Kasemets and Lall Cap off Palm Beach Weekend with Victories
Jupiter, FL – It was Tonis Kasemets and Quinlan Lall coming out as winners after three separate races during the Palm Beach Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. Kasemets took victories in both the F1600 Formula F Championship Series and Atlantic races, while Lall led every lap in the F2000 race at Palm Beach International Raceway.
F1600
Tonis Kasemets showed off his diverse racing skillset by winning the F1600 Formula F Championship Series race against the latest of aspiring talents. Kasemets, from Estonia, took the lead from pole before dropping back to third as aggressive racing took place at the front. When those cars made contact, Kasemets found himself back in the lead in the Polestar Spectrum/Honda and went on to take the victory.
“Neither win was easy,” said Kasemets. “The Formula F win was more work, and the Atlantic race was a different kind of driving. Winning both is fantastic.”
Jordan Cane and Kyle Kirkwood were the two cars that found their way to the front. Cane, driving for Team Pelfrey, and Kirkwood, competing for Chastain Motorsports, had an entertaining battle in the mid-stages of the race for the lead before making contact in turn one. Kirkwood would recover to finish fifth and set fast race lap, with Cane finishing ninth.
Austin Mack ran up front early, before falling back and then charging through the field to finish second in his F1600 debut, driving the No. 11 K-Hill Motorsports entry. Ben Auriemma completed the podium for Team Pelfrey with a third place performance in the No. 82 Mygale/Honda.
F2000
Starting from pole, 15-year-old Quinlan Lall led flag-to-flag to cap off an event that saw him at the top of the time sheets consistently starting his second year of F2000 Championship Series competition.
“It was really close at the start, but I got the braking right into turn one and had a good run out of the corner,” said the Momentum Motorsports driver. “From there it was about being consistent and setting lap times, while conserving the tires.”
Skylar Robinson started from the outside pole position and fell into line, finishing second to Lall and never really challenging for the lead in the No. 86 Radon as Lall built up a nice margin by race-end.
Austin McCusker finished a solid weekend for Dotworks Racing to complete the podium in the RFR chassis – making the top three Van Diemen, Radon and RFR.
Robert Wright and Sam Chastain both retired with mechanical issues during the race.
Atlantic
Kasemets made it two wins from pole on the day as the driver dominated the Atlantic race. Running the fastest lap of the race, Kasemets easily won with a huge gap in the No. 9 Swift 016/Mazda, a car he helped build over the off-season.
Bruce Hamilton came home in second position for K-Hill Motorsports before an entertaining battle for third place ended with JR Smart getting the best of Ryan Verra for the final podium position.
Full results for all three races are available through www.FormulaRacePromotions.com
While the Palm Beach event featured exhibition races, the points-paying seven-weekend Formula Race Promotions season starts at Road Atlanta, April 10-12, for F1600, F2000 and Atlantic.