Louisville, Ky. – Groundbreaking new open-wheel team Abel Motorsports made just their second appearance of 2018 this past weekend, racing at Mid-Ohio in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, part of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires.
The Abel squad earned plenty of attention on the strength of three 11th-place finishes. And their series-rookie driver, 17-year-old Jacob Abel, demonstrated his talent and potential by running consistently, staying out of trouble, and most crucially, gaining positions each time out.
Jacob Abel commented, “We didn’t perform as well as we’d hoped, but we learned a lot and will be better next time out. Overall, we’re getting there. There’s a lot of really aggressive racing going on out there in mid-pack, but we were able to bring the car home in one piece and gain spots in each race.”
Team principal Bill Abel was pleased at the results. “We had a positive weekend. Our expectations were high from the series test, and we’re glad to come away with valuable experience” in the highly-competitive USF2000 series.
Team driving coach Shelby Blackstock also noted the progress made by driver Jacob Abel. “He’s made a lot of progress, a lot of big jumps. We found some things to work on. It’s important to have some races under our belt this year, before going for the Championship next season. The good news is, Jacob is disappointed with finishing 11th. He’s hungry for more.”
Team engineer Ian Brown sees plenty of positives from the Mid-Ohio tripleheader. “I think it’s been an excellent weekend. We manage to keep progressing. This series is difficult for drivers and for new teams like ours. There are a lot of established race teams in this paddock that didn’t perform as well as we did, again this weekend. We learned a lot, Jacob gained a lot of ground as a driver. He brought the car home in one piece all three times and that’s a strong statement. The fact that we were consistent in all three races also speaks well of our growth as a team. We’re looking forward to our next opportunity.”