Adrian Starrantino Out Front at VIR
Alton, VA – A talented and deep F1600 Formula F Championship field took to the 17-turn VIRgina International Raceway today for two practice sessions ahead of the opening rounds of the 12-round, six-weekend 2013 FF season. Bryan Herta Autosport’s Eighteen-year-old, California native Adrian Starrantino was the fastest in both sessions driving the red and white No. 98 Mygale/Honda.
Starrantino, who ran one event in FF last year, was fastest in both sessions with his fastest time coming in the morning session ahead of Jake Edison, driving for Cape Motorsports in the No. 10 Spectrum/Honda, Tim Kautz, Aaron Telitz and Ayla Agren.
Later in the day, it was Starrantino again, slightly slower and ahead of Eidson, Joe Colasacco, Kautz, who is the reigning National Champion, and Ayla Agren in her F1600 pro debut at VIR.
“It looked like a good series here, it is my second season in the States and I am concentrating on track time,” said the Norwegian. “For VIR the goal is to take it one race at a time, as I’m still getting used to the technical aspect.”
In sixth was the first of the Ford-powered cars, with Lew Cooper driving a Van Diemen for Polestar, and then it was Aaron Telitz, Franklin Frutelle, Sam Chastian, in another Herta car, and Steve Bamford.
Telitz is in the sole WISKO Mygale/Honda, while Frutelle drives Raceworks' Van Diemen/Honda.
Chastian, 20-year-old grandson of former IndyCar team owner Tom Chastain, was accumulating more track time as he makes the transition from karting to cars in the Mygale/Honda.
“It’s been challenging transferring from karts to cars, and I’m getting used to everything, even the shifting,” said Chastian. “We tested at Kershaw last week and those were my first laps in a car. I hope to get better as the season progresses.”
Bamford, meanwhile, is doing double-duty, also racing in the F2000 Series. Bamford said he spent most of the winter working on conditioning to prepare him for the extra track time in his FF Honda-powered Mygale.
Jim Goughary was 11th quick late in the day, and is a former winner at VIR.
Then it was Caitlin Johnston, running faster than she did in 2011, and Jeremy Grenier, who finished third in the 2012 Championship, 13th fastest for Ski Motorsports in a Citation/Honda.
Japanese driver Haru Tanaka spent the day getting adapted to the Quantum Mechanics Van Diemen/Honda, adding that he is enjoying the track and the competition in F1600 is fierce.
Saturday follows with F1600 qualifying and race one of the 2013 season. Qualifying rolls at 11:00 am local time followed by race one at 4:30 pm, with live timing and scoring available along with live audio on www.f1600series.com.
Practice 2 Results
PosNo.NameBest TmBest SpdIn LapDiffGap 1 98 Adrian Starrantino 2:01.151 97.168 4 - - 2 10 Jake Eidson 2:01.766 96.677 4 +0.615 +0.615 3 3 Joe Colasacco/M 2:01.817 96.637 5 +0.666 +0.051 4 88 Tim Kautz 2:01.999 96.493 10 +0.848 +0.182 5 96 Ayla Agren 2:02.081 96.428 10 +0.930 +0.082 6 0 Lewis Cooper III/M 2:02.154 96.370 10 +1.003 +0.073 7 13 Aaron Telitz 2:02.358 96.209 9 +1.207 +0.204 8 9 Franklin Frutelle 2:02.852 95.823 7 +1.701 +0.494 9 97 Sam Chastain 2:03.173 95.573 6 +2.022 +0.321 10 07 Steve Bamford/M 2:03.319 95.460 5 +2.168 +0.146 11 7 Jim Goughary/M 2:03.456 95.354 6 +2.305 +0.137 12 68 Caitlin Johnston 2:03.852 95.049 9 +2.701 +0.396 13 12 Jeremy Grenier 2:04.473 94.575 9 +3.322 +0.621 14 31 Scott Rubenzer/M 2:04.927 94.231 11 +3.776 +0.454 15 2 Mike Scanlan/M 2:05.383 93.888 8 +4.232 +0.456 16 06 Austin McCuster 2:05.975 93.447 4 +4.824 +0.592 17 5 Dan Oseth 2:06.416 93.121 3 +5.265 +0.441 18 21 Art Foster/M 2:07.287 92.484 5 +6.136 +0.871 19 55 Ray Phillips/M 2:07.871 92.062 4 +6.720 +0.584 20 76 Jim Lee 2:07.956 92.000 7 +6.805 +0.085 21 16 Haru Tanaka 2:09.707 90.758 7 +8.556 +1.751 22 18 Dan Pyanowski/M 2:10.312 90.337 6 +9.161 +0.605 23 36 Steve Roux 2:23.749 81.893 1 +22.598 +13.437 24 99 Sean Maisey -.--- - 0 - -