Robinson and Beasley Lead F2000 Practice
Thompson, CT – Skylar Robinson and Sam Beasley split a pair of F2000 Championship Series practice sessions on the new road course at Thompson Speedway. Robinson was the fastest man of the day in the No. 6 Eric Langbein Racing Citation. Beasley, coming off two wins earlier this month in Pittsburgh, paced the morning session in the No. 44 Polestar entry and was just a few tenths off Robinson in the afternoon session.
Robinson is picking up his momentum again after winning the opening race of the season in April at Road Atlanta. The aspiring racer put his Citation on the pole in the rain in Pittsburgh, and blitzed the field in Thompson practice, with a quick time of 1:07.397.
Beasley made it two rising young American drivers fast on the day, missing out on an afternoon fast time by just .274 seconds.
Tim Minor continues to move toward clinching the 2014 F2000 title, and could do so with a solid weekend. The defending Series champ was third quick. Minor’s two biggest title rivals are Beasley and Robinson. If Minor wins the 2014 Championship he will become the first driver to win multiple F2000 Series titles. Just four races remain in the 2014 season, including two this weekend at Thompson.
On the afternoon time sheets, David Grant put his Polestar Spectrum in fourth position, about nine-tenths off the fast time. He beat out the only other Spectrum in the field as VIR winner Thomas McGregor completed the top five for Exclusive Autosport.
John McCusker was sixth fastest in the Dotworks Racing RFR, the first of three RFRs in the field at Thompson, while Trent Walko was seventh and hopes to improve on his first-ever podium finish that came in his third-ever start at Pittsburgh.
Tim Paul made his first appearance in F2000 since Mid-Ohio after electing to skip Pittsburgh, and quickly got back into the groove of things, placing in the top ten in practice times, with a lap good enough for eighth position in the Screaming Monkey Racing Van Diemen.
Quinlan Lall was ninth for Momentum Motorsports but will incur a two-grid spot penalty after an extra lap following the checkered flag. Steve Bamford, also racing in F1600 this weekend, was tenth on the final session time sheets.
Thompson is providing drivers with a tight and twisting road course built around and through the track’s oval, with cars entering the oval going clockwise into the oval turns three and four, but on the apron of the track. The course provides spectators with vast viewing areas, with fans able to see quite a bit of real estate at the new facility, which marks its first professional event this weekend.
F2000 drivers qualify at 9:25 a.m. local time on Saturday, with race one of the weekend getting a green flag at 2:10 p.m., while Sunday goes ahead with a 12:25 p.m. qualifying session and 3:40 p.m. race.
Results are available on www.F2000series.com under the results tab.