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MRTI Update #6 – Saturday – Kaylen Frederick grabs his first career USF2000 pole and goes a full second under the track record

Posted by  on Saturday, July 14th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

A chaotic final five minutes of USF2000 qualifying ended with series sophomore Kaylen Frederick’s first pole and a new track record of 70.770. It is also the first Toronto pole for Pabst Racing.

Joining Frederick on the front row with his best start of the year is Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship winner Keith Donegan.

Rasmus Lindh, who ended up in the tires at the exit of the tricky Turn 8 on his final flying lap, had the third quickest lap time.

Starting outside of Lindh is the pole sitter for today’s race, Dakota Dickerson.

Points leader Kyle Kirkwood will start fifth, making this the first USF2000 event on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit that a Cape Motorsports pilot will not start on pole.

Qualifying for Sunday’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Race #2 served as a wake-up call for the residents of Liberty Village.

On his first flying lap, DEForce Racing’s Jose Sierra made contact with the right side of his No. 12 in the Turn 9-10-11 complex. The Mexican driver was able to limp his car to an out of the way spot, keeping the track green, but will start 18th on Sunday.

At the halfway point of the 20-minute session, the top ten were: Rasmus Lindh, Kaylen Frederick, Kyle Kirkwood, Dakota Dickerson, Igor Fraga, Keith Donegan, Darren Keane, Lucas Kohl, Kory Enders, and Julian Van der Watt.

With five minutes remaining, Pabst Racing rookie Lindh held the provisional pole with a lap of 71.2700 seconds, surpassing Rinus VeeKay’s 2017 track record and improved his provisional pole on his next two laps.

Dickerson, Kirkwood, Donegan, and Frederick all made runs at Lindh, but it was Donegan who moved to the top of the timesheet just before time expired.

When Frederick crossed the timing lap for his final lap, the timing screen showed the American pipped the Irish rookie by eight-thousandths of a second.

Donegan was on his last lap flyer but was forced to bail out when he came across the yellow flags preceding Turn 8 for Lindh’s incident.

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

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:10.770 –.—-
2 28 Keith Donegan 1:10.778 0.0083
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:10.930 0.1600
4 9 Dakota Dickerson 1:11.180 0.4102
5 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:11.224 0.4537
6 91 Igor Fraga 1:11.449 0.6709
7 21 Calvin Ming 1:11.560 0.7897
8 22 Lucas Kohl 1:11.630 0.8600
9 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:11.814 1.0444
10 36 Darren Keane 1:11.937 1.1668
11 11 Kory Enders 1:11.968 1.1979
12 92 Danial Frost 1:12.191 1.4132
13 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:12.393 1.6229
14 29 Russell McDonough 1:12.400 1.6299
15 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:12.453 1.6747
16 81 Kyle Dupell 1:12.803 2.0329
17 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:12.967 2.1973
18 12 Jose Sierra 1:16.634 5.8637

The first race for the bottom rung of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires rolls off at 11:45 AM this morning.

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MRTI update #4 from Toronto – Friday – Let’s try this again – Dakota Dickerson takes USF2000 pole after 11 drivers penalized

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Dakota Dickerson, who returned to the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series with ArmsUp Motorsports at Road America will start on the pole for the first of the series doubleheaders on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit.

Dickerson inherited the pole after Kyle Kirkwood and Kaylen Frederick were penalized for not slowing down enough though a local yellow. The one-time Skip Barber USF2000 shootout scholarship winner from San Diego, Calif. is currently leading the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda championship through nine of 17 rounds.

“It’s been three years in the making, but it feels really good to get the pole position finally, said the 21-year-old when TSO Ladder caught up with him at the ArmsUp Motorsports transporter. “It was definitely an interesting way to do it. It feels really good to be starting on the front row, especially after all the effort that we put in. We had a really good test day at Blackhawk (between Road America and Toronto), and I think it’s really paying off. These guys (ArmsUp Motorsports) have a really good car here, but I think we’ll be able to continue this progress to Mid-Ohio (Sports Car Course) and Portland as well.”

The pole sitter for USF2000 race #1 on track in Toronto (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Dickerson credited team owner Greg Borland for reminding him to slow down in the yellow flag zone.

We asked Dickerson how hard it was to slow down and go against his nature and he told us: “It’s tough. We already had a red flag earlier in the session, so the time is compromised and you are trying to put down a good time. It’s definitely a gamble to slow down and obey the rules, but it paid off for us. Credit to the officials for doing that (penalizing the other drivers).”

Kirkwood and Fredrick, who were initially the front row starters for Saturday’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products had their best laps deleted for violating Rule 7.1.3.2, which states: Drivers shall reduce speed by a minimum of 15% in that sector and be prepared to stop. Drivers who do not slow down may be penalized. Overtaking is not permitted between the first Yellow Condition and the subsequent Green Condition.

They weren’t alone in blasting through the local yellow for Igor Fraga, as Rasmus Lindh, Calvin Ming, Jose Sierra, Kory Enders, Colin Kaminsky, Keith Donegan, Danial Frost, Julian Van der Watt, and Darren Keane were all dinged for the same infraction.

