Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Leonardo Escorpioni and Ty Fisher both won races as the USF Juniors points lead changed hands twice at Barber Motorsports Park.
Zanella Racing’s Escorpioni won both of Friday’s contests to initially move to the top of the standings, but team-mate Fisher responded with his second victory of 2025 in a wet race three on Saturday to leave as leader.
Escorpioni had to manage two safety car restarts on the way to his opening triumph. The first full course yellow came on lap one after Zanella’s Diego Guiot triggered a four-car collision with a late move down the inside at turn one. Guilot and Velocity Racing Development’s Matan Achituv both retired as a result.
Pole Position Motorsports’ Connor Aspley caused the second intervention by going off the road at turn eight at the halfway mark. Escorpioni had built a 2.2-second lead prior to that, but he edged clear again once the track returned to green to finish 2.8s clear of DEForce Racing’s Vilho Aatola.
A close battle raged for third for most of the contest, with DEForce’s Rodrigro Gonzalez holding off VRD’s Joao Vergara and Fisher for his podium. Fisher made a final-corner bid for fourth but could not find a way by.
Gonzalez’s brother Patricio climbed three places to seventh, while VRD’s pre-event points leader Oliver Wheldon recovered to 11th after making an early pitstop to change his front wing.
Race two also featured an early caution period after Exclusive Autorsport’s Kaylee Countryman spun at turn 17 and was collected by Jay Howard Driver Development’s Harry Moss. Escorpioni maintained the lead at the restart, and he withstood pressure from Fisher to take his second win by a small margin.
Wheldon finished third after passing Aatola shortly after the safety car restart, and the latter was shuffled back a further place late on by Vergara who recovered from a slow start again to take fourth. The Gonzalez brothers had a frenetic squabble early on, with Rodrigo eventally taking sixth and Patricio retiring following a late spin.
Rain arrived for Saturday’s final contest, and it didn’t take long for yellow flags to appears as Aspley suffered race-ending front-right suspension damage on lap one. A bizzare incident delayed green flag action resuming, as International Motorsport’s Emma Scarbrough rear-ended Countryman when the field bunched up behind the pace car.
Escorpioni maintained the lead at the restart on lap seven before racing was neutralised again, but he was challenged by Fisher when racing resumed the next time with nine laps to go. Fisher prevailed to move ahead at turn five, and JHDD’s Liam Loiacono also tried to snatch second from Escorpioni but understeered off the road and lost several places.
Fisher remained ahead until the finish to seal victory by 0.6s, while Escorpioni slipped to third behind Wheldon by running wide onto the grass. Aatola came home a distant fourth ahead of Vergara and Rodrigo Gonzalez.
Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Leonardo Escorpioni Zanella Racing 32m45.484s
2 Vilho Aatola DEForce Racing +2.786s
3 Rodrigro Gonzalez DEForce Racing +4.313s
4 Joao Vergara Velocity Racing Development +4.684s
5 Ty Fisher Zanella Racing +5.003s
6 Liam Loiacono JHDD +7.588s
7 Patricio Gonzalez DEForce Racing +8.691s
8 Michael Suco InterMS +9.660s
9 Hudson Potter InterMS +10.730s
10 JT Hoskins JHDD +13.831s
Fastest lap: Escorpioni, 1m25.764s
Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Escorpioni 32m36.759s
2 Fisher +0.998s
3 Oliver Wheldon Velocity Racing Development +3.100s
4 Vergara +9.793s
5 Aatola +10.093s
6 R Gonzalez +13.571s
7 Loiacono +13.990s
8 Suco +14.446s
9 Hoskins +15.737s
10 Karel Staut JHDD +17.175s
FL: Escorpioni 1m26.121s
Race 3 (20 laps)
1 Fisher 38m21.710s
2 Wheldon +0.643s
3 Escorpioni +4.626s
4 Aatola +11.832s
5 Vergara +14.346s
6 R Gonzalez +15.936s
7 Guiot +18.041s
8 Loiacono +18.626s
9 P Gonzalez +19.182s
10 Staut +21.437s
FL: Fisher 1m36.904s
Championship standings
1 Fisher 145 2 Escorpioni 144 3 Wheldon 131 4 Vergara 125 5 Aatola 101 6 Loiacono 98 7 R Gonzalez 98 8 Guiot 67 9 Suco 61 10 Staut 61