USF2000 and USF Juniors drivers get busy at Road America

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

USF2000 and USF Juniors tested at Road America this week ahead of racing there later in the year.

In the first USF2000 session on Wednesday, Velocity Racing Development’s Thomas Schrage led a top three split by less than 0.1 seconds. He set a 2m09.0081s to beat Jay Howard Driver Development’s Anthony Martella by 0.084s, with Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers 0.0971s off the top. VRD’s Teddy Musella was a further 0.041s behind in fourth.

Jeffers lowered the pace to 2m08.892s in session two, breaking the 2m09s barrier early on but then not improving after his second flying lap. His team-mate Lucas Fecury got within 0.1256s of him late on, with Musella 0.1963s behind in third.

Laptimes were even faster in session three, with Fecury posting a 2m08.6342s benchmark on his penultimate lap of the day. At a similar time, Musella set a 2m08.6979s to end Wednesday 0.0637s off the top, and 0.0648s split the drivers in third to fifth who were all within 0.04s of Fecury. Pabst Racing’s G3 Argyrowas third, ahead of VRD’s Christian Cameron (who missed session one) and Exclusive’s Evan Cooley. Schrage skipped the session.

Notable in his absence was JHDD’s title contender Liam McNeilly, who has missed the last two rounds due to visa issues preventing him from entering the USA.

Thursday began with more improvements, but fewer laps. Only two drivers did more than five in session four, and Jeffers lowered the pace again to 2m08.2003s to be a huge 0.6319s clear of Fecury. DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon was 0.738s slower in third.

That benchmark was smashed by 11 drivers in session five, and 0.8912s covered the top 10. Musella moved to the top with a 2m07.0596s on his final lap, bettering Jeffers’ long-standing best by 0.1489s. Fecury beat Schrage to third by 0.0403s, both 0.4s off the new time to beat, and Cameron was close behind them in fifth.

Session six was also competitive, and quick. A second split the top 11 and seven drivers lapped in the 2m07s. Jeffers was the quickest of those, putting a 2m07.588s on the board that would not be beaten. Musella got closest, 0.247s behind, and Martella denied Schrage third by 0.0001s. Martella was also the fastest of four drivers to set personal bests.

USF Juniors’ sessions were busier, with 23 drivers, and Zanella Racing’s Leonardo Escorpioni found clean air to set a 2m16.793s on his final lap of session one to top the timesheet. VRD’s Oliver Wheldon trailed by 0.0528s in second after also improving on his final lap and there was a gap of 0.1891s to JHDD’s third-placed Liam Loiacono. A second covered the top six.

Joao Vergara went fastest for VRD in session two, posting a 2m16.8208s to lead Escorpioni by 0.237s. Although Zanella’s Ty Fisher was 0.4746s off the pace in third, there was less than 0.1s between him and seventh place.

Escorpioni returned to the top in session three but was even slower, with a 2m17.2604s enough for top spot. This time he pipped Wheldon by a tiny 0.0259s. Fisher was third again, and slower, 0.129s off Escorpioni and 0.04s ahead of DEForce’s Rodrigo Gonzalez.

Thursday’s conditions led to faster laptimes, and Escorpioni lowered the pace to 2m15.9763s in session four. He had a 0.2315s gap to Fisher, 0.4264s to Vergara and a second covered the top nine.

Fisher replied in session five bringing the fastest lap down to 2m15.0522s, but he was only quickest by 0.0053s over Escorpioni. Nobody else could match them, with Vergara 0.4786s slower in third and Wheldon 0.6803s off his rivals in fourth.

Escorpioni was quickest again in session six, a late 2m15.4974s putting him on top. This time JHDD’s karter Maverick McKenna, a single-seater newcomer and 18th fastest on Wednesday, was his closest rival as he set a 2m15.7305s. Five other drivers went sub-2m16s, a second covered the top 13 and 10 drivers set personal bests.

Test results