Kohl and Fraga also lost their quickest laps for causing a red flag.

ArmsUp Motorsports has had some success on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place, winning with Victor Franzoni in 2016 and collecting three total podiums.

The new qualifying results are as follows:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP
1 9 Dakota Dickerson 62.6620
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 62.7311
3 8 Kyle Kirkwood 62.7807
4 23 Rasmus Lindh 63.057
5 36 Darren Keane 63.165
6 28 Keith Donegan 63.310
7 21 Calvin Ming 63.6742
8 12 Jose Sierra 63.9156
9 80 Julian Van der Watt 63.9277
10 11 Kory Enders 64.1023
11 92 Danial Frost 64.3270
12 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 64.5483
13 82 Bruna Tomaselli 64.5591
14 29 Russell McDonough 64.6033
15 27 Colin Kaminsky 64.8094
16 81 Kyle Dupell 65.1263
17 91 Igor Fraga 355.9447
18 22 Lucas Kohl no time
19 14 Max Peichel no time

The biggest winner after the 11 drivers had their laps deleted was Darren Keane, who will start five spots higher on the inside of the third row. Colin Kaminsky lost three places, the biggest loser of the bunch.

Winners and loser after the penalties were applied.

DRIVER GAIN/LOSS
Darren Keane 5
Kyle Dupell 3
Dakota Dickerson 2
Keith Donegan 1
Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1
Bruna Tomaselli 1
Russell McDonough 1
Kaylen Frederick 0
Rasmus Lindh 0
Julian Van der Watt 0
Danial Frost 0
Igor Fraga 0
Lucas Kohl 0
Max Peichel 0
Kyle Kirkwood -2
Calvin Ming -2
Jose Sierra -2
Kory Enders -2
Colin Kaminsky -3

The first of two Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products races rolls off at 11:45 AM on Saturday morning.

category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI update #3 – Friday – Kyle Kirkwood snags fourth USF2000 pole of the season – 10th in 11 races for Cape Motorsports in Toronto

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

For the fourth time this season, Kyle Kirkwood and Cape Motorsports will start on the pole in a Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race. With the single bonus point for being the quickest qualifier Kirkwood’s lead in the title, chase grows to 95 points.

The 19-year-old American joins Neil Alberico (twice), Florian Latorre (twice), Nico Jamin (twice), Anthony Martin (twice), and Oliver Askew (once) as Cape Motorsports pole sitters in Toronto. The St. Petersburg, Fla team now scored ten of 11 possible USF2000 poles.

Kyle Kirkwood gets into his Cape Motorsports race car for qualifying (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

For the second straight USF2000 race, Pabst Racing sophomore Kaylen Frederick will start on the outside of the front row with his teammates Rasmus Lindh and Calvin Ming starting fourth and fifth.

Dakota Dickerson, who is making his second appearance with ArmsUp Motorsports used a last-minute lap to move up to third.

Early in the brief 20 minutes of qualifying, the No. 23 Pabst Racing Mazda/Tatuus of Lucas Kohl made contact with the concrete barriers coming to rest on the back straight.

The green flag came back out with 12 minutes remaining, and it was Exclusive Autosport’s Igor Fraga who set the early pace, but the 19-year-old hit the wall exiting Turn 11, the final corner on the 1.786-mile Exhibition Place street circuit.

Fraga drove his No. 91 into the run-off in Turn 1 causing the second red flag of the session and losing his fastest laps.

The green flag came back out with just over three minutes remaining the top five times were held by Rasmus Lindh, Kirkwood, Kaylen Frederick, Keith Donegan and Calvin Ming.

Frederick held the provisional pole position when the checkered flag came out, but Kirkwood’s last-minute flyer two-tenths quicker.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Unofficial Qualifying #1 results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:12.438 –.—-
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:12.632 0.1940
3 9 Dakota Dickerson 1:12.662 0.2238
4 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:12.864 0.4257
5 21 Calvin Ming 1:12.987 0.5489
6 12 Jose Sierra 1:13.020 0.5823
7 28 Keith Donegan 1:13.043 0.6049
8 11 Kory Enders 1:13.092 0.6537
9 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:13.134 0.6959
10 36 Darren Keane 1:13.138 0.7000
11 92 Danial Frost 1:14.277 1.5458
12 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:14.467 2.0286
13 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:14.548 2.1101
14 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:14.559 2.1209
15 29 Russell McDonough 1:14.603 2.1651
16 81 Kyle Dupell 1:15.126 2.6881
17 91 Igor Fraga 5:55.945
18 14 Max Peichel No Time —
19 22 Lucas Kohl No Time —

The first of two Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products races rolls off at 11:45 AM on Saturday morning.

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MRTI Update #2 from Toronto – Friday – Rinus VeeKay obliterates Pro Mazda track record on the way to the pole for race #1

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

With the Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire winner in all nine previous races in Toronto, Ont., starting Saturday’’s first of two Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products races is critical.

