Papasavvas leads home JHDD team-mate McNeilly in USF2000 race two

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Evagoras Papasavvas won USF2000’s second race on the streets of Toronto, which started with two laps behind the pace car.

The prospect of rain led race control to run the first two laps under yellow flag conditions, and when green flag action began on lap three there were some drivers going five-wide heading into turn one.

Thomas Schrage was the only driver to get into trouble at that corner, although many either gained or lost several places.

Papasavvas passed pole-sitting Jay Howard Driver Development team-mate Liam McNeilly for the lead, with Pabst Racing’s points leader Max Garcia holding third.

JHDD’s G3 Argyros slowed with an issue and fell to last place, DEForce Racing’s Lucas Fecury lost his front wing and also dropped to the back of the pack.

Papasavvas made the most of clean air and pulled away from McNeilly, and Corry passed Garcia for third on lap four with Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley and DEForce’s Quinn Armstrong behind them in fifth and sixth.

Argyros dropped a lap down on lap nine, and Papasavvas lost time getting past him and that allowed McNeilly to trim his lead from 1.4 to 0.9 seconds.

It had decreased further 0.54s by the end of lap 12, and Papasavvas was fortunate that the pace car then did not appear after McNeilly’s fellow debutant Eddie Beswick crashed at turn eight as the Exclusive Autosport driver was able to park up his car in an easily retrievable spot.

A similar incident for Beswick’s team-mate Evan Cooley a lap later also did not require a pace car intervention, as he hobbled back to the pits but fell down from fifth to 15th.

Armstrong inherited fifth place ahead of Velocity Racing Development’s Max Taylor and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development’s Elliot Cox, who had battled against each other a lot early on, and Pabst’s Hudson Schwartz.

JHDD’s Michael Costello had been in that group of cars but went off at turn three on lap 12 and dropped outside of the top 10.

Papasavvas’s lead was reduced to less than half a second on lap 14, and McNeilly was unable to get any closer before the race was neutralised on lap 18 due to Armstrong crashing out at turn 10. The lap before he had lost fifth place to Taylor.

The pace car led the field to the chequered flag, with Papasavvas taking his second win of 2024.

Race result (19 laps)