Archives for Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda – TSO

MRTI Finale at Portland International Raceway – Kirkwood’s history pursuit headlines USF2000 story lines

Posted by  on Thursday, August 30th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno and Steve Wittich

Kirkwood’s quest for 12

A familiar sight: Kyle Kirkwood waving the American flag atop the USF2000 podium. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Kyle Kirkwood took care of clinching the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda last time out, more than a month ago at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Now, he has history to match.

The Floridian will look to equal JR Hildebrand’s single season record of 12 wins in 14 races, exactly, if he can sweep the pair of races this weekend. Hildebrand has already expressed his support in rooting for Kirkwood and Cape Motorsports to pull it off this weekend.

Hildebrand wishes the latest Cape Motorsports driver the best to tie his single-season record.

Coincidentally, Hildebrand swept USF2000’s most recent weekend at Portland in his record-setting 2006 season, and holds the current qualifying and race lap records (1:13.564 in the race, 1:12.748 in qualifying). You’d expect the new Tatuus USF-17 Mazda to be quicker once official lap times begin to register later in the weekend.

Alas, Kirkwood has 10 wins so far this year. Alex Baron of Swan RJB Motorsports was the only other driver to win, having done so at the second St. Petersburg and first Indianapolis road course race.

From a career stats standpoint, Kirkwood has matched Jay Howard and Nico Jamin with 10 career wins. One more win will equal him with Spencer Pigot while two more ties him with Hildebrand. He’ll be unable to match Chris Simmons, Scott Dixon’s Verizon IndyCar Series race engineer, for the all-time USF2000 mark of a lucky 13.

However, Kirkwood has the highest winning percentage of all these drivers at the moment. With his current 10 of 12 mark, he’s won 83.33 percent of his starts. Two more wins would take that up to a staggering mark north of 85 percent, 85.71 percent.

Down to the wire between incumbent Pabst Racing and former winner Cape Motorsports

For the first time since 2011, a team other then Cape Motorsports ended up taking home the team title hardware from the MRTI Banquet. Pabst Racing outscored Cape Motorsports by an impressive 92 points last season to knock the Brothers Cape from the top of the team pile.

This year, the team championship will come down to the final race with Cape Motorsports holding a slim 15 point margin over Pabst Racing. The St. Petersburg, Fla. based Cape Motorsports will rely on champion Kyle Kirkwood to keep them on top. Surprisingly, Pabst Racing is still looking for the teams first win of 2018, but have four fast drivers to get what will be an important win in the team championship.

The battle for the final spot in the top three on the team championship points table is equally exciting with DEForce Racing holding off the Canadian team, Exclusive Autosport, by only four points headed to the Portland International Raceway double header.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda team points

RANK TEAM POINTS
1 Cape Motorsports 295
2 Pabst Racing 280
3 DEForce Racing 154
4 Exclusive Autosport 150
5 Swan-RJB Motorsports 104
6 BN Racing 93
7 ArmsUp Motorsports 84
8 Team Pelfrey 74
9 Newman Wachs Racing 56
10 Team BENIK 33
11 Sol.O Racing 28
12 Team Abel 22

Pabst, Exclusive drivers battle for runner-up

While Kirkwood (8) has title wrapped, Kohl (22), Fraga (91) and Lindh (23) are all in search of P2. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

The driver’s championship is wrapped while the team’s championship isn’t, as noted above. The runner-up battle for drivers is yet to be settled this weekend as well.

Just 13 points separate three drivers for second place. Swedish rookie Rasmus Lindh of Pabst is on 194 points, with Japanese/Brazilian newcomer Igor Fraga next on 188 and Brazilian veteran Lucas Kohl fourth with 181.

Lindh has two poles at Road America, but has started in the top two rows each of the last eight races and nine times overall. Clearly quick, it hasn’t yet all come together for him in a race yet this year, and a maiden victory would reward his growth and development this year to ensure Augie Pabst has at least one driver in victory lane this season.

Fraga has carried the torch for Exclusive Autosport as the team’s only driver who’s raced every event this year. He has three podiums this year with a best finish of second, twice. He’s also seen the checkered flag every race as one of two drivers, along with Kirkwood, who has completed every lap.

Kohl’s third season in USF2000 has easily been his best. Guided by the tutelage of his driving coach, IndyCar and F1 veteran Roberto Moreno, Kohl has taken the necessary steps forward this year after showing occasional flashes with John Cummiskey Racing in 2016 before his switch to Pabst last year. Four finishes of 13th or worse offset his four podium finishes. Either way, after finishes of 12th and seventh in the championship his first two years, Kohl is poised for his best career championship finish this season.

The other two Pabst drivers, Calvin Ming and Kaylen Frederick, enter the weekend fifth and sixth. Ming hasn’t had the outright pace of his teammates and only one podium finish in his sophomore season. Frederick has endured a boom-or-bust sophomore season, in a switch to Pabst from Team Pelfrey. He had a run of four straight podium finishes in the middle of the year but has been hurt by five finishes of 19th or worse. A nightmare Mid-Ohio weekend dropped him from runner-up contention in the title chase, and the Maryland teenager will look to bounce back this weekend.

Newcomers

Braden Eves, one of the Team USA Scholarship hopefuls will be making his Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires debut this weekend with Newman Wachs Racing.

“I could not be happier to announce that I will be driving with Newman Wachs Racing at Portland,” Eves enthused. “Brian (Halahan) and all the members of the team have taken me in and have made me feel at home, they run an extremely professional program, and I am very excited to make my Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 debut with them!”

The 19 year-old has made 14 starts in the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda with Jay Howard Driver Development over the past two years and has collected one win, and six podiums.

Eves, who hails from Columbus, Ohio also took part in his first F1600 Formula F Championship Series race weekend earlier this month, winning twice and finishing second in the other race.

For the second straight race event, Exclusive Autosport will be adding a stand out Formula F/F1600 driver to their USF2000 roster.

Kellen Ritter, who drivers for the Exclusive Autosport team in the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, will make the step up for the USF2000 series finale at Portland International Raceway.

The 17-year-old is nearing the end of an outstanding first season in cars, winning the Formula 1600 Super Series (four wins and eight podiums) and leading the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship (seven wins and 13 podiums) with three races to go. The North Vancouver, B.C. based driver has also contested three F1600 Formula F Championship series events, standing on the podium all three times.

Other entry list changes

The USF2000 field this weekend also sees the return of Max Peichel in the second ArmsUp Motorsports entry. He hasn’t raced since Road America.

Two full-season participants, BN Racing’s Keith Donegan and Newman Wachs Racing’s Darren Keane, drop off in advance of the season finale. Donegan sits seventh in points, Keane 13th entering the weekend.

