is a busy day for teams in all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires ladder, in preparation for this weekend’s six-pack of races on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The official name of the race weekend is the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America. It’s a long name but stems from an extended partnership between Royal Purple Synthetic Oil and the Mazda Road to Indy during May, which is Lupus Awareness Month. All cars are carrying a special decal and there’s also a hashtag, #RaceToEndLupus.

Prior to official track activity, there were six test sessions held on the cloudy, overcast day – two apiece per series – before USF2000 and Pro Mazda are set to hold their official first practice sessions of half an hour each. Quick notes from those and a couple other preliminary notes are below.

In Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the best times were set in the only fully dry session for the series, held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET and local time this morning.

Nico Jamin, in the newly revised DuraMAX Powered by Reladyne liveried No. 27 Dallara IL-15 Mazda for Andretti Autosport, was first at 1:15.064. Kyle Kaiser was second for Juncos Racing with Neil Alberico third for Carlin, and Colton Herta and Zachary Claman De Melo completed the top five.

Jamin enters the weekend after a run of winning five of his last six overall race starts in three entirely different types of cars. In a Ligier JS P3, he won both IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda races at Sebring in March, the week after his Indy Lights debut at St. Petersburg. Then he won his first Indy Lights race last time out Barber. Lastly a week after Barber, he won both GTS class races in Pirelli World Challenge in a KTM X-BOW GT4. Both sports cars he raced were entered by ANSA Motorsports.

With rain spritzing during the second session, very few cars took the opportunity to run on a damp track. Only five of the 14 drivers entered ventured out on the circuit, and Neil Alberico posted a best time of 1:25.484. Alberico and all three of his teammates, Claman De Melo, Garth Rickards and Matheus Leist, plus Juncos Racing’s Nicolas Dapero were the only drivers to venture onto the circuit.

Session 1

1 27 Nico Jamin 1:15.064
2 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:15.093
3 22 Neil Alberico 1:15.194
4 98 Colton Herta 1:15.252
5 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:15.280

Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires saw two drivers not named Anthony Martin top the timesheets in the pair of sessions. TJ Fischer of Team Pelfrey paced the opening hour session with a best time of 1:24.015, while Victor Franzoni of Juncos Racing was fastest in the second session at 1:23.446. Martin was second in both sessions, and Carlos Cunha was third in both.

Both Fischer and Franzoni, who were third and second in the two St. Petersburg races to Martin, come into Indianapolis having been busy in the near two-month break.

Fischer completed a 63-flight climb of the Aon Center in Los Angeles in the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb in Los Angeles, as part of Project O2’s #Race2TheRescue for asthma awareness.

Franzoni, meanwhile, comes to Indianapolis after racing old stock cars in his native Brazil. Franzoni made his Pro Mazda debut here for M1 Racing two years ago but last year was back in USF2000, and he also tested with Juncos at October’s Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test. Franzoni told TSO there wasn’t a need to run too much this morning as he feels confident in the team’s setup and dynamic heading into this weekend, as he seeks his first Pro Mazda victory.

Session 1

1 82 TJ Fischer 1:24.015
2 8 Anthony Martin 1:24.097
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:24.672
4 23 Victor Franzoni 1:24.729
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:24.995

Session 2

1 23 Victor Franzoni 1:23.446
2 8 Anthony Martin 1:23.800
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:23.811
4 82 TJ Fischer 1:24.185
5 15 Phillippe Denes 1:24.411

In a surprise to almost no one, Cape Motorsports’ dynamic rookie Oliver Askew led both Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda on top of both test sessions.

The driver of the No. 3 Tatuus USF-17 Mazda posted a best time of 1:25.784 in the morning’s first one-hour session, which was the first session of the day, and then went nearly a second faster in the afternoon at 1:24.703. With the official track and qualifying record of Anthony Martin coming last year at 1:26.1053, the track record will be set this weekend if conditions remain dry.

Askew made his USF2000 test debut here at the Griffis test in October, a week after winning last year’s Team USA Scholarship. But he tested then in Cape’s previous generation Van Diemen chassis, as the combination of the older Van Diemens joined the fresh-out-of-the-box Tatuus cars.

