Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Turn 3 Motorsport’s Lochie Hughes won USF Pro 2000 race two at Road America on Saturday afternoon, and followed it up with race three victory on Sunday.
The points leader started third for race two, behind Pabst Racing’s Simon Sikes and Christian Brooks, and immediately had a side-by-side moment with DEForce Racing’s Mac Clark before reaching turn one.
He finished lap one in fourth behind BN Racing’s Ricardo Escotto, and with the pace car leading the field after Turn 3’s Ethan Ho ran over his own front wing while trying to get alongside Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves on the approach to turn five and ended up then ploughing into DEForce’s Mac Clark (and also ruling himself out of race three).
Brooks went around the outside of Sikes at turn one on the lap five restart, and Hughes returned to third. Turn 3’s Danny Dyszelski and Pabst’s Jace Denmark then attacked Escotto, but both got passed by TJ Speed’s Liam Sceats, who started 14th.
Sikes reclaimed the lead down the inside of turn one on lap six, and Hughes passed Brooks at turn six before another caution period due to Charles Finelli losing control in front of Frankie Mossman who then collected him and later stopped at the side of the track.
Racing resumed on lap nine and Hughes attacked Sikes at turn five while Escotto went off and dropped to eighth. Hughes took the lead at turn six on lap 11, and Brooks passed Sikes a corner later. Denmark passed Sceats at turn one and tried clearing Sikes too, but slid off and fell back behind Sceats.
Hughes managed a small gap thereon, as battles raged on behind. Denmark went around the outside of Sceats at the Kink on lap 12 but swiftly got repassed for third, and Sikes got forced off a few corners later which dropped him behind Dyszelski and Escotto.
Dyszelski got passed by Escotto and Sikes on lap 14, then on the final lap Sikes tapped Escotto into a spin at Canada Corner. Both went off and retired, but Sikes got penalised 30s.
Velocity Racing Development’s Nikita Johnson also got a 30s penalty for avoidable contact, dropping him from 11th to 13th.
Hughes started third again for race three, but took second from Sikes at turn three and tried passing Brooks two corners later. That failed, but under braking for turn one he did take the lead on lap six. Between those two points was a caution period, caused by Comet/NCMP Racing’s Logan Adams driving over the top of Mossman at the last corner of lap two and barrel-rolling across the gravel trap.
Hughes had Brooks in his mirrors for the rest of the race, with Denmark 5.9148s back in third.
Dyszelski took fourth from Clark on lap seven, and Clark fell to the back on lap 11 when Escotto made contact when attempting a diving move. Escotto was handed a drive-through penalty. Sikes, who started fourth but was 11th after the restart, profited from the incident to finish fifth.
Johnson was a distant sixth, and team-mate Nico Christodoulou charged from 18th to seventh ahead of Sceats.
Eves eliminated Turn 3’s Tyke Durst in a turn five incident and finished 14th.
Results round-up
Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Lochie Hughes Turn 3 Motorsport 41m16.7671s
2 Christian Brooks Pabst Racing +1.1288s
3 Liam Sceats TJ Speed +5.4452s
4 Jace Denmark Pabst Racing +5.9615s
5 Danny Dyszelski Turn 3 Motorsport +9.6407s
6 Braden Eves Exclusive Autosport +10.0111s
7 Jorge Garciarce DEForce Racing +10.2322s
8 Logan Adams Comet/NCMP Racing +11.4237s
9 Cooper Becklin TJ Speed +11.8705s
10 Tyke Durst Turn 3 Motorsport +13.6103s
Fastest lap: Hughes, 2m03.6084s
Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Hughes 36m01.9575s
2 Brooks +0.2610s
3 Denmark +5.9148s
4 Dyszelski +6.8895s
5 Simon Sikes Pabst Racing +8.3600s
6 Nikita Johnson Velocity Racing Development +13.0757s
7 Nico Christodoulou Velocity Racing Development +13.4663s
8 Sceats +14.1896s
9 Nicholas Monteiro DEForce Racing +14.8492s
10 Garciarce +19.6355s
FL: Sikes, 2m03.3561s
Championship standings
1 Hughes 271 2 Denmaek 221 3 Johnson 215 4 Brooks 207 5 Sceats 202 6 Dyszelski 164 7 Eves 157 8 Hunter Yeany 148 9 Sikes 148 10 Mossman 142