Eves pips Frost in Indy Pro 2000 qualifying battle at Mid-Ohio

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves triumphed in a battle with Turn 3 Motorsport’s Danial Frost for pole in the first Indy Pro 2000 qualifying session at Mid-Ohio.

Points leader Frost sat on top of the timesheet before the mid-session trip to the pits, where many drivers changed tyres and made adjustments, and it was on the second run that he and Eves started swapping places at the top.

Eves moved into first place with 10 minutes to go, with Frost reclaiming his place at the top with a few minutes left of the session as drivers improved by over half a second on the laptimes from their previous runs.

The battle concluded after the chequered flag was waved, with Eves putting in a lap that couldn’t be beaten.

The gap between the pair was never more than a tenth of a second, and the pole margin ended up being 0.0394s for Eves.

Juncos Racing’s Sting Ray Robb rose up the order late on to qualify third, 0.1795s off pole, with DEForce Racing’s Parker Thompson and Manuel Sulaiman being shuffled down to fourth and fifth.

Colin Kaminsky was another driver who made the most of the track when it was at its quickest at the end, and pipped Pabst Racing team-mate Hunter McElrea to sixth.

Artem Petrov, who took his first win in the Road America season opener, and Devlin DeFrancesco – who almost did – could only qualify eighth and 10th respectively.

Qualifying results