There are six other drivers (David Osborne, Jacob Abel, Michael d’Orlando, Sabre Cook, Yuven Sundaramoorthy and James Raven) that raced last time out at Mid-Ohio that have not made the trip to Portland.

This leaves 14 of the 25 drivers that started the St. Petersburg season opener as having competed in every USF2000 race this year.

The “other Kyle” has hometown race

Team Pelfrey’s Kyle Dupell enjoys a home race this weekend. The Portland native concludes his rookie season and will look to match or improve on his best finish this year of ninth, achieved on two occasions.

Dupell drives the No. 81 Opal Creek Capital/Pro Race Management entry as teammate to Julian van der Watt and Bruna Tomaselli in the other two Pelfrey cars. South African rookie Van der Watt (three fifth place finishes) has the best results for the team this year and enters the weekend eighth in points; Brazilian sophomore Tomaselli has yet to return to the top-10 since a career-best seventh place at St. Petersburg’s opener.

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO

Miller Vinatieri Motorsports to enter USF2000 in 2019 with two car effort.

Posted by  on Wednesday, August 22nd 2018     
T
August 22, 2018 – Indianapolis, Indiana based Miller Vinatieri Motorsports (MVM) is set for big changes in 2019. Announcing today that they will compete in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the team will get their first official test under their belt at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the weekend of September 22-23. Set to embark on a two car program, the option of a possible third car will be announced at a later date.
“I am really excited to enter the Road to Indy program as they offer so much possibility for up and coming drivers,” explained three time Indianapolis 500 starter and five season Indy Lights competitor Jack Miller. “I have been fortunate enough to experience IndyCar racing first hand and my son has a goal to make it to the top. This is the best thing for him and his future career as well as our outstanding number of marketing partners.”
With Jack William Miller set to drive one of the Miller Vinatieri Motorsports USF-17s, the second seat is currently open for both the Chris Griffis Test as well as the 2019 racing season.
Miller continued, “My team and I have managed to secure a major sponsor for 2019 that will offset some of the costs of running a second car. With that being said, a subsidized ride is available for the complete 2019 season and we will begin to test drivers beginning September 22nd and 23rd at the Indy test and onwards.”
Running a current two car program in the F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda with Jack William Miller and Dylan Tavella, the growth of the program is a natural progression as drivers begin to move up the motorsports ladder.
“I am excited to be part of the MVM program and the Road to Indy,” added Indianapolis Colts and future hall of fame kicker Adam Vinatieri. “I value my friendship and working relationship with Jack and can’t wait to work with our USF2000 drivers as a mental coach and ambassador as we launch our new program.”
“We are looking forward to the USF2000 program in 2019 and beyond,” explained Miller. “We have a very solid group of people and will offer not only race team and driver coaching services, but media, marketing and promotional opportunities within the team. We want to grow in the coming years and grow with our drivers by providing a variety of different tools both on and off the track.”
For more information on Miller Vinatieri Motorsports, please visit them online at their website, www.MillerVinatieriMotorsports.com or contact Info@MillerVinatieriMotorsports.com. Also be sure to follow the team via their social media programs on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
category: USF2000 News/Results

MRTI Update #11 from Mid-Ohio – Saturday – Eight for the No. 8 – Kirkwood continues assault on USF2000 record books

Posted by  on Saturday, July 28th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

After clinching the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda title yesterday, Kyle Kirkwood can set his sights on putting his name in the USF2000 record book.

Today, Kirkwood moved to the top of the consecutive USF2000 win list by winning his eighth race in a row.

Coming into the day, the Cape Motorsports driver was tied with a trio of big-name drivers.

  • Chris Simmons who won his seven race across the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
  • The newest USF2000 team owner Jay Howard who completed the feat between the 2004 and 2005 seasons
  • In 2006, J.R. Hildebrand won seven races to start his championship season.

“No, not at all,” said Kirkwood when TSO Ladder asked him if was getting easier. “It does not feel easy. We keep pushing harder and harder every single race and that one was a really good race for us. But, we got really lucky, to be honest with Kaylen going off because I don’t know how easy it would have been to get around him, especially on this track. This track is so tough to get around people. You have to time it perfectly. I think we got a little bit lucky this time.”

Lucas Kohl finished second for the second straight, and it was his fourth podium of the season. It also moved the Roberto Moreno mentored driver into fourth place in the championship, only six points out of second.

Exclusive Autosport’s Igor Fraga had his third podium run of the season and moved to within a single of point of second place Rasmus Lindh, who finished fourth in the race.

Both of the Brazilian drivers told TSO Ladder that finishing second in the championship is a very important goal for him.

Kyle Kirkwood leads fellow podium drivers Lucas Kohl and Igor Fraga (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Pole sitter Frederick won the drag race to Turn 1, but locked up in the braking zone for Turn 2 and went for a ride through the gravel.

The top 10 at the end of the first lap were: Kirkwood, Kohl, Lindh, Fraga, Michael D’Orlando, James Raven, Dakota Dickerson, Kory Enders and Daniel Frost.

Just as the leader came across the line to start the third lap, Oscar DeLuzuriaga had contact for the second straight race. This time the No. 38 Newman Wachs Racing machine ended up in Turn 10 tire barriers.

The top 10 when they went back to green to begin Lap 6 were: Kirkwood, Kohl, Lindh, Fraga, d’Orlando, Raven, Dickerson, Enders, Calvin Ming and Jacob Abel.

As the field exited The Keyhole on the first lap back to green, Raven, who was running sixth dropped four wheels at the exit of the 180-degree corner. The Formula Ford ace was able to get back on track but dropped to down the order to 13th.

Further back in the field, Frederick, who was working his way back through the field after falling to 23rd made contact with Cook just before Turn 4. The No. 31 Team Benik machine of Cook ended up against the barriers on driver’s right. Frederick, who had his fourth incident in two races

At the halfway point of the race, the top five were Kirkwood, who had a 2.36 second lead over Kohl. Fraga was holding off Lindh for the final spot on the podium. Behind them, Dickerson and Enders were going at it for sixth and seventh.

With four laps left, Kirkwood’s lead was almost five seconds over Kohl. Behind the front two, Lindh was putting pressure on Fraga for the last spot on the podium.

Behind them, Dickerson and Enders were still fighting for fifth. Enders made a pass attempt in Turn 4 but ended up losing the sixth spot to Ming. Ming immediately began to put pressure on Dickerson.

For the second straight race, Ming made an outstanding outside pass in Turn 5 to move up to fifth place, a gain of five spots from his starting position.

As Kirkwood was getting the white flag, Keane and Enders made contact in The Carousel while battling for the seventh spot. Keane got the worst of the altercation ending up in the grass on the outside of the turn. The orange and white No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing machine was forced to pit road and finished 17th.

Enders fell through the field to 14th. Things got even worse for the DEForce Racing driver who was penalized 20 seconds post-race for blocking and dropped another two spots to 16th.

