Top five covered by 0.082s in final USF Pro 2000 test of 2023

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Christian Brooks led a top five covered by 0.082 seconds on pace in the final post-season USF Pro 2000 test of 2023.

There were three test sessions on Monday and three on Tuesday, and TJ Speed’s Francesco Pizzi topped the first session with a 1m00.740s lap while Turn 3 Motorsport only ran one of its four drivers.

Pabst Racing duo Simon Sikes and Jace Denmark were 0.014s and 0.093s slower than Pizzi, with DEForce Racing’s Nicholas Monteiro 0.319s off the pace in fourth.

Pizzi improved to 1m00.538s in session two, and Denmark lapped just 0.056s slower in secon. Brooks and Sikes were 0.173s and 0.284s behind in third and fourth, with Turn 3 absent again.

“We started off well,” said Pizzi. “We understood the switch to the Continental tyre straightaway which was good. We are still trying to get the car right.”

The day ended with Brooks coming to the fore, although his improvement to 1m00.541s still left him 0.003s short of Pizzi’s earlier benchmark. Denmark was second fastest, 0.006s off Brooks, and Pizzi was third. This time Tyke Durst joined his Turn 3 team-mates in skipping the session.

Velocity Racing Development’s Jacob Loomis was the no-show in Tuesday’s sessions, and the day began with Brooks lowering the pace in a Pabst 1-2-3. He set a 1m00.468s to edge Sikes to top spot by 0.004s, and Denmark was just a further 0.004s slower in third.

Pizzi failed to improve and went fourth fastest with a 1m00.601s, and Monteiro was fifth.

Pabst led the way again in session five of the test, but this time Denmark was fastest as he set a 1m00.479s (0.003s slower than what he set in session four) to top the times by 0.289s over Brooks and 0.343s over Sikes. Formula Regional Oceania race-winner David Morales was the fastest TJ Speed driver in fourth, ahead of team-mate Pizzi.

The test’s final session was ended a few seconds early by red flags, with Pabst’s drivers and Turn 3’s Danny Dyszelski joining Loomis in not setting any laps.

Just before the track action was stopped, Monteiro set a 1m00.500s to knock Turn 3’s Adam Fitzgerald off top spot. Fitzgerald had set a 1m00.716s to lead Pizzi by 0.087s before then.

Durst set his personal best lap to go fourth fastest in the session and ninth fastest overall, and Ricardo Escotto set a 1m00.917s to match Dyszelski’s session four best to be the joint 10th fastest driver.

Test results