It’s so essential that pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay wheeled a damaged car into the run-off in Turn 1 to avoid causing a red flag and losing his pole lap.

The Dutch driver’s final lap of 1:07.974 was only seven-hundredths quicker than Malukas. His pole laps obliterated the old Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire track record of 1:10.7635 set by Aaron Telitz in 2016.

VeeKay is currently the owner of the USF2000 and Pro Mazda track records on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit.

“It was really tough,” said the 17-year-old. “I was quickest in the first practice, so It started off well. But, of course, everyone gets better, so I knew it was going to be close, but not this close. Charles Crews (former Indy Lights driver), my driver coach was telling me you need half-a-tenth, and then again that you need half-a-tenth. So, I was pushing and pushing so hard, and I finally got it.”

Juncos Racing Pro Mazda rookie Rinus VeeKay gets buckled in for qualifying in Toronto. He would go on to win the pole (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

VeeKay told us that his lap time didn’t come up on his dash and because of that, he was pushing hard after crossing the timing line and tagged the wall with the right side rear of his No. 2 JUMBO sponsored Juncos Racing machine.

VeeKay, David Malukas, and Parker Thompson traded the provisional pole four times in the final five minutes and will start second and third. Sting Ray Robb will start fourth, tying his best start of the year on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

The first of two Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire Friday qualifying sessions began under blue Ontario skies at just after 10 AM. The ambient temperature was 76F, and the track temperature was 103F.

Impressively, the BN Racing crew was able to get the No. 78 race car ready for Kris Wright. The Juncos Racing gang were able to rectify the issue in the No. 1 ’s, and Carlos Cunha was able to qualify.

Unfortunately, the Cape Motorsports crew were not able to get the No. 8 repaired for Nikia Lastochkin.

At the half-way point of the 20-minute session, Rinus VeeKay, with a lap of 1:08.540 held the provisional pole by two-hundredths of a second over points leader Parker Thompson. Sting Ray Robb, David Malukas, and Robert Megennis made up the remainder of the top five.

Sting Ray Robb went to the top of the charts just past the half-way point before bringing the familiar team Pelfrey yellow and black No. 82 to pit road.

Robb didn’t hold the provisional pole for long before Thompson was able to surpass him.

Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Unofficial Qualifying #1 results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 2 Rinus VeeKay 1:07.974 –.—-
2 79 David Malukas 1:08.049 0.0760
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:08.228 0.2547
4 82 Sting Ray Robb 1:08.295 0.3218
5 9 Robert Megennis 1:08.347 0.3732
6 27 Raul Guzman 1:08.469 0.4958
7 81 Andres Gutierrez 1:08.505 0.5311
8 3 Oliver Askew 1:08.749 0.7751
9 10 Harrison Scott 1:09.260 1.2863
10 91 Antonio Serravalle 1:10.154 2.1810
11 78 Kris Wright 1:10.225 2.2512
12 1 Carlos Cunha 1:10.285 2.3118
13 83 Charles Finelli 1:15.637 7.6638
14 8 Nikita Lastochkin No Time —

The Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire drivers will be back on track for their second qualifying session at 3:30 PM for their second qualifying session.

 

Don’t miss any of the action:

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MRTI update #1 from Toronto –

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

 

Pro Mazda practice

A 25-minute Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire session opened the 32nd Indy car event at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario.

Nikia Lastochkin made contact in Turn 10 before completing his first hot lap. The team, Cape Motorsports, and driver confirmed that they had a part break that sent the Russian veteran into the concrete barriers.

At the halfway mark of the 25-minute session, Juncos Racing rookie Rinus VeeKay was the quickest driver with a lap of 1:10.091. That lap and the laps of the top six drivers were below the track record of 1:10:7635 set by Aaron Telitz during qualifying in 2016.

The Dutch driver clearly likes the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit; he currently holds the USF2000 track record.

The red flag came out with 10 minutes remaining for an incident in Turn 4 involving the No. 1 Juncos Racing machine of Carlos Cunha. We checked with Cunha after the session, and he confirmed that they had a mechanical issue in the steering and luckily he was able to feel it and didn’t make any contact.

The green flag came out for the final three minutes of the session, but no one was able to top VeeKays quickest lap from before the red flag.

At the very end of the session, the No. 78 BN Racing Mazda/Tatuus of Kris Wright made contact with the barriers in Turn 8. When the car came back to the paddock, it had damage to the nose, and the left front suspension was destroyed. The crew was already starting to take damaged parts off the car when it was on the wrecker and with only 90-minutes until qualifying the Chicago, Ill. based team will pull off an impressive feat if the 16-year-old makes it out for qualifying.

The damage on Kris Wright’s No. 78 BN Racing car after an incident in Turn 8 in practice for Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire in Toronto, Ontario. (TSO Photo Courtesy of Steve Wittich)

The dozen drivers that took to the green circuit turned a total of 144 laps.

Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Practice #1 results.

