IndyCar’s support series hold post-season test at Mid-Ohio

Photo: Gavin baker Photography

IndyCar’s support series held a two-day post-season test at Mid-Ohio this week, with USF Juniors the most populated class.

There were only seven drivers in action for the test sessions of USF Pro 2000 and USF2000, the third and fourth tiers of IndyCar’s support ladder, while 16 USF Juniors drivers turned up.

Turn 3 Motorsport’s Leandro Juncos, son of Juncos Hollinger Racing co-owner Ricardo Juncos, pipped Comet/NCMP Racing’s Logam Adams to top spot in USFP2000.

He set a 1m19.3811s to top session one, with Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza lowering the pace to 1m18.2307s in session two.

Brienza was fastest again in session three, but did not improve, then Juncos returned to the top the next day by setting new benchmarks in sessions four and five. He brought the pace down to 1m17.633s, leading Adams by 0.0265 seconds in the day’s first session. Adams was quickest in session six, but did not improve his pace.

Exclusive’s Jack Jeffers laid down the first benchmark in USF2000’s running, a 1m22.4220s, which Jay Howard Driver Development’s Timothy Carel beat by just 0.0181s in session two. Jeffers led again in session three, improving his pace but coming 0.0054s short of matching Carel’s effort from earier in the day.

Carel began the next day by lowering the pace down to 1m22.1169s, with Jeffers his closest rival again. Jeffers became the only driver to break into 1m21s in session five, as Velocity Racing Development’s Teddy Musella edged Carel to second place, then the pace was slower in session six as Jeffers set a 1m22.2713s to lead Carel by 0.1725s.

It was close at the top in the opening USF Juniors session of the test, with DEForce Racing’s Rodrigo Gonzalez setting a 1m25.9069s to go just 0.1638s faster than JHDD’s Liam Loiacono.

Zanella Racing’s Bruno Ribeiro and Leonardo Escorpioni were the drivers to beat in session two, and Ribeiro set a 1m25.3688s to go fastest by a tiny 0.0867s. Gonzalez was 0.1518s behind in third.

Ribeiro and Gonzalez were the top two in the slower session three, a 1m25.6186s earning the former first place in that one.

The fight to be fastest got even closer on day two, and a 1m25.0663s from Ribeiro put him ahead of Loiacono by a narrow 0.0483s margin. In a distant third was Escorpioni, but he made a big gain in session five and set a 1m25.1280s to pip Ribeiro by 0.0059s. Gonzalez and Loiacano were both more than 0.38s off the pace.

The final session was the fastest, and Zanella’s drivers broke into the 1m24s. Escoprioni set a 1m24.6877s, clinching top spot by 0.1709s. VRD’s Ryan Giannetta jumped up to fourth overall with a 1m25.2789s, just ahead of International Motorsport’s Hudson Potter.

Test results