Pair of Top Fives, More Steady Progress for HP-Tech

While many teams elected to skip Thursday night twilight testing as the skies opened, Ferrucci took the opportunity to gain valuable seat time in the wet in his No. 10 Van Diemen.

The 15-year-old American backed that track time up with the second and third fastest laps in each of Friday’s practice sessions while Brazilian Lorena was eighth and fifth on the time sheets, respectively. Lorena would qualify ninth for Saturday’s race.

“The lower temperature's on Saturday's qualifying affected the balance of the car we had, and we only managed to qualify just inside the top ten,” said Lorena. “But, we made a good amount of changes for the race, and that increased the pace. But tire degradation again played a role, and we couldn't move any further than 6th.”

For Ferrucci, a broken clutch hampered his qualifying effort, but he was still third quick, but a penalty for causing a session stoppage Friday caused him to lose his two fastest laps.

“The car was really good on Friday as I went as fast as I ever had in session one, 1:24.2,” said Ferrucci. “In practice two I was just as fast but had my first off track in an F2000 car in turn four and caused a delay.  That turned out to be huge. Because of the off, they gave me a penalty on Saturday in qualifying, taking away my two fastest laps.”

As the race developed the car went away, according to Ferrucci, who added he was happy to bring the Van Diemen home in fifth both days, and from position eight on the grid both times.

“I am looking forward to my first visit to Summit Point in a few weeks,” he continued. “I would like to thank my supporters and sponsors, Alpine Stars, Hot Wheels, Arai and J.C.”

For Lorena, a 13th place finish on Sunday was not what the Atlanta resident is used to, but the 18-year-old was able to salvage the result after an off-track excursion sent him to the back of the pack early in the race.

“For Sunday we made some changes considering the lower temperatures and had a really fast car for qualifying,” said Lorena, who drives the No. 9 Van Diemen. “We qualified fourth, still showing a really good pace for the race. After a good start, fighting with David Grant and John LaRue, I unfortunately made a mistake in turn 12, which put us all the way back in the field. The early caution helped getting the cars back together, so I could make 16 passes to finish 13th.”

“We still have more two to go in Summit Point, so we will keep pushing and try to score the most possible points,” Lorena added.

HP-Tech fielded two cars at Mid-Ohio, but a third entry was ready and waiting for Jose Montiel, who had unforeseen travel issues and missed the event.

The F2000 season comes to an end at Summit Point, August 23-25, with rounds 13 and 14.

HP-Tech continues to plan its off-season with testing and other events. Seats are available