With the grid for the third race of the weekend being set by the fastest lap in Race #2, a few drivers further back in the running order made the gamble to pit for fresh Cooper Tires. It paid off for DEForce Racing and Raven, who will start Sunday’s race from the pole.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda Unofficial Race #2 Results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM DIFFERNECE
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood Cape Motorsports 20 LAPS
2 22 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 5.7167
3 91 Igor Fraga Exclusive Autosport 6.5459
4 23 Rasmus Lindh Pabst Racing 8.2937
5 21 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 13.4568
6 9 Dakota Dickerson ArmsUp Motorsports 15.6097
7 27 Colin Kaminsky DEForce Racing 16.5358
8 80 Julian Van der Watt Team Pelfrey 17.0189
9 92 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 17.4328
10 90 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Exclusive Autosport 17.6579
11 79 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 18.0403
12 29 Russell McDonough BN Racing 20.1129
13 82 Bruna Tomaselli Team Pelfrey 20.7531
14 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 21.4728
15 81 Kyle Dupell Team Pelfrey 21.8067
16 37 David Osborne Newman Wachs Racing 22.2756
17 36 Darren Keane Newman Wachs Racing – 1 LAP
18 7 James Raven DEForce Racing – 1 LAP
19 12 Jose Sierra DEForce Racing – 1 LAP
20 51 Michael d’Orlando Team Benik -2 LAPS
21 28 Keith Donegan BN Racing -2 LAPS
22 31 Sabre Cook Team Benik -15 LAPS
23 24 Kaylen Frederick Pabst Racing -15 LAPS
24 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga Newman Wachs Racing -19 LAPS

The final race of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda tripleheader will get the green flag at 12:10 PM tomorrow.

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MRTI Update #8 from Mid-Ohio – Saturday – Frederick nabs pole for second USF2000 race – three of the top four are Pabst Racing drivers

Posted by  on Saturday, July 28th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

For the second time, this season Pabst Racing sophomore Kaylen Frederick will start from the pole. Saturday afternoon’s race will be the fifth straight Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race that the 16-year-old will start on the front row.

Starting outside of Frederick is yesterday’s pole sitter Kyle Kirkwood. The presumptive series champion is looking for his eighth straight victory.

Frederick’s lap of 80.645 seconds was only two-hundredths of a second quicker than Kirkwood.

Starting side-by-side on the second row are the Pabst Racing duo of Rasmus Lindh and Lucas Kohl.

Pabst Racing has 11 podiums on the season, but the Wisconsin based team is still looking for their first victory of 2018.

Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga improved to fifth on his final hot lap, as did Kory Enders and Michael D’Orlando who will start sixth and seventh.

For the second straight day, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda was the second series to take to the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Mid-Ohio Road Course. Yesterday, it was for practice, and today it was for their second qualifying session.

Just before the 10-minute mark of the session Danial Frost, Lucas Kohl, Michael D’Orlando, Igor Fraga, Rasmus Lindh and Jacob Abel came in for new Cooper Tire rubber and to make adjustments

At the halfway point of the 20-minute session, the provisional poles sitter was Rasmus Lindh with a lap of 81.7765 seconds.

A minute later, race #1 winner and series champion elect threw down a hot lap to head to the top of the timing screens.

With just over five minutes remaining in the session, Lindh moved to provisional pole with the first lap under 81 seconds.

Lindh’s dance partner from the first lap during Friday’s Race #1, Kaylen Frederick was the first driver to make a run at the Swedish driver, falling just three-thousandths short.

With just under 2 minutes remaining, Kirkwood went back to the provisional pole with a lap that was two-tenths of a second quicker than Lindh.

Frederick was the next driver to go to the provisional pole. Kirkwood went quicker, but not fast enough on his penultimate lap and was not able to improve his time on his final circuit.

Frederick, Kohl, Fraga, Enders, d’Orlando, Dakota Dickerson and Yuven Sundaramoorthy all improved on their final laps.

Eighteen of the 24 entries turned laps within one second of Frederick.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Unofficial Qualifying #2

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 24 Kaylen Frederick Pabst Racing 1:20.645 –.—-
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood Cape Motorsports 1:20.668 0.0228
3 23 Rasmus Lindh Pabst Racing 1:20.704 0.0594
4 22 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:20.897 0.2521
5 91 Igor Fraga Exclusive Autosport 1:20.981 0.3364
6 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:21.109 0.4646
7 51 Michael d’Orlando Team Benik 1:21.224 0.5796
8 7 James Raven DEForce Racing 1:21.236 0.5911
9 92 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 1:21.254 0.6094
10 79 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 1:21.289 0.6440
11 9 Dakota Dickerson ArmsUp Motorsports 1:21.300 0.6550
12 21 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:21.331 0.6861
13 80 Julian Van der Watt Team Pelfrey 1:21.350 0.7054
14 90 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Exclusive Autosport 1:21.353 0.7080
15 36 Darren Keane Newman Wachs Racing 1:21.554 0.9093
16 27 Colin Kaminsky DEForce Racing 1:21.591 0.9466
17 81 Kyle Dupell Team Pelfrey 1:21.632 0.9875
18 82 Bruna Tomaselli Team Pelfrey 1:21.707 1.0619
19 28 Keith Donegan BN Racing 1:21.758 1.1138
20 37 David Osborne Newman Wachs Racing 1:21.867 1.2218
21 29 Russell McDonough BN Racing 1:22.086 1.4410
22 31 Sabre Cook Team Benik 1:22.556 1.9113
23 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga Newman Wachs Racing 1:23.054 2.4096
24 12 Jose Sierra DEForce Racing 6:25.200 5:04.5552

The second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will roll off at 12:35 PM.

Don’t miss any of the action:

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MRTI Update #7 from Mid-Ohio – Friday – Kirkwood wins race and clinches championship with four races remaining

Posted by  on Saturday, July 28th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

What does 90.1% equate to? An early Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda for Kyle Kirkwood.

The 19-year-old Cape Motorsports rookie has clinched the $325,000 Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship by scoring 311 of the possible 345 points on offer in the first ten races of the 2018 season.

Kirkwood has compiled a fantastic season so far. The Jupiter, Fla. driver has won eight races (including the last seven in a row), four poles, nine podiums, and ten top-five finishes. He’s led in nine of the ten races and led 75.3% of the 227 laps contested to date.

If Kirkwood wins the remaining for laps, he can match J.R. Hildebrand’s record season USF2000 win total of 12.

“Amazing,” exclaimed a beaming Kirkwood. “There is no other way to put it. I’m so excited right now! I can’t believe we were able to unofficially win the championship this early in the season. I would never have thought that was possible at the beginning of the season. I had no expectations coming into the first race, and we were able to win it. Now we have eight wins and seven in a row. I don’t even know what to think right now. It’s amazing.”

