Changes to USF Pro and USF2000 grids as Toronto practice takes place

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 practice took place in Toronto this morning, with several changes to the field in both series.

Absent from Jay Howard Driver Development’s line-up in USFP2000 was Reece Ushijima, meaning the team was left only running Ricardo Escotto, while Turn 3 Motorsport was without Jackson Lee but in his place had Christian Brooks. The 22-year-old won the season opener with the team but was only in St. Petersburg on a one-round deal, and his return this weekend has come about due to Lee picking up a wrist injury in the previous round at Mid-Ohio.

In USF2000, Exclusive Autosport has Joey Brienza back in its line-up after he missed the last two rounds while focusing on racing in USF Juniors, and DC Autosport is absent as its drivers are only competing part-time while they focus on USF Juniors too.

Velocity Racing Development is without Danny Dyszelski, Max Taylor and Zack Ping, but has brought in local racer Nico Christodoulou. The 18-year-old races in GB3 for Arden, which has a partnership with VRD, and last appeared in USF2000 in 2020.

USF2000 was first on track on Friday, with a half-hour session. JHDD’s Evagoras Papasavvas was the benchmark driver in the session’s first half with a 1m15.9417s, which was later beaten by a 1m15.8764s from Exclusive Autosport’s Chase Gardner.

He was on top for a minute before Pabst Racing’s Jacob Douglas set a 1m15.5765s, and he then improved to 1m15.0567s as Christodoulou rose to second place with a lap just 0.0308 seconds slower.

Papasavvas reclaimed first place in the final 10 minutes, as both he and Douglas broke into the 1m14s. Just 0.0645s split them at first, then Douglas improved to 1m14.6997s and with six minutes to go the top three were covered by 0.0481s.

The pace improved further, with the top 10 lapping in the 1m14s and Papasavvas finishing on top by setting a 1m13.7609s.

His team-mate Lochie Hughe was 0.2987s back in second, and Sikes was a further 0.097s slower in third. Douglas was demoted to fourth, and VRD’s Nikita Johnso jumped up to fifth as one of five drivers to set their personal bests on their final lap.

The USFP2000 drivers should have also had a half-hour session, but lost a lot of track time through disruption.

DEForce Racing’s Kiko Porto was quickest on the opening laps, then Turn 3’s Michael d’Orlando improved several times to bring the pace down to 1m11.6914s before the session was red flagged 11 minutes in.

He only completed two laps before the next red flag period with 10 minutes to go, which lasted to the finish. That meant d’Orlando ended up being fastest by 0.5838s over Escotto, with only five other drivers within a second of the pace.

USFP2000 practice results