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 2 Rinus VeeKay 1:10.091 –.—- 14
2 82 Sting Ray Robb 1:10.198 0.1068 13
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:10.395 0.3036 14
4 79 David Malukas 1:10.404 0.3126 13
5 10 Harrison Scott 1:10.631 0.5393 13
6 3 Oliver Askew 1:10.649 0.5577 13
7 9 Robert Megennis 1:10.722 0.6308 12
8 81 Andres Gutierrez 1:11.003 0.9117 12
9 27 Raul Guzman 1:11.193 1.1015 12
10 1 Carlos Cunha 1:11.237 1.1452 7
11 91 Antonio Serravalle 1:12.725 2.6333 13
12 78 Kris Wright 1:13.445 3.3535 8

 

USF2000 practice

The 14 Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire drivers have a busy Fan Friday. They are back on track for a pair of qualifying sessions at 10:05 AM and 3:30 AM. They will also be part of an autograph session in the atrium of the Enercare Centre.

After a quick break, the 19 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda drivers took to the track for their lone 25-minute practice session.

There was a red flag with under 10 minutes left in the session for a quick track repair. The leader at that point of the session was Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga, who was followed by a trio of Pabst Racing drivers. Dakota Dickerson, who is back with ArmsUp Motorsports for the weekend rounded out the top five.

Late in the session, Fraga and Calvin Ming were able to improve their lap times, but it was championship leader Kyle Kirkwood who ended the session a scant two-hundredths quicker than Ming with a lap at 1:13.2848.

The 19 drivers that took to the green track turned a total of 144 laps.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products Practice #1

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:13.285 –.—- 18
2 21 Calvin Ming 1:13.312 0.0276 18
3 91 Igor Fraga 1:13.421 0.1367 19
4 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:13.662 0.3772 13
5 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:13.762 0.4771 14
6 9 Dakota Dickerson 1:13.867 0.5822 17
7 22 Lucas Kohl 1:13.975 0.6904 11
8 36 Darren Keane 1:14.049 0.7647 16
9 12 Jose Sierra 1:14.323 1.0387 15
10 28 Keith Donegan 1:14.684 1.3994 16
11 11 Kory Enders 1:14.908 1.6236 18
12 14 Max Peichel 1:15.012 1.7268 17
13 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:15.030 1.5346 17
14 92 Danial Frost 1:15.445 1.9493 17
15 29 Russell McDonough 1:15.847 2.5619 16
16 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:15.971 2.6863 17
17 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:17.059 3.7747 13
18 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:17.070 3.7851 17
19 81 Kyle Dupell 1:17.349 4.0637 15

USF2000 will be back on track for qualifying at 12:55 PM, but before that, you can get their autograph in the atrium of the Enercare Centre at 11 AM.

category: Pro Mazda News/Results, USF2000 News/Results

MRTI Update From Road America #14 – Kirkwood makes last lap pass to win chaotic USF2000 race

Posted by  on Sunday, June 24th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Coming into today’s USF2000 race Kyle Kirkwood had led every lap in the last three races. The championship leader’s impressive streak came to an end when he led only one lap. Thankfully for him, it was the right lap. 

Kirkwood told TSO that it was satisfying to win from fourth, showing that the team can race well.

It’s the Cape Motorsports rookies fourth straight win and fifth win in the first seven races. It was the 12th win at Road America for Cape Motorsports. 

Kaylen Frederick grabbed his second straight middle step of the podium finish and was joined on the podium by his teammate Lucas Kohl. 

The 12-lap race was chaotic with a dozen cars retiring due to contact.  

Pole sitter Rasmus Lindh got the jump as the field of 26 Mazda powered Tatuus USF2000 entries took the green flag, but it was his teammate Kohl who pounced, going around the outside in Turn 1. 

Further back in the field Russell McDonough and Sabre Cook ended up in the gravel trap outside of Turn 1. 

Also just before Turn 5, Jose Sierra and Max Peichel ended up against the barriers on drivers left coming down the Moraine Sweep. 

The full course caution came out and all four cars retired. 

At the end of Lap 1 the top 10 were: Kohl, Lindh, Frederick, Kyle Kirkwood, Julian Van der Watt, Colin Kaminsky, Keith Donegan, Kory Enders, Alex Baron, and Kyle Dupell.

Darren Keane, Danial Frost, Mathias Soler-Obel and David Osbourne all came to pit road for repairs. Osbourne was forced to retire, but the other three drivers continued. 

The green flag came back out at the start of Lap 4. Lindh was able to get around Kohl to go back to the lead in Turn 1, but the veteran Brazilan was able to get back by his rookie teammate in Turn 6. 

At the end Lap 4, the top 10 were: Kohl, Lindh, Frederick, Kirkwood, Van der Watt, Kaminsky, Donnegan, Enders, Fraga, \and Baron. 

On Lap 5, Kirkwood was able to get by Frederick on in Turn 5 to grab the final podium spot.

Just as Lap 6 started the yellow flag came out again, for an incident in Turn 12. There was contact between Darren Keane, who was attempting to pass Kyle Dupell going into Canada Corner and there were reports that the Team Pelfrey No. 81 rolled before landing back on four wheels. Both drivers climbed out on their own. 

