Minor Paces F2000 Practice Under Track Record

August 9, 2013
Tim Minor was under the track record in practice.

Lexington, OH – Two F2000 Championship Series practice sessions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course led to a lap of 1:23.825 by Championship leader Tim Minor, well under the existing track record. Minor’s No. 88 Citation was fastest in the afternoon session ahead of fellow Citation driver John LaRue, who was quickest in the morning with a 1:24.109. HP-Tech driver Santino Ferrucci was third quick in the afternoon practice sprint.

 For Minor, a strong performance will clinch his first F2000 title with four races to go, of which two are happening this weekend at Mid-Ohio. The points’ leader commented that he is here to win, and spent the few days home between Mid-Ohio doubleheaders changing the clutch in the Ski Motorsports entry.

LaRue was also quick on the time sheets – both in the morning and afternoon, and could be poised to bounce back after a strong qualifying performance two weeks ago which was followed by a disqualification.

While the Masters Class veterans were fast, 15-year-old American Ferrucci was in the top three in both sessions, and led all of twilight testing in the rain on Thursday night. Ferrucci’s No. 10 Van Diemen won at Mid-Ohio in 2012, and the aspiring racer is still looking for the top step on the podium after top five results in all four of his F2000 starts thus far since making his season debut mid-year at Watkins Glen.

Kyle Connery’s No. 91 Van Diemen was fourth fastest on the afternoon time sheets, as Connery and Minor split race wins at Mid-Ohio in July. Connery is marking his third straight weekend at the road course, having competed here in the Pro Mazda Championship between the F2000 weekends. The American remains the only other driver besides Minor to win a race in 2013, and has three victories on the year, with wins also coming at Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen.

Rounding out the top five and picking up considerable speed from the morning session was the second HP-Tech entry for Roberto Lorena, from Brazil. The squad is back to two cars this weekend as their third driver, Jose Montiel, had travel issues coming from Venezuela.

Polestar Racing Group’s David Grant followed in sixth place, quickly adapting back to the downforce and power of the F2000 Van Diemen after posting an impressive second fastest time in the F1600 morning practice session.

WISKO Racing teammates Kevin Kopp and Italian Federico Mosconi were seventh and eighth, with Tim Paul marking the ninth fastest practice time in both of Friday’s 25-minute sessions.

Steve Bamford, also doing double duty in the F1600 Series like Grant, completed the top ten in the No. 71 Van Diemen for Rice Race Prep.

Both Metrik chassis posted nearly identical times in the morning and afternoon, as Keith McCrone and Tim Dunn picked up nearly a second and a half in laptime between the two sessions.

Session results are available here.

F2000’s rounds 11 and 12 continue from Mid-Ohio with an 8:00am local time qualifying session on Saturday and Sunday, with races scheduled for 11:15 on Saturday and 11:35 on Sunday. Follow live updates on www.f2000series.com.

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