After Race #1 at the inaugural Baltimore GP, Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing driver Petri Suvanto clinched the Cooper Tire Presents the 2011 US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda by finishing in P2 behind Belardi Auto Racing’s Wayne Boyd.
“We were able to get what we came here for – the championship. Maybe it wasn’t the way we wanted, but the championship is the most important thing. Today, I was a bit conservative to try to play it safe for the championship and the points. So overall, I am really happy and this was an emotional day for me and my family as well. I would say this was one of the best event atmospheres of the year. It was pretty special to win [the championship] on these streets.
“Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing has been amazing, and they were the key for this to happen. We have another race tomorrow which I am really looking forward to because this track is amazing. USF2000 has done a fantastic job this year to put together this championship at such a professional level. I have to thank everyone with USF2000 and [series promoter] Dan Andersen, Mazda and Cooper Tires.” — Petri Suvanto, #3 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing
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Perti’s championship was no surprise coming into this weekend’s pair of races coming to Baltimore with a 39 point lead over his nearest rival, Andretti Autosport’s Spencer Pigot. Spencer would have a challenging first race after being collected in some multi-car mayhem on Lap 1 and never challenge the leaders finishing two laps down. We’ll have more on Petri’s incredible championship run later in the week.The exciting news for the future of the USF2000 National Championship was the size of the field this weekend. At 19 entries, US F2000 had their largest field to date. All season long, the number of entries in the Champion and National classes have increased, and we have heard that car counts next year could easily reach to the low twenties. Entries this weekend were nearly split in half between the two classifications with 10 Championship class entries and 9 National class entries. This is exciting news for the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system as both the Star Mazda Championship and the Firestone Indy Lights series have struggled with car counts at times dipping as low as the single digits. Growth in the US F2000 series can’t but help the series on up the ladder system improve and grow as well. There’s been a lot of negative things coming out this year in Indy car racing, but there are also some real positive things happening as well and the growth of the US F2000 National Championship is definitely one of those positive things.