The top 10 as the field took the second yellow flag was: Kohl, Lindh, Kirkwood, Frederick, Van der WattKaminsky, Enders, Donegan, Baron, and Fraga. 

Van der Watt, who was running fifth came to pit road as the green flag came back out to begin Lap 8. 

When the leaders got to Turn 5, Lindh blew through Turn 5, allowing Kirkwood to move into second and Frederick to third. 

As the field got to Turn 6, Enders and Ming made contact precipitating the third full course caution. 

As the field took the yellow, the top 10 were: Kohl, Kirkwood, Frederick, Kaminsky, Fraga, d’Orlando, Dickerson, Donegan, Soler-Obel, and Baron. 

The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team was able to get things cleaned up in time for one more lap of action, and as the drivers were shown the green and white flags Kirkwood was right under the rear wing of Kohl. 

The green and white flag came out at the same time.

Kirkwood was right on the gearbox of Kohl coming up the hill to the green and white flag and was around Kohl before they got to Turn 1. Kohl attempted an outside pass 

Kohl, who had built a slight gap over his closest competitors, told TSO that he knew he was in trouble when he saw the caution come out and that it was Kirkwood behind him. Kirkwood was running more trimmed out and was able to get by Kohl before Turn 1 on the final restart. 

Pabst Racing now has seven of the 12 podiums in the USF-17 era of racing at Road America. 

Not only were there a lot of DNFs, there were also five post-race 30-second penalties. 

  • McDonough for avoidable contact.
  • Soler-Obel for too many men over the wall
  • Enders for avoidable contact
  • Lindh for blocking
  • Donnegan for jumping the restart

Kirkwood now holds a commanding 217 to 123 lead over Baron in the chase for the Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship. 

Provisional results of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Race #2

P No Name Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 12  
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 12 0.4663
3 22 Lucas Kohl 12 1.9915
4 27 Colin Kaminsky 12 2.1333
5 91 Igor Fraga 12 2.4779
6 51 Michael d’Orlando 12 3.0624
7 19 Alex Baron 12 3.5425
8 90 Manuel Cabrera 12 4.7305
9 9 Dakota Dickerson 12 5.0432
10 79 Jacob Abel 12 6.2765
11 82 Bruna Tomaselli 12 6.2835
12 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 12 6.5911
13 28 Keith Donegan 12 33.2321
14 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 12 34.2617
15 23 Rasmus Lindh 7 Contact
16 11 Kory Enders 7 Contact
17 21 Calvin Ming 7 Contact
18 92 Danial Frost 7 Contact
19 80 Julian Van der Watt 7 Contact
20 81 Kyle Dupell 4 Contact
21 36 Darren Keane 4 Contact
22 37 David Osborne 1 Contact
23 12 Jose Sierra — Contact
24 14 Max Peichel — Contact
25 31 Sabre Cook — Contact
26 29 Russell McDonough — Contact

The lowest rung of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will be back on the track with it’s bigger siblings in Toronto, Ontario beginning on July 12th, 2018.

category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #12 from Road America – Kirkwood scores fourth win in Saturday USF2000 race

Posted by  on Saturday, June 23rd 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Kyle Kirkwood continued his roll in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season, dominating the first Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America race this weekend.

The young American took his fourth win in six races and extended his championship lead in the process, driving the No. 8 Cape Motorsports Tatuus USF-17 Mazda.

He started second but got around polesitter Rasmus Lindh of Pabst Racing almost immediately after the green flag, and never looked back en route to a flag-to-flag victory.

The race ended under full-course caution conditions. Kaylen Frederick upheld Pabst’s honor with second in his No. 24 car, while Keith Donegan scored his first USF2000 podium finish in his first weekend with his new team, BN Racing.

Kirkwood grabs the lead around the outside of Lindh at Turn 1 off the start, and is already out to a 0.7 lead after the first lap.

Both Donegan, now at BN Racing, and Dakota Dickerson, in an ArmsUp Motorsports entry, were big movers on the first lap. Donegan leapt from 10th to fourth while Dickerson moved from 20th to 12th. Lucas Kohl meanwhile had a nightmare first lap for Pabst, falling from sixth to 25th.

The first full-course caution flew on Lap 4, with Sabre Cook in trouble at the Carousel to drop from 17th down to 26th and last. This erases Kirkwood’s 1.427-second lead.

Although the restart got a bit crazy with periods of three, four and even five wide action, there were no incidents as the race resumed on Lap 6 of 12.

Michael d’Orlando’s and Manuel Cabrera’s races took turns for the worse after the restart. D’Orlando pitted, while Cabrera pulled off course on Lap 7 at Turn 3, removing one of the three Exclusive Autosport entries from the race.

On Lap 8, Jose Sierra defended against Mathias Soler-Obel in Turn 12. Both cars took wide exits at “Canada Corner,” but survived the exit without further drama.

There was also a big change for position up front. Lindh, who was second, fell to fifth behind Frederick, Donegan and Kory Enders who all got past the speedy Swede. Ming is now sixth, and Baron seventh ahead of Fraga.