Dakota Dickerson was second for Newman Wachs Racing in the opening session, as the team’s only entrant this weekend, with series debutante Callan O’Keeffe of South Africa third for Team BENIK. Kaylen Frederick of Team Pelfrey and Parker Thompson of Exclusive Autosport were second and third in the second session. Pelfrey’s Ayla Agren was fifth in both, as she seeks her first top-five finish of the year this weekend.

Session 1

1 3 Oliver Askew 1:25.784
2 36 Dakota Dickerson 1:25.963
3 31 Callan O’Keeffe 1:26.114
4 90 Parker Thompson 1:26.254
5 82 Ayla Agren 1:26.335

Session 2

1 3 Oliver Askew 1:24.703
2 81 Kaylen Frederick 1:25.159
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:25.211
4 22 Calvin Ming 1:25.329
5 82 Ayla Agren 1:25.369

Other pre-race notes from the Mazda Road to Indy paddock:

  • The paddock layout is changed from previous years here into just one main dividing road with teams from all three series split vertically on either side. Previously, it had been laid out horizontally, with more zigging-and-zagging between rows if you will.
  • Indy Lights’ car count drops by one to 14 as Pato O’Ward, who swept Pro Mazda here last year for Team Pelfrey, isn’t here. TSO understands O’Ward, who was only officially confirmed for St. Petersburg and continued into Barber, was unable to gather the necessary budget to offset crash damage from the opening two weekends.
  • Pro Mazda’s car count grows by one to 15 with the additions of Bob Kaminsky (Kaminsky Racing) and Steven Ford (World Speed Motorsports) to the National Class. It would have gone to 16, but Max Hanratty (ArmsUp Motorsports) is withdrawn as he is racing in a European Le Mans Series event this weekend in an LMP3 car for Eurointernational.
  • Incidentally, Hanratty is in the same field as past MRTI IMS road course winners Sean Rayhall (2015, 8Star Motorsports, Indy Lights) and Will Owen (2014, Pabst Racing, USF2000), both of whom won the ELMS opener in Silverstone in the LMP3 and LMP2 classes with Zak Brown and Richard Dean’s United Autosports team.
  • The USF2000 field drops by one to 23 following several changes from Barber. Newman Wachs, as noted, is at only one car with Dakota Dickerson. Neither Andre Castro nor Flinn Lazier is here. Callan O’Keefe replaces Toby Sowery at Team BENIK. Colin Kaminsky’s car continues under the John Cummiskey Racing banner, after initially being entered as Kaminsky Racing; Bayley Mickler, the Australian driver, is not here this weekend. Exclusive Autosport expands to a fourth car with Canadian Jayson Clunie, while BN Racing makes its first start of 2017 with Chicago native David Malukas.

Barber – Saturday – USF2000 Race #2 report and results – Askew cruises as the rest of the field has an eventful first lap

Oliver Askew, who was feeling under the weather today, didn’t suffer any ill effects of a carnage filled first lap and pressure from closest rival, Team Pelfrey’s rookie stand-out Kaylen Frederick, as he cruised to a third straight Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda victory and an ever increasing points lead.

A beautiful fleet of Tatuus USF-17s get ready for their second and final race of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

As the front row of Askew and Fredrick brought the field slowly to the green flag, the field got bunched up behind them, but made it through the first two turns cleanly before three separate incidents forced race control to throw the yellow flag. Lucas Kohl, Kris Wright, Bayley Milker, Andre Castro, and Devin Wojcik were all involved in the Turn 3 incident.

Meanwhile, Dakota Dickerson, Robert Megennis and Calvin Ming got tangled up when they attempted to take it three wide into Turn 5. Dickerson and Megennis got the worst of the incident with the No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing entry of Dickerson falling to the back of the lead lap and 18th and Meginnis falling down three spots from his staring position to eighth.

The final incident which happened at the downhill Turn 8 and Turn 9 complex, under yellow, was the scariest. After contact in Turn 5, the No. 22 Pabst Racing machine of Calvin Ming ran into the back of and then climbed over the side pod and cockpit area of the No. 2 Cape Motorsports car of Ricky Donison.

Wojcick, Donison, Castro and Ming were all forced to retire on the spot, while Kohl, Wright, Mikler and Dickerson were able to continue.