Kirkwood’s title is the eighth straight driver’s championship for Cape Motorsports, a remarkable streak that began with Petri Suvanto in 2011.

Kyle Kirkwood celebrates the race win and USF2000 Championship with Nicholas (left) and Dominic (right) Cape. It’s the 8th straight driver’s title for the St. Petersburg, Fla. based team. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Nicholas and Dominic Cape won their first USF2000 title in 2000 with Aaron Justus, and have now amassed a dozen season-long driver trophies.

The final track activity on a busy Friday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was the first of three Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda races. The race began at 4:15 PM.

Kyle Kirkwood and Kaylen Frederick led the 12 rows of two to the green flag on the front straight.

Kirkwood got the jump on Frederick and made it to the left-hand Turn 1 with a safe gap. The field went three wide into the Keyhole, and all two-dozen drivers made it cleanly onto the back straight.

That’s where things got sideways. Rasmus Lindh made a late dive-bomb move on his teammate Kaylen Frederick, locking up under braking and making contact with his Pabst Racing teammate. Frederick was able to keep his 2.0L Mazda fired but got high-sided as he tried to get back on track.

The Swedish rookie was issued a drive-thru penalty for avoidable contact and came to pit road from second place.

At the end of the first lap the running order was: Kirkwood, Lindh, Kohl, Keith Donegan, James Raven, Jose Sierra, Calvin Ming, Darren Keane, Julian Van der Watt, Kory Enders, Igor Fraga, Russell McDonough, Danial Frost, Jacob Abel, Colin Kaminsky, Bruna Tomaselli, Michael D’Orlando, Dakota Dickerson, Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Oscar DeLuzuriaga, Kyle Dupell, Sabre Cook, and David Osborne.

The race restarted at the beginning of Lap 3 and at the end of that lap, the top 10 were: Kirkwood, Kohl, Donegan, Raven, Ming, Sierra, Keane, Van der Watt, Enders, and Fraga.

Donegan was holding up a line of cars behind his No. 28 BN Racing machine and was being hounded by Raven and Ming, but the Irishman received a reprieve when the yellow flag came out at the start of Lap 7 for contact between Frederick and Donegan.

Just after the race restarted for the second time, Ming made an aggressive move around the outside of Donegan in Turn 4. About that move, the Guyana born driver told TSO Ladder:

“He (Donegan) nearly put me off the track three or four times. We had one more safety car, and they (his Pabst Racing) told me I needed to get by him as soon as possible. I just broke as deep as I could. I barely went off the track and dropped two wheels, but I managed to hold it. I don’t know how I did it. It was miraculous for me. But it worked out as I got up the inside in (Turn) 5 and I pushed him out.”

The third full-course caution occurred when Oscar DeLuzuriaga appeared to take a little too much curb at the exit of Turn 9, spinning into the barriers on driver’s right.

As the field came to the restart, the drivers running just outside of the top three, Sierra, Keane and Raven got stacked up with the No. 36 orange and white machine of Keane running over the back of Sierra.

Keane’s front wing folded under his race car and it came to a halt in the middle of the front straight just past the start-finish line.

Sierra made it to Turn 1, but without his rear wing, he went wide ending up in the gravel trap on the outside of the left-hander.

The drivers behind the stack-up all missed Keane’s stranded Mazda/Tatuus, but Tomaselli was hip-checked into the grass and the outside barrier on drivers right in the mayhem.

Two penalties were handed out for the incident. Keane received a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact and Raven was forced to serve a drive-thru on the final lap of the race after it was determined he jumped the restart. The DEForce Racing driver was running fourth but dropped back to 13th when he came to pit lane.

The top ten when the green flag came back out for a two-lap shootout were: Kirkwood, Kohl, Ming, Raven, Donegan, Van der Watt, Fraga, Dickerson, D’Orlando, and Frost.

Fraga was penalized for blocking in the final two laps and fell from sixth to 17th after being given a 30-second post-race penalty.

A few drives of note. Dickerson piloted his No. 9 ArmsUp Motorsports machine from last on the grid after having a transponder issue in qualifying to sixth.

D’Orlando started fifth but dropped to 17th on the first lap after driving off track to miss the Frederick/Lindh contact. The 16-year-old was able to move up nine spots over the final 19 laps and finished eighth.

The USF2000 drivers qualify again at 8:45 AM on Saturday morning and the second race of the triple-header rolls off at 12:35 PM.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda Box Score

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MRTI update #4 from Mid-Ohio – Friday – Kirkwood grabs fourth pole of the year – 20th pole at Mid-Ohio for Cape Motorsports

Posted by  on Friday, July 27th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

What was shaping up to be an exciting final few laps of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda qualifying ended when the red flag and checkered flag came out for an on-track incident.

Kyle Kirkwood, for the fourth time this season will start on pole after turning a lap of 80.533 seconds. That lap was only a quarter second under the track record set by Matthew Brabham in 2012.

The bonus point for winning the pole means that Kirkwood enters the first race of the weekend with a 132 point lead.

This is the 20th time that a driver from the Cape Motorsports stable will start a USF2000 race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course from the inside of the front row.

The Pabst Racing quartet of Kaylen Frederick (2nd), Rasmus Lindh (3rd) Lucas Kohl (4th) and Calvin Ming (6th) were broken up by Team Benik rookie Michael D’Orlando (5th) in the first three rows.

Keith Donegan will start on the inside of row four and is followed by a trio of DEForce Racing drivers. Newcomer James Raven was followed by Jose Sierra and Kory Enders to complete the top 10.

Sunny skies, but different track conditions greeted the 24 drivers of the Mazda powered Tatuus USF2000 machines for their first qualifying session of the weekend.

The track temperature of the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course was significantly warmer then this morning and also had 45 minutes of IndyCar rubber added to the mix.

DEForce Racing driver Jose Sierra was forced to sit out the first five minutes of the 20 minute session after completing an extra lap after the checkered flag had flown on the morning practice session.

Points leader Kyle Kirkwood and morning practice leader Lindh were the only drivers to duck to pit road after ten minutes of running to make some adjustments.

At the half-way point of the session Kyle Kirkwood had the provisional pole. Lindh, Kohl, Donegan, Keane and d’Orlando were all within a half second of Kirkwood.

With just over seven minutes remaining, Frederick moved to the provisional pole with a lap just over 81 seconds.

Sitting in 11th spot, Newman Wachs Racing driver Darren Keane came to pit road for a fresh set of Cooper Tire shoes. Unfortunately, the red flag meant he was unable to utilize them.

With just under five minutes remaining Kirkwood was the first driver to crack the 81 second barrier.