With just three laps to go, Frederick sets the fastest lap of the race and is 1.5535 seconds behind Kirkwood for the lead. Lindh got past Enders at Turn 1 for fourth to regain one of his lost spots. South African rookie Julian van der Watt pits his Team Pelfrey machine from 17th place.

A second full course caution flies at the end of Lap 10 for Cook. She’s stopped between Turns 7 and 8 on driver’s right.

The white and yellow flags fly simultaneously at Lap 11, which means this race will finish under caution.

It’s Kirkwood, Frederick, and Donegan on the podium with Lindh fourth, Enders fifth, then Ming, Baron, Fraga, Sierra and Keane in the top 10.

For Kirkwood, he said it wasn’t his favorite win of the year because he won it under yellow flag conditions. He was surprised Lindh seemed to crowd Kirkwood close to the grass on the run up the hill, but then realized the tactics failed once he was able to get by at Turn 1.

Kirkwood said the concern about the draft here isn’t as bad as at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Even though there are long straights here, he said teams are carrying more downforce, which means you’re not a sitting duck. He restarted fine off the first full-course caution and wasn’t headed.

Frederick, who along with Kirkwood exchanged the fastest lap of the race before Kirkwood got it, started fourth and was unable to mount a serious challenge for the win. He hailed the Pabst Racing team in its home race – it’s amazing how much they know about this place – and says that with a 1-2-3 on the grid for Sunday’s race they’ll be poised to deliver Augie Pabst a win not far from their Oconomowoc, Wis. base. He also looks forward to racing in cooler temperatures tomorrow morning.

Donegan, who’s had a whirlwind week, spoke highly of the BN Racing group for how fast he integrated into the team. About his move forward from 10th to third, Donegan said, “Coming from 10th to third wasn’t easy! Our lane was moving quite quick. I got a good run and once I got to the inside, I got another spot. Then I started picking more cars off. Moving forward early allowed us to race well from there. We didn’t expect to be this far up. It’s a relief to get a podium.”

Unofficially Kirkwood is on 186 points, with Baron second on 109 and Sierra third on 102.

Provisional USF2000 Race #1 Results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 12
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 12 0.4865
3 28 Keith Donegan 12 1.0410
4 23 Rasmus Lindh 12 1.3778
5 11 Kory Enders 12 1.7529
6 21 Calvin Ming 12 2.4620
7 19 Alex Baron 12 3.3370
8 91 Igor Fraga 12 3.7933
9 12 Jose Sierra 12 4.1262
10 36 Darren Keane 12 5.5223
11 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 12 6.1389
12 27 Colin Kaminsky 12 6.9012
13 81 Kyle Dupell 12 7.7310
14 9 Dakota Dickerson 12 7.9871
15 79 Jacob Abel 12 8.8713
16 29 Russell McDonough 12 9.4021
17 82 Bruna Tomaselli 12 10.0379
18 37 David Osborne 12 10.8958
19 92 Danial Frost 12 11.7026
20 14 Max Peichel 12 12.4976
21 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 12 13.1335
22 51 Michael d’Orlando 12 14.0735
23 22 Lucas Kohl 12 15.2164
24 80 Julian Van der Watt 9 Running
25 31 Sabre Cook 8 Contact
26 90 Manuel Cabrera 6 Contact
category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #9 from Road America – Lindh completes pole sweep for race #2, for Pabst 1-2-3

Posted by  on Friday, June 22nd 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Augie Pabst’s Oconomowoc, Wis.-based team will have the top three starting positions for Sunday’s second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda race of the weekend, which will go green at 8 a.m.

Rasmus Lindh completed a Friday sweep of pole positions, with the Swede setting himself up nicely to carry on the Pabst Racing team’s streak of victories in USF2000 competition at Road America. Rinus VeeKay won both races last year for Pabst, which marked the talented Dutch teenager’s first Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires wins.

The USF2000 series capped off a busy day of activity with qualifying for its second race late Friday night, starting at 5:35 p.m.

Competitors in the 26-car field experienced all kinds of track conditions during the day, with an 8 a.m. practice and 12:45 p.m. first qualifying.

The opening laps were in the 2:11 bracket before first Kory Enders and then Lindh dropped into the 2:10 bracket. That is still more than a second off Lindh’s rapid pace and qualifying record set earlier Friday.

Halfway through the 20-minute session, Lindh led from Alex Baron, Jose Sierra, Kory Enders and Mathias Soler-Obel. Kyle Kirkwood had not yet set a time.

Team Pelfrey’s Julian van der Watt posted a 2:10.2573 to briefly take the provisional pole away from Lindh. Igor Fraga then jumped into third behind van der Watt and Lindh.

Van der Watt improved a tenth to 2:10.1748, then Baron beat that at a 2:10.1425.

Kirkwood was first in the 2:09 bracket, at 2:09.6864. He was second this morning and tried to advance to pole for race two later. Keith Donegan then leapt up to 2:10.0400 in the BN Racing entry.

