A. McCusker and Grant Pace F2000 Practice Day
Wampum, PA – Austin McCusker and David Grant were the fastest drivers in two F2000 Championship Series practice sessions held at Pittsburgh International Race Complex on Friday in preparation for rounds 13 and 14 to end the 2015 season this weekend.
The drivers were greeted by a challenging 17-turn circuit with cold and slick conditions in the morning session, with Austin McCusker capitalizing in the No. 6 Dotworks Racing RFR to be fastest with a lap time of 1:50.275.
Quinlan Lall was second quick, seven tenths behind, while John McCusker was third fastest and is coming off his best performance of the season which happened in late August at New Jersey Motorsports Park as he saw his first visit to the F2000 podium.
David Grant was fourth fastest in the Polestar Spectrum, while Matt Machiko rounded out the top five in his season debut, edging Neil Verhagen by five tenths of a second. Trent Walko was seventh and 2015 F2000 Champion Sam Beasley eighth.
Speeds picked up dramatically with the sun out on the afternoon session, with David Grant setting the fastest time of the day at 1:40.357. Grant's time was just slightly slower than Beasley's fastest lap from Friday practice at Pittsburgh on July 31.
Steve Bamford was just under four tenths off with the second fastest time in the afternoon session. Sam Chastain and Trent Walko were third and fourth quick, respectively.
Brandon Dixon completed the top five, with Austin and John McCusker following.
Sam Beasley only completed two laps in the afternoon session, coasting to a stop with an issue aboard the No. 4 Legacy Autosport Mygale and causing the session to come to a halt. His second flying lap was still fast enough for eighth overall.
Saturday and Sunday will see weather come into play at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, as cold morning temperatures could make qualifying challenging for the F2000 field.
Lall and Machiko backed up their morning paces, with the ninth and tenth quickest times.
Full results are available on www.F2000Series.com under the Results tab.
Saturday morning will see the next track time window for the F2000 grid, with qualifying followed by an afternoon race and a similar schedule on Sunday to close out the 2015 season.