With three minutes remaining in the session, and the timing screen showing plenty of purple, the red flag came out for the No. 27 DEForce Racing of Colin Kaminsky, who made contact with the barriers on driver’s left at the exit of Turn 9. The car suffered front wing, nose, right rear and right front damage, but the driver was able to get out of the car under his own power.

The No. 9 ArmsUp Motorsports machine of Dakota Dickerson was on track turning laps, but was experiencing an issue with the transponder. It will be fun to watch the Soul Red machine work it’s way through the field.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda Unofficial Race #1 Qualifying Results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:20.553 –.—-
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:20.852 0.2994
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:20.887 0.3339
4 22 Lucas Kohl 1:21.059 0.5066
5 51 Michael d’Orlando 1:21.311 0.7582
6 21 Calvin Ming 1:21.402 0.8489
7 28 Keith Donegan 1:21.656 1.1028
8 7 James Raven 1:21.721 1.1684
9 12 Jose Sierra 1:21.731 1.1783
10 11 Kory Enders 1:21.768 1.2157
11 36 Darren Keane 1:21.806 1.2535
12 91 Igor Fraga 1:21.849 1.2962
13 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:21.878 1.3252
14 29 Russell McDonough 1:21.886 1.3334
15 92 Danial Frost 1:21.950 1.3976
16 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:22.028 1.4748
17 79 Jacob Abel 1:22.049 1.4966
18 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:22.139 1.5867
19 81 Kyle Dupell 1:22.344 1.7908
20 90 Yuven Sundaramoorthy 1:22.451 1.8979
21 37 David Osborne 1:22.656 2.1033
22 31 Sabre Cook 1:22.831 2.2778
23 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:23.530 2.9770
24 9 Dakota Dickerson No Time —
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MRTI update #1 from Mid-Ohio – Lindh leads the first and only practice session of triple header weekend

Posted by  on Friday, July 27th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

For the second time, this season Pabst Racing rookie Rasmus Lindh led a USF2000 practice session. The 17-year-old turned a lap of 81.3989 seconds on his 13th of 15 circuits.

The rest of the top five – Kyle Kirkwood (Cape Motorsports), Michael D’Orlando (Team Benik), Keith Donegan (BN Racing) and Julian Van der Watt (Team Pelfrey) – were all within four-tenths of a second of the Swede.

Finishing off a top seven with seven different teams represented were Dakota Dickerson (ArmsUp Motorsports) and Colin Kaminsky (DEForce Racing).

Also impressively, the top 18 drivers were all within one second of Lindh.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series were NOT the first cars on the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Mid-Ohio Road Course, following the Mazda MX5 Cup machines.

The 24 entries took to the track for their lone 25-minute practice session under sunny skies and upper 60s.

The drivers turned 321 laps, with most drivers turning between 13 and 16 circuits.

The series drivers had three 40 minute test sessions yesterday, and from what we’ve heard, championship leader Kyle Kirkwood was the quickest. We were also told a number of drivers had incidents on the green track.

The USF2000 drivers are back on track for qualifying at 12:45 PM and the first of three race roles off at 4:30 PM.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda Practice #1 Results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER FAST LAP DIFFERENCE
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:21.399 –.—-
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:21.661 0.2622
3 51 Michael d’Orlando 1:21.735 0.3363
4 28 Keith Donegan 1:21.758 0.3595
5 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:21.797 0.3984
6 9 Dakota Dickerson 1:21.821 0.4218
7 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:21.833 0.4341
8 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:21.840 0.4406
9 21 Calvin Ming 1:21.857 0.4585
10 79 Jacob Abel 1:21.912 0.5131
11 22 Lucas Kohl 1:21.913 0.5137
12 11 Kory Enders 1:21.966 0.5668
13 81 Kyle Dupell 1:21.987 0.5886
14 36 Darren Keane 1:22.076 0.6766
15 92 Danial Frost 1:22.171 0.7724
16 91 Igor Fraga 1:22.251 0.8524
17 37 David Osborne 1:22.379 0.9799
18 90 Yuven Sundaramoorthy 1:22.433 1.0344
19 7 James Raven 1:22.538 1.1391
20 12 Jose Sierra 1:22.633 1.2337
20 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:22.623 1.2236
22 29 Russell McDonough 1:23.120 1.7209
23 31 Sabre Cook 1:23.153 1.7538
24 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:23.867 2.4677
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO
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USF2000 from Mid-Ohio – Steve’s preview – Kirkwood has a stranglehold on the $325,000 Mazda Scholarship, but there is still some great storylines

Posted by  on Wednesday, July 25th 2018     

 

By Steve Wittich

For the 19th through 21st times since the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series was reborn in 2010 and the 41st, 42nd and 43rd time a “two-liter” series will take to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The first winner on the Central Ohio circuit in 1993 was Chris Simmons. The win was Simmon’s 7th of a series leading 13 wins for Simmons, who is currently Scott Dixon’s race engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Cape Motorsports with their 20 wins at Mid-Ohio have traveled home to St. Petersburg, Fla. with exactly half of the first place trophies in the past quarter of a century. That includes a run of nine straight wins between Parker Thompson and Exclusive Autosport’s upset in race #2 last year and a victory by Team E and R.C. Enerson in race #1 in 2014.

After playing host to a double-header last year, the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course will see a trio of races contested for the fifth time in six years.

Two dozen drivers took part in a two-day series test at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last week, and not surprisingly, it was championship leader Kyle Kirkwood that leads the way. He was followed by the Pabst Racing trio of Rasmus Lindh, Lucas Kohl, and Kaylen Frederick. Michael D’Orlando (Team Benik) and Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports) will be returning to the series after taking the last round North of the Border off and were joined in the top 10 by Keith Donegan (BN Racing), Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing), Kory Enders (DEForce Racing) and Dakota Dickerson (ArmsUp Motorsports). The top 16 drivers were all within one second of Kirkwood.

Dickerson confirmed to TSO Ladder that he would be taking part in this weekend’s event and the finale at Portland International Raceway next month.

“The guys at ArmsUp have been nothing short of fantastic,” said Dickerson, who leads the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda by 10 points with three rounds remaining. “The constant and consistent improvement is proof of this, and it is only a matter of time. From the mechanics to the ownership, we all gel really well together and are working towards a common goal and I think our results are beginning to prove that.”

Since one driver, hint, hint, his name is Kirkwood, is stinking up the show. TSO Ladder will be taking a different approach to our Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda previews for the final two rounds of the championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Portland International Raceway. Instead of more driver-focused previews, we’ll be taking a look at the top five stories that we’ll be watching during the race weekend.

1) Yes, he’s been that good

Not spending time on just how good Cape Motorsports rookie Kirkwood has been this year would be a massive disservice to the 19-year-old. Plus, TSO Ladder (well, at least Steve) is a big proponent of rewarding the best drivers with the most words.

