Connery Takes Road Atlanta Pole
Braselton, GA – Kyle Connery won pole for this afternoon’s final F2000 race of the weekend at Road Atlanta, lowering the track record in the process with a lap of 1:25.042 around the 2.54-mile road course.
Connery is coming off his first career win, which happened on Friday at Road Atlanta as he led all 18-laps in the third race of the 2011 season. Chris Livengood will start alongside Connery as the two Americans also made contact during the qualifying session.
“It’s great to get pole and the track record. It’s compounding on what we did on Friday”, said Connery, who sits fourth in the points standings, and notches his second pole of the year.
“We made a change halfway through the session and put more rear wing in the car, which really helped the balance. As for making contact with Chris, there was slower traffic and I managed to get clipped and got into him,” he added.
Connery said he was still looking for sponsorship to run the rest of the season. The team will have to rush to get the Van Diemen ready for the 1:00 pm race start, with just two hours between sessions. Besides a front wing assembly, the #91 crew will also have to replace a brake line.
Livengood will have to rebound from a rough Friday in Georgia, when an electrical problem sidelined him from a potential podium finish. The Pittsburgh-native paced Saturday’s practice session and looks to rebound during the 18-lap or 30-minute race in the Work Racing/John Walko Racing Van Diemen.
Tim Minor qualified third ahead of Championship points leader Remy Audette, who leads the standings by 24 points over Robert La Rocca, with another point back to Australian Nathan Morcom.
Angel Benitez rounded out the top five after missing yesterday’s race due to a qualifying crash.
Robert La Rocca was the first of the RFRs, driving for HP-Tech. Jonathan Scarallo followed in seventh ahead of Gustavo Rizzo, Nathan Morcom and Ardie Greenamyer.
Morcom saw limited track time in the early morning practice as a gearbox problem sidelined the #2 Primus Racing Van Diemen.
Fans can follow live qualifying and race updates from Road Atlanta on F2000Series.com or @F2000 on Twitter. Saturday with the final, second race of the event at 1:00pm eastern.
Race Two Grid Order:
Pos No. Name Best Tm Best Spd In Lap Diff Gap 1 91 Kyle Connery 1:25.042 107.523 7 - - 2 37 Chris Livengood 1:25.331 107.159 7 +0.289 +0.289 3 88 Tim Minor/M 1:25.424 107.043 9 +0.382 +0.093 4 21 Remy Audette 1:25.584 106.842 15 +0.542 +0.160 5 26 Angel Benitez 1:25.613 106.806 9 +0.571 +0.029 6 10 Robert La Rocca 1:25.795 106.580 10 +0.753 +0.182 7 13 Jonathan Scarallo 1:25.812 106.559 11 +0.770 +0.017 8 23 Gustavo Rizzo 1:25.960 106.375 18 +0.918 +0.148 9 2 Nathan Morcom 1:26.010 106.313 12 +0.968 +0.050 10 28 Ardie Greenamyer/M 1:26.121 106.176 13 +1.079 +0.111 11 3 Joe Colasacco/M 1:26.427 105.800 5 +1.385 +0.306 12 24 Fabio Orsolon 1:26.630 105.552 14 +1.588 +0.203 13 9 Zach Craigo 1:26.738 105.421 18 +1.696 +0.108 14 06 Tim Paul 1:26.880 105.249 15 +1.838 +0.142 15 8 Mark Defer/M 1:26.922 105.198 5 +1.880 +0.042 16 22 Enzo Potolicchio/M 1:26.948 105.166 14 +1.906 +0.026 17 42 Bill Jordan/M 1:27.236 104.819 14 +2.194 +0.288 18 72 Thomas Schwietz/M 1:27.311 104.729 5 +2.269 +0.075 19 14 Jose Gerardo 1:27.317 104.722 18 +2.275 +0.006 20 60 Dwight Rider/M 1:27.400 104.622 12 +2.358 +0.083 21 90 Robert Wright/M 1:27.516 104.484 7 +2.474 +0.116 22 96 Brian Tomasi 1:27.790 104.158 8 +2.748 +0.274 23 51 Dan Denison/M 1:27.958 103.959 5 +2.916 +0.168 24 67 Dave Weitzenhof/M 1:28.192 103.683 6 +3.150 +0.234 25 1 Ethan Ringel -.--- - 0 - -