Mid-Ohio Preview: Minor Edges Closer
Lexington, OH – Two more races at Mid-Ohio this weekend signal the race to the end of the 2013 F2000 Championship Series. With just four rounds to go, Tim Minor’s huge Championship lead is nearing the point of a Championship clinch, and the F2000 veteran is well within range of securing his first title during rounds 11 and 12 at Mid-Ohio.
Minor is coming off a win and second place back-to-front drive just two weeks ago at the same track. The veteran and his Ski Motorsports Citation chassis now have seven wins on the season and are essentially in control of their own destiny.
The man lying second in points, Kyle Connery, also won at Mid-Ohio two weeks ago, making it three wins for the year. Connery will need a lights-out last four races in the No. 91 Van Diemen and a lot of luck to take the title away from Minor.
Elsewhere, after a string of strong finishes, David Grant is still hunting for his first F2000 Series victory for Polestar and sits third in points ahead of Roberto Lorena, who clawed back some ground on Grant, thanks to a DNF from the 2012 Atlantic Champion in round 10.
Another contender for race wins may be Santino Ferrucci. The 15-year-old was sitting first on a restart at Mid-Ohio in the rain, but couldn’t capitalize on a wet race track coming to the green flag. He spun out of the lead, and a day later, put the No. 10 Van Diemen for HP-Tech on the pole position. Ferrucci, in four starts, has finished fifth, fourth, third and second. A fifth start happens for the young American this coming Saturday.
With the weather forecast still a question mark, rain at Mid-Ohio produced one of the most bizarre F2000 races ever in round nine – with cars cycling from the front, to the back, and back to the front in a 30-car field in just a 30-minute race on a super-slick and slow race track.
The entry list will also note the return of the R-Sport Metrik chassis team for Keith McCrone and Tim Dunn. In addition is Tim Paul, who sat out of the last rounds and ran strongly at Watkins Glen in June.
Sitting just points apart in fifth, sixth and seventh in the Championship - Federico Mosconi, Steve Bamford, and Kevin Kopp - Mosconi's teammate, are all vying for a top five Championship slot and hope to improve upon their Mid-Ohio performances from July, where Steve Bamford was the only one of the three able to finish in the top five in either race.
Thursday August 8 features twilight testing at Mid-Ohio, following by Friday practice sessions at 8:00am and 12:10pm local time. Saturday and Sunday give way to 8:00am qualifying and an 11:15am race start, with live coverage available on www.f2000series.com.