Frederick advanced into second place at 2:10.0219, ahead of Donegan.

Lindh got into the 2:09 bracket near the end of the session, at 2:09.8760, and that vaulted him up to second ahead of Pabst Racing teammates Frederick and Kohl.

Kohl and Lindh leapt past Kirkwood in the final minute, at 2:09.6850 and 2:09.6275.

Frederick jumped up to second right at the end of the session, at 2:09.5409.

So it’s Lindh, Frederick, Kohl, Kirkwood and van der Watt in the top five for race two.

Donegan is sixth, his best road or street course start this year. Michael d’Orlando continued his impressive weekend pace for Team BENIK, and will start seventh, ahead of Colin Kaminsky, Enders and Kyle Dupell.

Provisional Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race #2 qualifying results

P No Name FTime Diff
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 2:09.408 –.—-
2 24 Kaylen Frederick 2:09.541 0.1332
3 22 Lucas Kohl 2:09.685 0.2773
4 8 Kyle Kirkwood 2:09.686 0.2787
5 80 Julian Van der Watt 2:09.933 0.3055
6 28 Keith Donegan 2:10.040 0.6323
7 51 Michael d’Orlando 2:10.067 0.4400
8 27 Colin Kaminsky 2:10.078 0.6702
9 11 Kory Enders 2:10.093 0.6854
10 81 Kyle Dupell 2:10.125 0.4975
11 19 Alex Baron 2:10.137 0.7289
12 12 Jose Sierra 2:10.200 0.7925
13 91 Igor Fraga 2:10.349 0.7219
14 9 Dakota Dickerson 2:10.453 1.0456
15 21 Calvin Ming 2:10.494 1.0868
16 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 2:10.569 1.1610
17 79 Jacob Abel 2:10.652 1.0243
18 14 Max Peichel 2:11.209 1.8017
19 90 Manuel Cabrera 2:11.486 1.8585
20 29 Russell McDonough 2:11.491 2.0834
21 36 Darren Keane 2:11.508 2.1001
22 31 Sabre Cook 2:11.679 2.2709
23 37 David Osborne 2:11.713 2.0858
24 82 Bruna Tomaselli 2:11.961 2.5534
25 92 Danial Frost 2:12.306 2.6784
26 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 2:12.852 3.2241
category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #6 from Road America – Lindh’s last lap flyer puts the Pabst Racing rookie on pole

Posted by  on Friday, June 22nd 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Speed producing overcast skies and refreshing temperatures greeted the 26 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda drivers for first qualifying session of the Road America weekend.

With only 20 minutes available for qualifying, and 2+ minute laps, it was essential to maximize every lap.

Pabst Racing Rookie Rasmus Lindh threw down a last-minute flyer of 139.258 to grab his first career Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires pole. The 16 year-olds previous best start was in his last race at Lucas Oil Raceway Park.

The Sweedish drivers lap also topped the track record of 2:09.656 set by Scott Anderson in 2012.

Lindh snagged the Wisconsin based teams third Road America pole, joining Rinus VeeKay and his engineer, Tonis Kasemits as pole winners for the Augie Pabst, led squad.

Championship leader Kyle Kirkwood will start outside of the front row for the fifth time in six USF2000 starts.

Lindh’s three Pabst Racing teammates will all start in the first three rows along with Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga.

With just over 11 minutes left in the 20 minutes session, rookie Rasmus Lindh went to the provisional pole and was followed by Kory Enders, Lucas Kohl, Calvin Ming, Keith Donegan, Kyle Dupell, Kyle Kirkwood, Igor Fraga, Julian Van der Watt and Kaylen Frederick in the top ten.

Lindh was the first driver to break the 130-second mark in the qualifying session. The Swedes time on the provisional pole was short lived when championship leader Kirkwood turned his quickest lap of the session.

The Pabst Racing trio of Frederick, Lindh, and Kohl all made runs at the Cape Motorsports rookie, and the American’s held the provisional pole until the very end of the session when Lindh was able to leapfrog Kirkwood.

Kirkwood still had a chance to disappoint Lindh. He was able to go faster on his final lap, but fell two-hundredths shy of snagging his fourth straight pole.

Provisional Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race #1 qualifying results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 2:09.258 –.—-
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 2:09.279 0.0206
3 21 Calvin Ming 2:09.462 0.2032
4 24 Kaylen Frederick 2:09.525 0.2669
5 91 Igor Fraga 2:09.873 0.5941
6 22 Lucas Kohl 2:09.877 0.6187
7 11 Kory Enders 2:09.982 0.7239
8 80 Julian Van der Watt 2:09.995 0.7161
9 81 Kyle Dupell 2:10.085 0.8065
10 28 Keith Donegan 2:10.251 0.9930
11 51 Michael d’Orlando 2:10.297 1.0179
12 12 Jose Sierra 2:10.335 1.0764
13 19 Alex Baron 2:10.349 1.0909
14 36 Darren Keane 2:10.663 1.4045
15 82 Bruna Tomaselli 2:10.726 1.4468
16 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 2:10.919 1.6606
17 14 Max Peichel 2:10.951 1.6928
18 27 Colin Kaminsky 2:11.181 1.9231
19 79 Jacob Abel 2:11.187 1.9082
20 9 Dakota Dickerson 2:11.341 2.0830
21 90 Manuel Cabrera 2:11.365 2.0865
22 29 Russell McDonough 2:11.739 2.4806
23 37 David Osborne 2:12.046 2.7670
24 31 Sabre Cook 2:12.186 2.9276
25 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 2:12.214 2.9356
26 92 Danial Frost 2:12.661 3.3824