Kyle Kirkwood celebrates his sixth straight and seventh overall USF2000 win in 2018 (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

To start, of the 312 points available so far in the 2018 season, Kirkwood has scored 279. That equates to an almost ridiculous 89.4% of the points possible and to a remarkable 131 point lead. Kirkwood can win the championship by scoring 34 points in the remaining five races.

Kirkwood is dominating the series statistics leading in the following categories:

  • Wins (7)
  • Podiums (8)
  • Top 5s (9)
  • Top 10s (9)
  • Poles (3)
  • Average starting position (2.44)
  • Average finishing position (1.56)
  • Quickest average race lap (2.33)
  • % of laps completed (tied at 100%)

Kirkwood has led in every race except St. Pete #2 and has been particularly outstanding over the last five races He’s collected all but seven of 180 points on offer.

Quite simply put, he’s been tough to beat. Perhaps, the most impressive part of his seven wins is that five of them, including the last four, have required passes for the lead.

With five races remaining, Kirkwood has the opportunity to match J.R. Hildebrand’s incredible feat of 12 wins during a single season.

2) We’ll be watching the tight chase for second place

While it appears that Kirkwood has a lock on the $325,000 Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship, the battle for second place, with seven active drivers all within 50 points, will likely come down to the last race at Portland International Raceway on Labor Day Weekend.

Kaylen Frederick currently has a hold of that spot, and outside of Kirkwood is the hottest driver in the series. The 16-year-old has stood on the podium in four of his last five outings, and has experience on the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course, finishing on the podium last year.

Only three points behind Frederick is Exclusive Autosport’s, Igor Fraga. The rookie is coming off an impressive second place finish in Toronto that saw Fraga lead his first laps in Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires competition. The Japanese born driver, along with Kirkwood, are the only two drivers to complete all 207 laps of USF2000 action so far this season.

Pabst Racing pilot Rasmus Lindh has been crazy quick all season, collecting one of the five fastest race laps in all nine starts so far. The 17-year-old rookie is only seven points adrift of his teammate Frederick, and the Swede can make a run for second if he can consistently turn speed into results.

Veterans Lucas Kohl and Calvin Ming are currently 32 points behind their Pabst Racing teammate Frederick. Kohl’s pace has been podium worthy at most events, but he needs to make sure that he minimizes mistakes. Ming has been finishing races, but after a strong rookie season in 2017, surprisingly, needs to find some more pace.

Also within 50 points are Jose Sierra (DEForce Racing) and Keith Donegan (BN Racing). Sierra started the season strong, but three DNFs in the last six races have moved him from the top three in points to eighth. Since a move to BN Racing just before Road America rounds of the championship, Donnegan has had better pace and results but needs to cut back on unforced errors if he wants to move into the top five in the championship.

3) Overdue

One of the biggest surprises (so far) of the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season is that with four talented pilots, Pabst Racing has been missing from victory lane. The last season that Pabst Racing did not win a Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race was in 2013. Over the past four seasons, the Oconomowoc, Wisc. based squad has stood on the top step of the podium ten times.

The slight drought for the team certainly isn’t pace related. The team is tied for or leads the series in poles (3), podiums (9), and top fives (13).

The team has the 2nd (Frederick), 3rd (Lindh), 5th (Kohl) and 9th (Ming) best average starting positions and also the 2nd (Kirkwood), 3rd (Lindh), 8th, (Kohl) and 13th (Ming) quickest average race lap.

The problem? Kohl (-40), Frederick (-36) and Lindh (-35) have the three worst plus/minus from their starting spots of all 30 USF2000 drivers that have turned a lap. If the talented group of drivers can reverse that trend, the wins will soon follow.

It’s been 16 years since the team visited victory lane at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with the team’s current engineer Tonis Kasemets, but the team does have recent podium experience. Since the USF2000 series was restarted in 2010, Jake Eidson, Garth Rickards, Rinus VeeKay, and Jason Wolfe have all finished in the top three.

4) Qualify well, finish well at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

If history from the past 40 USF2000 races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course tells us anything, it’s that starting up front is paramount to winning. The eventual race winner has started on pole 26 times (65%) and in the front row on all but five occasions. The average starting position for the race winner at Mid-Ohio is 1.7, and the lowest that a winner has started is sixth.

Pole sitter Parker Thompson get the jump to Turn 1 and the Cooper Tire Bridge during Sunday’s race in 2017 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – he would go on to lead every lap on the way to victory (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The last nine race winners have all started on the inside of the front row and going further back, 18 of the previous 20 winners have been the pole sitter.

The pole sitter in 1995, Jimmy Chianis, finished 30th and other poles sitters have finished 25th (twice) and 17th. But, don’t let those few poor results fool you. The driver who has been on the pole has finished on the podium at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 32 of 40 races.

5) Newbies and returnees

Making his Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires debut this weekend with Exclusive Autosport is Yuven Sundaramoorthy. The 15-year-old was born in Oconomowoc, Wisc. and currently lives in Upstate New York. As a 14-year-old, Sundaramoothy captured two wins, one pole, six podiums on the way to fourth in the 2017 F1600 Championship Series points chase. The youngster is once again contesting that championship and currently ranks third with a pair of wins and five visits to the podium. Sundaramoorthy completed 107 laps during USF2000 testing at Mid-Ohio last week and was within three-tenths of a second of teammate Igor Fraga.

Returning to the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires is James Raven. The 23-year-old contested the season-opening Pro Mazda rounds in St. Petersburg, Fla. with DEForce Racing and will be returning to that squad for the three USF2000 rounds at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The Portsmouth, England native is also contesting the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda season with DEForce Racing and is currently sitting fourth in points. In that series most recent rounds at Mid-Ohio, Raven finished 2nd once and 4th twice.

After an impressive series debut at Road America and successful test on the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Mid-Ohio Road Course (6th best lap time) last week, Jacob Abel and family run team Abel Motorsports will be returning to USF2000 competition.

After missing the pair of races north of the border, Team Benik and drivers Michael D’Orlando and Sabre Cook will return for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Powered by Mazda tripleheader. D’Orlando is coming off a season-best sixth place finish in Race #2 at Road America had the fifth quickest time during the series open test last week. Cook is welcoming a new co-primary sponsor this week; Alpine Bank https://www.alpinebank.com will be featured on the side pods of her No. 31.

Ohio native David Osbourne will be returning to Newman Wachs Racing after sitting out the Toronto rounds. The Miami University biomedical engineering graduate won at his “home” track in the Formula F1600 Championship last year.

