LaRue to the Front at Mid-Ohio

LaRue proved to be the master of Mid-Ohio in 2013, winning in a part-time appearance in the F2000 Championship Series, and is continuing to be the man to beat around the road course again this weekend.

Tim Minor was uncharacteristically way down the afternoon time sheets, after missing the fast time in the morning by a tenth. Minor’s quick time from the morning session would have been over a half second off LaRue’s quick afternoon lap.

Adding to the drama was an impact from Minor on Thursday night testing, his biggest crash – and perhaps only crash – in the No. 88 Citation. Minor said he took avoidance action due to another car sitting in the middle of the track. That left the left-front corner and most of the nose on his No. 88 ready for the dumpster, and Minor and the Ski Motorsports team working late into the night.

Robinson followed in second on the afternoon time sheets from Eric Langein Racing, but was about a second slower on the afternoon time sheets.

After setting the fastest lap at VIR, and resetting the race track record, Beasley continued his form by posting the third best time in the No. 44 Polestar Van Diemen at his home race.

Joey Selmants also continued to underline his speed, a part-time racer, he was fourth quick in the afternoon session in the No. 28.

Trent Walko put in an impressive run in his debut event in the No. 91 RFR chassis in fifth, while David Grant followed, sixth fastest, in the Polestar Spectrum.

Tim Paul missed the morning session as the team continued to chase mechanical gremlins which led them to the oil system on the No. 06 CellMark Paper Van Diemen. Paul recovered for the seventh fastest lap late in the day.

Completing the top ten were VIR winner Thomas McGregor, Kevin Kopp and Sergio Pasian.

But knocking on the door was Momentum Motorsports’ driver Quinlan Lall in 11th, working with engineer Bob Knox for the weekend.

Minor, Robinson and McGregor are the only drivers to win races this year – meaning both the Van Diemen and RFR chassis are searching for their first wins of 2014.

With a twisting road course at Mid-Ohio, most drivers commented track time was hugely important to succeed at the historic location.

The weekend continues as qualifying gets going both Saturday and Sunday morning at 11:00am, with races scheduled for an estimated 3:30pm start time.

Practice 2 Results

PosNo.NameIn LapBest TmMake/ModelDiff 1 17 John Larue/M 11 1:23.413 Citation Snipe - 2 6 Skylar Robinson 9 1:24.398 Citation +0.985 3 44 Sam Beasley 17 1:24.813 Van Diemen +1.400 4 28 Joey Selmants 9 1:24.899 Van Dieman Rf00 +1.486 5 91 Trent Walko 6 1:24.913 Rfr +1.500 6 29 David Grant 7 1:24.924 Spectrum 014Z +1.511 7 06 Timothy Paul 7 1:25.182 Van Diemen +1.769 8 93 Thomas McGregor 11 1:25.262 Spectrum 014Z +1.849 9 66 Kevin Kopp 9 1:25.278 Van Diemen +1.865 10 77 Sergio Pasian 15 1:25.480 Van Diemen Rf +2.067 11 1 Quinlan Lall 18 1:25.595 Radon Rn10 +2.182 12 51 Dan Denison/M 10 1:25.806 Van Diemen RF05 +2.393 13 02 Robert Allaer/M 13 1:26.124 Van Diemen Rf02 +2.711 14 98 Jim Libecco 7 1:26.389 Van Diemen Rf05 +2.976 15 01 John McCusker 5 1:26.454 Rfr 12 +3.041 16 27 Craig Clawson/M 13 1:26.570 Van Diemen Rf01 +3.157 17 14 Jason Rabe 8 1:26.574 Van Diemen +3.161 18 67 Dave Weitzenhof/M 9 1:26.760 Citation 95Sfz +3.347 19 88 Tim Minor/M 5 1:26.880 Citation F2k +3.467 20 7 Gary Machiko/M 12 1:26.993 Van Diemen Rf98 +3.580 21 68 Steve Jenks/M 8 1:27.227 Van Diemen RF 00 +3.814 22 90 Robert Wright/M 6 1:27.237 Radon Rn10 +3.824 23 31 Brendan Puderbach 5 1:29.611 Rfr +6.198 24 23 Connor Gawry 5 1:29.824 Van Diemen Rf02 +6.411 25 12 Bob Reid/M 10 1:30.906 Rfr +7.493 26 07 Steve Bamford/M 0 -.--- Van Diemen Rf08 -