TSO had the opportunity to catch-up with the 19-year old Donison after the race, and he was happy the Tatuus chassis did it’s job and kept him safe. Ming’s car left marks in two spots where it climbed over the side-pod, but did not make contact with his helmet. The Bangalore, India native who had moved up to eighth from his 14th place starting spot was most disappointed that he was hit under yellow.

The field remained yellow for the next five laps as the Holmatro Safety Team cleaned up the multiple incidents and the top 10 as the field circulated behind the Soul Red Mazda 3 Pace Car were: Askew, Frederick, Thompson, Rinus Van Kalmthout, Kory Enders, Toby Sowery, Moisés de la Vara, Ayla Agren, and Luke Gabin.

The field went back to green on Lap 6 with just under 15 minutes left in the half-hour race. Askew was able to pull a two-car gap over Frederick, but the 14 year-old Team Pelfrey driver was all over the back wing of the Soul Red Cape Motorsports No. 3 off Askew going into Turn 5.

Further back in the field, de la Vera and Sowery went side-by-side through Turn 5 and Turn 6. Sowery, a British F3 veteran, was able to hold onto sixth, eventually passing Enders on Lap 13 to score a top five in Benik’s first USF2000 weekend. .

Frederick was within a half-second of Askew at the start of Lap 10, but made a mistake in Turn 1, losing 1.5 seconds to his rival on that lap and falling just over two second behind his rival when the pair crossed the line to start their 11th Lap.

With a comfortable gap up front, Askew was able to pull away from Frederick turning the quickest lap on the second last lap.

Thompson had a comfortable one second lead over Van Kalmthout heading into the final two laps, but had to fight hard after a stick throttle going into Turn 1 on the final two laps made things uncomfortable for the 2016 USF2000 vice-champion.

Megennis who restarted the race in eighth after his first lap incident was able to recover to finish sixth.

The San Diego, Calif. born Dickerson who admitted he was being aggressive on the first lap, had the best recovery drive of the day. After falling down the order to 18th after his first lap incident, the 20 year-old was able to recover to finish tenth. His final lap included a back and forth battle that had him trade the 10th spot with Benik’s Darren Keane on three different occasions.

Other drivers of note were:
Third generation racer Flinn Lazier, who started 22nd and was able to drive through the first lap carnage and make two more passes in the final-half of the race to end his Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire debut on a high note with an eleventh place finish. (more on Flinn and his dad Buddy in a later notebook)

Chandler Horton, who started 23rd and finished 14th, is finding pace with each session and told TSO that he is really looking forward to his home race during the road-course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, which is the next time that the USF2000 drivers are on track.

Complete USF2000 race #2 results

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:24.787
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:24.960 3.8037
3 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:25.345 6.6034
4 21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 1:25.341 6.9708
5 31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 1:25.424 9.6439
6 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:25.056 9.8994
7 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:25.509 11.2009
8 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:25.850 16.8560
9 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:26.353 17.1617
10 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.986 17.4386
11 32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 1:27.188 18.9347
12 38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing 1:26.207 20.0408
13 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:26.580 24.2791
14 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:26.604 24.7459
15 27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 1:25.843 26.3729
16 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:26.158 27.3460
17 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:30.141 36.8307
18 97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:30.140 36.9765
19 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:35.490 37.6989
20 33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing 1:26.037 -3 Laps
21 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 2:50.744 -17 laps
22 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 2:40.766 -17 laps
23 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 2:38.099 -17 laps
24 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 2:30.024 -17 laps
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Barber – Saturday – USF2000 qualifying for race #2 – report and results

Oliver Askew will start on point for the second Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires of the weekend after a wild and crazy last five minutes of qualifying that had four different drivers swap provisional pole six different times.

The final five minutes of the 20 minute session began with veteran Exclusive Autosport driver Parker Thompson holding the provisional pole. He was quickly surpassed by Team Pelfrey sophomore and 2016 USF2000 rookie of the year Robert Megennis, who was supplanted seconds later by his teammate Kaylen Frederick.

Quickly thereafter, Thompson crossed the timing stripe and went back to the top of the heap. Fredrick, a 14 year-old rookie and race one second place finisher turned in a lap of 1 minute, 23.5587 seconds to jump to jump to provisional pole.

