Hughes tops USFP2000’s Mid-Ohio test, Papasavvas fastest in USF2000

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 teams tested at Mid-Ohio this week, with heavy rain restricting running on the first day.

Both series had three 40-minute sessions each on Wednesday and Thursday.

In USFP2000 the only driver to head out in session one was TJ Speed’s Cooper Becklin, and he immediately returned to the pits both times which meant he did not set a laptime.

The track was completely empty in session two, but in session three 15 drivers completed at least 10 laps each. Velocity Racing Development’s Nico Christodoulou set the pace with a 1m28.3479s, going 0.05579 seconds faster than Turn 3 Motorsport’s Lochie Hughes in second place.

Hughes’ team-mate Danny Dyszelski was a further 0.1605s behind in third, with Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Mac Clark (DEForce Racing) and Christian Brooks (Pabst) also within a second of Christodoulou.

Laptimes were immediately faster in the dry on Thursday, and Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves topped session four with a 1m20.2032s. Hughes was 0.0323s behind, while Becklin and Clark were more than 0.35s back in third and fourth. There was 0.876s between first and 10th in the 18-car field.

Everyone improved in session five, and a 1m19.3776s from Eves gave him a 0.1526s gap to Christodoulou. Just 0.0964s split Dyszelski in third and Turn 3’s Ethan Ho in sixth, all within 0.4s of Eves. Becklin completed a top 12 covered by 0.9795s.

Eves sank to seventh in session six, as Hughes edged Dyszelski by 0.0644s and Brooks by 0.0934s with a test-topping 1m18.9361s. Clark was 0.1206s behind in fourth, with Sikes and Denmark also ahead of Eves. He trailed Hughes by 0.4624s, and along with BN Racing’s Nicolas Baptiste was a non-improver. Hunter Yeany replaced Christodoulou and was 17th fastest.

There was a similar pattern to USF2000’s track action. Session one featured two drivers, with DC Autosport’s Carson Etter seting a 1m49.3105s to lead Exclusive’s Giovanni Cabrera by 1.6324s. Six drivers left the pits in session two, but only Jay Howard Driver Development’s G3 Argyros and Cabrera set laps. Ayrgros’s best was a 1m53.9088s, 5.9031s quicker than Cabrera.

There were 15 drivers in session three. DEForce’s Brady Golan lowered the pace to 1m38.9735s, pipping Exclusive’s Evan Cooley by 0.08s. JHDD’s Michael Costello was 0.2146s behind in third, and Pabst’s Max Garcia was 0.582s slower than Golan in fourth. Argyros set no laps.

Once the sun appeared on Thursday, 17 drivers were active in the early morning session. DEForce’s Nicolas Giaffone set a new 1m25.0504s benchmark, leading JHDD’s Evagoras Papasavvas by 0.1167s and a top 10 covered by 0.5845s.

Everyone set personal bests, and did so again in session five when Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development’s Elliot Cox was fastest with a 1m23.7992s. Argyros trailed by 0.2884s in second place, with Garcia 0.3954s behind in third.

Session six was even faster, with a 1m23.2542s from Papasavvas putting him 0.0752s ahead of Exclusive’s Joey Brienza and 0.0832s clear of Cox. There was a gap of 0.2516s to Costello in fourth, and 0.766s to Pabst’s Sam Corry in fifth. Argyros and Golan were non-improvers.

Test results