Lexington, Ohio – Luigi Biangardi raced to a fourth-place finish at Mid-Ohio in round seven of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. On a damp but drying track Biangardi drove his ArmsUp Motorsports car from eighth on the grid to fourth in a race that was shortened by full course cautions. The result capped the event off on a strong result after an otherwise tough weekend for the Chicago native and his team after an electrical gremlin led to a retirement in round six one day earlier.
Both Biangardi and the ArmsUp squad were looking forward to the Mid-Ohio rounds after testing well at the classic road course during the series test in early May. The official practice day had mixed results with Biangardi hovering around the top-ten on the time sheets as the team chased an electrical issue on the car. In qualifying Biangardi was able to improve his time running to ninth on the grid giving the Team USA Scholarship nominee a solid starting spot for round six.
Round six proved to be a disappointment for Biangardi and ArmsUp Motorsports. After running solidly in the top-ten for a majority of the race the same electrical issue that had plagued the team earlier in the weekend, which was traced to a failing fuel pump, forced Biangardi to retire four laps from the finish.
Early morning rains would add a level of uncertainty to round seven of the USF2000 Championship. The series declared the event a wet weather race which forced the teams to mount the Cooper Zeon rain tires to the cars. As the drivers sat on the pre-grid the sun would shine through the clouds and start drying up the track which instantly put a premium on tire management for all the drivers.
In a race that featured a lot of action and two full course cautions Biangardi kept his head on straight and his tires cool to move forward in the order. At the start Biangardi settled into ninth from his eighth place starting spot then began to work his way forward through the field. Biangardi made his way to fourth before the second and final caution. The restart would produce a one lap dash to the finish and the ArmsUp driver was able to secure his fourth-place result equaling his best on the year.
"Luigi did an awesome job this weekend and really shined in the difficult round seven conditions," ArmsUp Motorsports Team Manager Brent Borland said of the weekend. "He kept his cool, looked after the tires and drove hard to make up a lot of ground on a track that is tough to pass on. If we had one more green lap he could have easily put the car on the podium. Now we have to look forward to Road America where we had a good test during the June Series test."
After seven of fourteen rounds Biangardi is ninth in the points standings with two top-five results. ArmsUp Motorsports and their 16-year-old driver now head to Road America in two weeks for a triple header weekend on the famed Elkhart Lake circuit in support of the American LeMans Series.
Formed in 1995, ArmsUp Motorsports is one of the premier SCCA Formula Continental race teams, winning the SCCA National Championship in 2011. Based in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ArmsUp Motorsports is a full service prep shop for USF2000, Formula Continental, Formula Atlantic, and Vintage racing cars. For more information please visit the official ArmsUp website at www.ArmsUpMotorsports.com.