Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Pabst Racing’s Max Garcia will start from pole in USF Pro 2000’s first two races at Road America.
Red flags interrupted pre-event testing early on Thursday, at which point Pabst’s Jacob Douglas led the way with a 2m03.6821s to sit 0.1494 seconds ahead of Turn 3 Motorsport’s Alessandro de Tullio.
After action resumed, Garcia got within 0.0313s of Douglas, then halfway through session one set a 2m03.0586s to move 0.0938s ahead of an improving Douglas.
Garcia soon broke into the 2m02s, and with five minutes remaining Douglas did the same and he reclaimed top spot with a 2m02.2389s. Garcia was 0.208s behind, but on his next lap went fastest by 0.0675s. De Tullio was 0.497s behind by the end after finding more pace, and Pabst’s Michael Costello was fourth.
Velocity Racing Development’s Max Taylor led after 20 minutes in session two, having set a 2m02.8497s, while Pabst’s drivers had not left the pits. With his very first lap, Garcia went to the top by 0.0526s, and Douglas went fourth fastest with his.
Next time by, Garcia lowered the pace to 2m02.405s to lead Douglas by 0.3377s, and Costello rose to fourth.
Douglas went quickest by 0.0562s on his third lap, and in the session’s second half de Tullio pipped him by 0.0148s. The response from Douglas was immediate, reclaiming first place by 0.0426s, and Taylor was just 0.0789s behind in third with 17 minutes to go.
Nine minutes before the end, Douglas lowered the pace to 2m02.1842s just before red flags waved. After action resumed, he then improved several more times and ended the session with a 2m01.4591s to lead Garcia by 0.2201s.
A half-hour practice session followed on Friday, and for most drivers their quickest laptimes came on their final laps. Garcia posted a 2m01.1963s late on go comfortably fastest, 0.7961s clear of Taylor.
Exclusive Autosport’s Mac Clark and Douglas were also within a second of the pace, 0.8102s and 0.8527s behind in third and fourth. Without a laptime to his name was Comet/NCMP Racing’s Logan Adams, who had a crash.
Qualifying was split into two half-hour sessions, setting the grids for the first two races.
Garcia laid down a 2m02.7542s benchmark early in Q1, and Douglas was second but spun off. Unlike his rivals, Garcia was able to improve lap after lap on his first run and 2m01.4702s was the time to beat with 10 minutes to go.
Douglas was 0.6869s behind, but was demoted to fourth with five-and-a-half minutes to go by Taylor and Clark. Taylor reduced Garcia’s advantage to 0.2386s, as TJ Speed’s title contender Ariel Elkin finally headed out. However he returned to the pits without setting a laptime.
A 2m01.8394s put Douglas back ahead of Clark with four minutes remaining, and de Tullio demoted Clark to fifth a minute later.
Garcia lowered the pace to 2m01.1232s with two minutes to go, a benchmark Douglas got within 0.3415s of. Taylor got even closer, lapping 0.1637s off Taylor’s pace, as VRD’s Frankie Mossman and Costello went fourth and fifth.
Clark got himself back into fourth, 0.6364s off pole, and Turn 3’s Joseph Loake qualified eighth on debut. Qualifying ended with DEForce Racing’s Jorge Garciarce crashing out.
Q2 had a dramatic start, as Costell crashed out. He did not rejoin the session after the red flag period he caused, and Elkin again failed to register a flying lap.
Garcia’s opening lap turned out to be good enough to put him on top until the final 10 minutes, when Clark set a 2m06.6671s to take first place then made further improvements on his next two laps to stay ahead.
With four-and-a-half minutes to go, Garcia reclaimed top spot by setting a 2m02.0405s, and Douglas – who appeared to have car damage – went third with a 2m02.4895s.
Next time around a 2m01.5733s put Garcia way out of reach, and when Clark improved as the chequered flag he was still 0.5304s off pole.
Taylor improved twice late on to qualify third for race two, 0.8182s off Garcia, and Douglas and de Tullio were also within a second of pole.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Max Garcia Pabst Racing 2m01.1232s
2 Max Taylor Velocity Racing Development +0.1637s
3 Jacob Douglas Pabst Racing +0.3415s
4 Mac Clark Exclusive Autosport +0.6364s
5 Frankie Mossman Velocity Racing Development +0.7239s
6 Alessandro de Tullio Turn 3 Motorsport +0.9016s
7 Michael Costello Pabst Racing +0.9303s
8 Joseph Loake Turn 3 Motorsport +1.2013s
9 Joey Brienza Exclusive Autosport +1.5584s
10 Nicholas Monteiro Turn 3 Motorsport +1.7788s
Race 2 grid
1 Garcia 2m01.5733s
2 Clark +0.5304s
3 Taylor +0.8182s
4 Douglas +0.9162s
5 de Tullio +0.9339s
6 Loake +1.1640s
7 Mossman +1.3392s
8 Monteiro +1.4273s
9 Brienza +1.5177s
10 Logan Adams Comet/NCMP Racing +1.6729s