It’s been a long summer off for the USF2000 drivers. The Championship class last competed in May on the 5/8-mile oval at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis the Saturday before the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The National class hadn’t competed since the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April! Now after over two months, three for the NAT drivers, the drivers for the first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system are back on track at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The Cape Motorsports duo of #2 Spencer Pigot and #83 Matthew Brabhams picked up right where they left off and topped the time sheets of both practice sessions today with Pigot taking the top honors in both sessions. Their teammate, Trent Hindman, made it a Cape 1, 2, 3 in the morning session, but Andretti Autosport’s Shelby Blackstock shaved a couple of tenths his morning time in the afternoon session and claimed the third spot for Practice 2.
In the National class, Norway’s Henrik Furuseth kept the Cape Motorsports at the top setting a class-fastest time in morning session, although he’d set no time in the afternoon session. Alliance Motorsports’ Scott Rettich was second fastest in the morning, but would set the fast time in the afternoon with Henrick’s absence. Mark Eaton set the third fastest National class time in the morning, but he and the rest of the Robinson Motor Sports trio dropped off their morning pace by several seconds. Jim Libecco of JAY Motorpsorts and Patrick Linn of PRL Motorsports filled in the P2 and P3 slots in Practice 2, both of whom improved their times from Practice 1.
Tomorrow, the USF2000 drivers qualify at 1010 EDT and contest Race #1 at 1615 EDT. One of the great things the USF2000 series is doing this season is streaming live audio of each session on their website along with live timing & scoring and a live chat with fellow fans and USF2000 officials. It’s a great time with great people. You can enjoy all the action at http://usf2000.com/Multimedia/Live.aspx.
A full listing of today’s practice times can be found here:
Practice #1
Practice #2