Past USF2000 winners at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

YEAR DRIVER TEAM
2017 Race #2 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport
2017 Race #1 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports
2016 Race #3 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2016 Race #2 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2016 Race #1 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2015 Race #3 Nico Jamin Cape Motorsports
2015 Race #2 Nico Jamin Cape Motorsports
2015 Race #1 Nico Jamin Cape Motorsports
2014 Race #3 Florian Latorre Cape Motorsports
2014 Race #2 Jake Eidson Cape Motorsports
2014 Race #1 RC Enerson Team E Racing
2013 Race #3 Garett Grist Andretti Autosport
2013 Race #2 Neil Alberico Cape Motorsports
2013 Race #1 Neil Alberico Cape Motorsports
2012 Race #2 Scott Anderson Belardi Auto Racing
2012 Race #1 Spencer Pigot Cape Motorsports
2011 Race #2 Petri Suvanto Cape Motorsports
2011 Race #1 Petri Suvanto Cape Motorsports
2004 Race #4 Adam Pecorari Andersen Walko Racing
2004 Race #3 Adam Pecorari Andersen Walko Racing
2004 Race #2 Adam Pecorari Andersen Walko Racing
2004 Race #1 Andre Prendeville Andersen Walko Racing
2003 Race #4 Jonathan Bomarito PR1 Motorsports
2003 Race #3 Jonathan Bomarito PR1 Motorsports
2003 Race #2 Westley Barber Cape Motorsports
2003 Race #1 Tonis Kasemets Pabst Racing
2002 Race #3 Ross Fonferko Cape Motorsports
2002 Race #2 Bryan Sellers Cape Motorsports
2002 Race #1 Tonis Kasemets Pabst Racing
2001 Race #2 Doug Bell Cape Motorsports
2001 Race #1 Tonis Kasemets Tonis Kasemets
1999 Race #2 Jeff Wright Cape Motorsports
1999 Race #1 Dan Wheldon Primus Racing
1998 Race #2 David Besnard Primus Racing
1998 Race #1 David Besnard Primus Racing
1997 Zak Morioka Hayes Motorsports
1996 Steve Knapp Miller Miling/Elite Engines
1995 Race #2 Jeret Schroeder
1995 Race #1 Memo Gidley Cape Motorsports
1993 Chris Simmons SOTARE Racing

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda weekend schedule

Friday

  • 8:45 AM – 9:10 AM – USF2000 Practice #1
  • 11 AM – 11:30 AM – USF2000 Autograph Session
  • 12:45 PM – 1:05 PM – USF2000 Qualifying #1
  • 4:30 PM – 5:10 PM – USF2000 Race #1

Saturday

  • 8:45 AM – 9:05 AM – USF2000 Qualifying #2
  • 12:35 PM – 1:20 PM – USF2000 Race #2

Sunday

  • 12:10 PM – 12:50 PM – USF2000 Race #3

 

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MRTI Update #11 – Sunday – Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Race #2

Posted by  on Sunday, July 15th 2018     

By Patrick Stephan

For the sixth straight USF2000 race, and seventh time in his rookie season, Kyle Kirkwood stood on the top step of the podium. The Cape Motorsports rookie now holds an incredible 131 point lead over Kaylen Frederick in the chase for the Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship.

Kirkwood didn’t have it easy though, smartly avoiding a Lap 1, Turn 3 pile-up and making a daring pass over Igor Fraga after an entertaining battle.

Kyle Kirkwood navigates the tricky Turn 5 in Toronto on the way to his sixth straight Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda win (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

“I got by a couple of cars at the start but then everyone bunched up on the inside and I went on the outside, down the clean line,” explained Kirkwood. “I came out first with Igor alongside and we fought the whole way down the straight. We were really close. He caught me off guard when he got by – I didn’t think he would try to pass there but it was a perfectly executed move, so kudos to him. It was tough to get back around. We locked up in Turn Three every lap and I thought I was going to get a piece of the tire wall. I think I caught him off guard in Turn One. I wasn’t thinking about making a pass until the last moment and it worked perfectly.”

Fraga, who defended brilliantly against Kirkwood for 11 laps before being surprised by a Turn 1 pass, brought his No. 91 Exclusive Autosport machine home in second, his second podium of the season. The Brazilain who was born in Japan is now 3rd in the USF2000 series standing.

“Today was so fun, but it was very nerve-wracking at the same time,” said Fraga. “You have so much going on, passing so close to the walls, but at the same time, you have to watch in your mirrors. You have to focus as much as you can. I didn’t think Kyle would be able to pass me but I left the door open just a bit and he was able to dive in. It was unexpected but this will add to my experience. We’ve moved up race by race and to lead today is a good sign. Hopefully, there will be many more moments like this. I am learning more every day. My dream is to be a top driver so it’s great to prove that I can fight and I can be up there.”

Igor Fraga celebrates his second podium of the year with Exclusive Autosport team-owner Michael Duncalfe and his family. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Pabst Racing rookie Rasmus Lindh started third and finished third, but that doesn’t adequetly describe the Swede’s day. Lindh dropped to 11th in the Lap 1, Turn 3 incident, but was able to drive his way back up to the final spot on the podium.

The field went 4-wide down the front straight for several rows, almost looked like a parade lap for a World of Outlaws race, but everyone cleanly was cleanly through this time.

Can’t say the same thing about Turn 3, when 7 cars got together and several wound up in the tire barrier.

The mess started when pole sitter Kaylen Frederick locked up his brakes from the center lane. While he was sliding past the entry to the corner, he forced Rasmus Lindh wide and he was blocked by the tire barriers. Keith Donegan was too quick down the inside and straight-lined into the tire-barriers, where he was hit by Frederick, who looked like he would make the corner (but just).

Kaylen Frederick’s damaged nose after being blocked by Keith Donegan in a Lap 1, Turn 3 incident during Sunday’s second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

As they were sliding wide, we have contact on the inside line and I believe it was Dakota Dickerson spinning after contact with (not sure). He had come down across someone who was at his right rear tire next to the wall as everyone was looking through brake smoke for a path through the melee.

With the outside line blocked and people spinning on the inside line, a host of other cars got stopped including Keane, Kaminsky, Enders, Sierra, McDonough, and Van der Watt. Many of those cars would eventually get going again, but McDonough, Donegan, and Kaminsky would have too much damage to continue.

Order on Lap 4 under yellow – Kirkwood, Fraga, Frost, Tomaselli, Dupell, DeLuzuriaga, Dickerson, Lindh, Keane, Enders, Frederick, Ming, Kohl, Donegan, Kaminsky, McDonough, Peichel (DNS)

Restart on Lap 5 and Fraga takes the lead with an inside pass at Turn 3 as he slipped by Kyle Kirkwood.

When they came back around on Lap 6, Kirkwood tries to make it back to the lead with an outside pass. They ran side by side through Turn 3 before Kirkwood got back in line for Turn 4.

The duo would continue going at it, with Kirkwood trying several more times in Turn 3, and on Lap 10, he nearly got it done, but locked the tires just past the apex and Fraga was able to get the spot back.