With Askew mired down mid-pack on his older tire runs, Cape Motorsports took a chance and waited until the very end of the session to send the championship leader out on fresh Cooper Tire slicks. This time gamble paid off for the 20 year-old, who was not aware of where he stood. The Jupiter, Fla., native’s second last lap of 1 minute 23.2957 seconds was good enough for his second straight Barber Motorsports Park pole. For good measure, Askew went even faster on his final lap, turing in a blistering lap of 1 minute 23.1597 seconds to just miss out on grabbing the track record. Michael Epps set the Barber Motorsports Park USF2000 track record of 1 minute, 23.009 seconds during Cooper Tires Winterfest in February 2014.

“I tell them not to tell me where I am, because then I start thinking too much about it,” explained Askew. “I just go out and do my thing, and it ended up working out.

“It was a little bit risky going out at the end because of a red flag, but thankfully it worked out.”

Thompson will start inside the front row, and will joined by Pabst Racing rookie Calvin Ming. Megennis, and Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing) the top two rookies in the series in 2016, will start together on the third row.

The entire 20 minute session ran green.

The race, which goes green at 4:45pm (Central) is the sixth straight USF2000 race at Barber Motorsports Park that a Cape Motorsports driver will lead the field to the green flag.

Qualifying results for USF2000 race #2

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:23.160
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:23.507 0.3477
3 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:23.653 0.4929
4 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:23.707 0.5475
5 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:23.743 0.5830
6 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:23.796 0.6363
7 21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 1:23.843 0.6828
8 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:23.927 0.7677
9 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:24.080 0.9203
10 31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 1:24.175 1.0154
11 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:24.275 1.1152
12 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.285 1.1251
13 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:24.298 1.1379
14 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:24.422 1.2623
15 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.502 1.3425
16 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:24.573 1.4136
17 33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.658 1.4979
18 27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 1:24.695 1.5351
19 32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 1:24.824 1.6645
20 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:24.832 1.6721
21 97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:24.900 1.7406
22 38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.991 1.8311
23 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:25.229 2.0693
24 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:26.511 3.3510

Barber – Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Friday notebook

Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Friday notebook

  • The three quickest drivers of this afternoon’s Indy Lights practice session – Shelby Blackstock, Garth Rickards, and Zachary Claman DeMelo – all set their quickest lap times on sticker Cooper Tires. Rickards told us that him (and his three Carlin teammates) are all suffering from understeer.
  • The No. 51 Belardi Auto Racing entry was undergoing an engine change when we walked though the Indy Lights paddock after practice.
  • Current points leader Colton Herta turned the fifth quickest time in Indy Lights practice (only 0.2920 seconds behind leader Blackstock), but DID NOT put on a set of sticker tires. The second-generation driver told TSO that he is quite happy with the balance of his Deltro Energy sponsored No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing car.
  • A pretty common refrain from drivers from both MRTI series that have competed at Barber Motorsports Park before is that the track is more difficult, especially during the afternoon sessions, then they can ever remember experiencing.
  • USF2000 veteran Luke Gabin told us that the Exclusive Autosport team is suffering the exact opposite problem that Carlin is facing in Indy Lights, oversteer. The problem has the Canadian based three-car team completely perplexed. Gabin has one podium and one top five at Barber Motorsports Park, and his teammate Parker Thompson has two wins and five top five finish. Exclusive Autosport engineer Daryl Bear has also had success at this track, working with Gabin and winning three times as race engineer for RC Enerson.
  • The 39 Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire entries are not the only Mazda powered cars in attendance at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend. When you add the 31 MX-5 Cup cars and the 13 Mazda powered Prototype Challenge entries, you get a grand total of 83 cars that are powered by various iterations of Mazda 2.0-liter power plants.
  • Road To Indy TV rolled out an Official App for Xbox One this weekend giving MRTI fans another option (along with the mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku.) “With the launch of our Xbox App, we’re not only spearheading a new medium that provides free accessibility to viewers worldwide, but we’re delivering an experience into the heart of their home,” said Manterola. “In the U.S. alone, 65 percent of households own a video game console, so we are excited to witness how this will impact the next generation of racing fans.”
  • Team Pelfrey rookie Indy Lights driver Pato O’Ward now has his own app that allows you to find his schedule, photographs, social media, post and other content. You can get the app for iOS and Android.

 

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