Livengood Paces Practice: 1:23.9
Lexington, OH – Rookie Chris Livengood stamped his mark on Mid-Ohio by pacing F2000 practice with a lap of 1:23.998, two tenths under the existing track record set last year. Livengood is coming off a strong showing at Road America, despite a DNF, and sat on pole at Watkins Glen, finishing second there earlier in the season. The American rookie paced the morning practice while Rob Nicholas was fastest in the afternoon session on a very green track due to rain showers during the break.
“We were on old tires, the car is really good,” said Livengood, who is driving for Work Racing. Interestingly, the team has yet to even setup scale pads under its awning. “I’m making a few tweaks to my driving so we should be even faster tomorrow.”
Livengood was third quick in the afternoon session.
Yesterday’s fastest driver during testing, Rob Nicholas, was second fastest for K-Fast Autosport in the morning followed by championship points leader Victor Carbone. Nicholas paced the afternoon session, but was just under half a second slower than this morning. Carbone backed up this morning’s third fastest time with the fourth fastest time on the green track this afternoon.
Carbone’s Alegra teammate, Fabio Orsolon was fourth quick ahead of Daniel Erickson in fifth, who is in an ADSA/Wright Van Diemen prepped by Primus Racing for the doubleheader season finale event at Mid-Ohio.
“We’re working through some clutch issues but were also on old tires for the first session today,” said Erickson, who managed to set the second fastest time in the afternoon practice. “We’re still working on the car to get it adjusted to the way we like to do things but it’s showing steady improvement so we should be good from there.”
Masters Class points leader Phil Lombardi was sixth quick and is hoping to take home the Masters Class title in a tight three way battle with Keith McCrone, who missed the session with gearbox problems, and Tim Minor.
Lombardi added: “So far, so good. There are some minor things but we are working on them. GTP Motorsports dialed in the car yesterday and I’m confident. The keys to winning the Masters title will be staying out of trouble and being consistently smooth while staying ahead of Keith and Tim. I’m looking forward to a good battle with those two.”
Cole Morgan was seventh quick on the day and is the only driver that can mathematically chase down Carbone, despite being 79 points back.
“We need to do something to catch Victor,” Morgan, driving for K-Hill Motorsports, said. “There are some issues with the car and we are working on them, but just like at Road America, we’ll make some major changes and it feels like something is broken because they have no effect. The car is great for a couple laps and then just goes away.”
After Morgan on the time sheets came Ardie Greenamyer, Dave Weitzenhof and Tim Minor, rounding out the top ten.
Usual front runner Remy Audette was 16th in the morning session following an early spin that sidelined the #21. Audette bounced back for tenth quick in the afternoon practice as Audette Racing continues to make changes to its Van Diemen chassis. The Canadian set the third fastest time in yesterday’s twilight test.
Doug Rocco made his first F2000 appearance since 2006 in a bright orange #46 Van Diemen/Zetec sponsored by Jägermeister.
The weekend continues with Saturday and Sunday morning qualifying sessions at approximately 9:40am local time, with 20-lap or 30-minute races schedule on both days with an estimated start time of 1:45pm. Live updates are available on www.f2000championshipseries.com.
Practice 1 Results:
Pos No. Name Best Tm Best Spd In Lap Diff Gap 1 37 Chris Livengood 1:23.998 96.774 12 - - 2 89 Rob Nicholas/M 1:24.146 96.604 10 +0.148 +0.148 3 23 Victor Carbone 1:24.392 96.322 12 +0.394 +0.246 4 26 Fabio Orsolon 1:24.753 95.912 13 +0.755 +0.361 5 95 Daniel Erickson 1:24.854 95.797 8 +0.856 +0.101 6 3 Phil Lombardi/M 1:25.428 95.154 7 +1.430 +0.574 7 1 Cole Morgan 1:25.900 94.631 9 +1.902 +0.472 8 28 Ardie Greenamyer/M 1:26.142 94.365 8 +2.144 +0.242 9 67 Dave Weitzenhof/M 1:26.478 93.998 7 +2.480 +0.336 10 88 Tim Minor/M 1:26.529 93.943 9 +2.531 +0.051 11 8 Mark Defer/M 1:26.555 93.915 8 +2.557 +0.026 12 80 Bobby Caldwell 1:26.566 93.903 10 +2.568 +0.011 13 27 Craig Clawson/M 1:26.934 93.505 10 +2.936 +0.368 14 25 Jeff McCusker/M 1:27.010 93.424 12 +3.012 +0.076 15 90 Robert Wright/M 1:27.161 93.262 10 +3.163 +0.151 16 21 Remy Audette 1:27.429 92.976 2 +3.431 +0.268 17 70 Tom Fatur/M 1:27.547 92.851 6 +3.549 +0.118 18 69 Paul Farmer/M 1:27.571 92.825 11 +3.573 +0.024 19 51 Dan Denison/M 1:27.722 92.665 7 +3.724 +0.151 20 46 Doug Rocco 1:31.068 89.261 10 +7.070 +3.346