The third and final Friday USF2000 session is qualifying for race #2 begins at 5:35 PM.

category: USF2000 News/Results
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MRTI Update #3 from Road America – Rasmus Lindh leads USF2000 for local team Pabst Racing

Posted by  on Friday, June 22nd 2018     

By Steve Wittich

USF2000 practice at 8 AM kicks off a busy day of Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires (MRTI) action at Road America.

Today will feature two practice sessions, four qualifying sessions, a Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire race and a pair of autograph sessions. If you are a fan of the ladder series (like we are), today is a perfect day for you.

I (Steve) will be handling the majority of the MRTI coverage this weekend, with help from Tony DiZinno.

Pabst Racing began the Road America race weekend right where they left off in 2017. Rasmus Lindh had the quickest lap of the half-hour session and was joined in the top 10 by his teammates Kohl, Frederick, and Ming.

Championship leader Kirkwood and his closest competitor ended up with the second and third quickest times.

The 26 Mazda powered Tatuus machines were headed to the false grid just as Tony and I were walking back from The Gearbox concession stand where I devoured a Wieser egger (egg, bacon, sausage, ham and cheese on a kaiser roll).

If they were still asleep at 8 AM, the plethora of campers were the recipients of alarm clock consisting of 26 buzzing Mazda 2.0L engines.

At the halfway mark of the lone half-hour session, the top ten were: Lucas Kohl, Kyle Kirkwood, Kory Enders, Calvin Ming, Kyle Dupell, Alex Baron, Colin Kaminsky, Jose Sierra, Julian Van der Watt, and Keith Donegan.

With eight minutes remaining in the session, Lindh turned the first sub-130-second lap of the weekend, and after the 30-minute session, five drivers had gone under that mark.

The lap of 129.509 by the Swedish 16-year-old was under the track record of 129.656 seconds.

The final five minutes of the session saw the most driver turn their quickest laps, but nobody could surpass the Pabst Racing rookies fast lap.

The drivers turned a total of 286 laps.

Sabre Cook does not turn up on timing and scoring, but the BENIK racer was on track with a faulty transponder.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda practice #1 results

RANK CAR NO DRIVER QUICK LAP GAP TOTAL LAPS
1 23 Rasmus Lindh 2:09.509 –.—- 12
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 2:09.644 0.1354 12
3 19 Alex Baron 2:09.823 0.3135 12
4 22 Lucas Kohl 2:09.853 0.3438 13
5 51 Michael d’Orlando 2:09.888 0.3789 11
6 24 Kaylen Frederick 2:10.097 0.5877 10
7 80 Julian Van der Watt 2:10.139 0.6303 13
8 21 Calvin Ming 2:10.285 0.7761 12
9 11 Kory Enders 2:10.385 0.8760 11
10 81 Kyle Dupell 2:10.421 0.9115 12
11 28 Keith Donegan 2:10.599 1.0899 12
12 12 Jose Sierra 2:10.608 1.0989 10
13 91 Igor Fraga 2:10.807 1.2980 12
14 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 2:10.822 1.3130 12
15 82 Bruna Tomaselli 2:10.906 1.3967 12
16 36 Darren Keane 2:10.921 1.4114 12
17 27 Colin Kaminsky 2:10.943 1.4342 11
18 79 Jacob Abel 2:11.659 2.1497 9
19 9 Dakota Dickerson 2:11.728 2.2185 12
20 37 David Osborne 2:11.933 2.4237 12
21 29 Russell McDonough 2:12.084 2.5750 11
22 90 Manuel Cabrera 2:12.168 2.6587 12
23 92 Danial Frost 2:13.150 3.6414 13
24 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 2:13.420 3.9108 12
25 14 Max Peichel 2:16.354 6.8453 6
26 31 Sabre Cook No Time — —

There has been some movement between teams and a new addition to the grid overnight.

After starting the season with ArmsUp Motorsports, Keith Donegan, the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout winner, has moved to BN Racing to partner with Russell McDonough.

The Borland’s drafted in a familiar face to USF2000 fans to fill in. Dakota Dickerson who made 22 USF2000 starts across the 2016 and 2017 seasons will be in the local team’s second car this weekend.

If you are at Road America make sure you head to the Verizon IndyCar Series fan village for the USF2000 autograph session at 11:10 AM. The next track activity for the lowest rung of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder is their first qualifying session at 12:45 PM.

 

Don’t miss any of the action:

category: USF2000 News/Results
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