On Lap 12, Kirkwood settled back and didn’t try this time. Lap 13 and he almost tried a little too hard and nearly missed the tires in Turn 3.

Lap 15 and Kaylen Frederick tries to go inside of Danial Frost and totally slides through the corner and nearly hit his teammate Rasmus Lindh who was taking the normal line a full position ahead of this issue.

Lap 17 and we have Darren Keane is sitting in Turn 8. Eventually, he would get the car going and we only had a local yellow.

About this time up front, Kyle Kirkwood finally gets around Igor Fraga for the lead.

Lap 19 and the order is now Kirkwood, Fraga, Lindh, Frost, Van der Watt, Dickerson, Tomaselli, Sierra, Enders, Dupell, Frederick, DeLuzuriaga – the final car on the lead lap. Then its Ming, Keane – 2 laps and Kohl –  3laps.  McDonough, Donegan, Kaminsky, and Peichel are out.

Lap 23/24 and we get another mess in Turn 3 and also over at Turn 4 and 5. Van der Watt was shown sitting inside Turn 3 on timing and scoring and further up we’ve got Tomaselli and Enders also showing as stopped on the track. We didn’t get a replay other than Tomaselli simply locking the brakes and then looping it when she tried to let off the brakes and make the corner. Not sure what happened other than that!

And when the timing and scoring corrected at the end of the race, Van der Watt was back up in 5th. We’ve had timing and scoring issues all weekend, so really not sure what happened but believe the final results are now corrected.  For sure Tomaselli spun!! We also had debris at Turns 4 and 5 – heck, maybe a transponder!

Back up front the fifth starting Kirkwood holds on and takes a 1.1127 win over Fraga, Lindh, Frost and Van Der Watt. Some of the races biggest movers were Frost going from 12th to 4th, Fraga from 6th to 2nd. Van der Watt picked up 5th from 9th. From way back, it was Sierra starting 18th and finishing 7th, and DeLuzuriaga from 17th to 10th.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Race #2 Unofficial Results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER GAP
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood —
2 91 Igor Fraga 1.1127
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 3.2225
4 92 Danial Frost 10.3767
5 80 Julian Van der Watt 12.5651
6 9 Dakota Dickerson 13.5875
7 12 Jose Sierra 28.9639
8 24 Kaylen Frederick 29.0661
9 81 Kyle Dupell 40.4296
10 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 43.7451
11 21 Calvin Ming -1 Lap
12 36 Darren Keane -1 Lap
13 82 Bruna Tomaselli -2 laps
14 11 Kory Enders -2 laps
15 22 Lucas Kohl -2 laps
16 29 Russell McDonough -24 laps
17 28 Keith Donegan -25 laps
18 27 Colin Kaminsky -25 laps

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series is back on track for testing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for testing next week in preparation for their race weekend on the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Road Course from July 27th – 29th.

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MRTI Update #9 from Toronto – Kirkwood wins fifth straight USF2000 race and puts stranglehold on the championship

Posted by  on Saturday, July 14th 2018     

By Patrick Stephan and Steve Wittich

Thanks to Patrick for covering the Saturday’s USF2000 race for me while I was in the paddock making sense of the chaotic Pro Mazda race.

I (Steve) had the chance to talk to Kirkwood and Dickerson after the race, and both were extremely pleased.

Kirkwood told us that his fifth straight win and 114 point championship lead would allow him to be even more aggressive in going for wins. By our calculations, a win on Sunday and in the first race at Mid-Ohio in a few weeks would effectively clinch the Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship for the American.

Yes, Dickerson would have loved to collect his first Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires win, but he was still excited to be on the podium. The San Diego, Calif. driver, enjoys the atmosphere in the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock and confirmed that he would be back for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Portland International Raceway rounds.

Here is Patrick’s report.

The USF2000 Race #1 was delayed for a little while as they retrieved the crashed Pro Mazda car of Harrison Scott which had been left down in Turn 3 while that race finished.

When we went green to start the USF2000 race third place starter, Kyle Kirkwood tucked behind pole sitter Dakota Dickerson and then popped out at the entry to Turn 1 and took the lead. Behind him, the field fanned out 5- wide but was able to funnel through the first turn.

Kyle Kirkwood pops to the inside of pole sitter Dakota Dickerson to grab the lead in Saturday’s USF2000 race in Toronto. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Things wouldn’t stay that clean for long though. On the second lap Jose Sierra had moved up to about 5th, but then wound up side by side with Darren Keane through Turn 3 – and that didn’t work. They made contact and Sierra wound up in the tire barrier.

After the race, Sierra was docked ten driver points for avoidable contact.

Keane was able to continue back around to the pit area for repairs, but he lost two laps.

With the yellow out, the order is Kirkwood, Dickerson, Lindh, Frederick, Donegan, Ming, Enders, Frost, DeLuzuriaga, and McDonough is 10th.

On Lap 5 we went back to green, and Kirkwood holds the lead. Frederick and Lindh would battle with Frederick eventually getting the final podium spot for now.

Lots of action a little further back as Lucas Kohl who started 18th is now up to 9th by Lap 8.

At the head of the field, Kirkwood has a 0.8666 gap over Dickerson, with Frederick now in third and Lindh, Donegan, Ming, Frost, Kohl, Fraga, and Enders rounding out the Top 10.

Igor Fraga gets around Kohl for 8th.

On Lap 15, Kirkwood was able to stretch his lead to 1.245 over Dickerson slightly, but a couple of spots back, Frederick has Lindh right behind him as they battle for the third spot.

Fraga again grabs a spot as he gets past Danial Frost for 7th – very impressive run from the 17th starting position.

We now go yellow on Lap 18 as Kory Enders who was running 10th finds the tire barrier at Turn 8.

As this is a 20 lap race, we’ll end under yellow. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see if Lindh could make a late move back to the podium.

Again, excellent races for Fraga from 17th and Kohl from 18th to make it to 7th and ninth respectively.

P No Name Laps Status
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 20 Active
2 9 Dakota Dickerson 20 Active
3 24 Kaylen Frederick 20 Active
4 23 Rasmus Lindh 20 Active
5 28 Keith Donegan 20 Active
6 21 Calvin Ming 20 Active
7 91 Igor Fraga 20 Active
8 92 Danial Frost 20 Active
9 22 Lucas Kohl 20 Active
10 80 Julian Van Der Watt 20 Active
11 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 20 Active
12 27 Colin Kaminsky 20 Active
13 82 Bruna Tomaselli 20 Active
14 29 Russell McDonough 20 Active
15 81 Kyle Dupell 20 Active
16 11 Kory Enders 16 Contact
17 36 Darren Keane 14 Active
18 12 Jose Sierra 1 Contact
19 14 Max Peichel — DNS
category: USF2000 News/Results
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