BALTIMORE, MD – ArmsUp Motorsports driver Luigi Biangardi equaled his best finish of the season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda with a dramatic fourth-place finish in race one of the double-header weekend. The narrow concrete lined city streets of Baltimore provided the backdrop for a wild finish to the race along the city's harbor. Running in the sixth spot as he entered the final chicane, Biangardi narrowly missed a flying control arm and tire assembly, after heavy contact between the fourth and fifth-place drivers, by pinning his car between the wall and the damaged fourth-place car to claim the position as he crossed the line. The hard-earned fourth-place result was the finale to an up-and-down battle which saw Biangardi, in his Inject-It/Gulfstream Properties/Slick Locks/Chicago Indoor Racing car, race from eighth on the grid to his fourth-place finish. James Dayson continued his development in the USF2000 category by running an error free weekend to claim two top-ten finishes in the National class.
Racing on the city streets provided for limited track time for the USF2000 field with four on track sessions scheduled for the event. Track time became an even larger premium when half way through the day the INDYCAR officials decided the track needed to be modified to keep from damaging cars over the train tracks that ran across the front straight which caused the Indy cars and USF2000 cars to get air at full speed. The same tracks caused the fire suppression system in Biangardi's car to activate in the opening session ending the practice with half the time remaining while the 16-year-old was on top of the time sheets. With the adding of the chicane negating the scheduled qualifying session, the field for race one was formed by points relegating Biangardi to eighth on the grid and Dayson to 26th in the 28-car field.
Race one was an eventful affair with the full course caution flying shortly after the green flag waved. Both Biangardi and Dayson made it through Lap One clear with Dayson jumping into the top-20 overall. When the green flag was shown Biangardi found himself engulfed in a five car dice for the fourth position. The action was furious with positions changing hands on an almost corner by corner basis. With the white flag displayed Biangardi had a firm grip on sixth and was still in touch with the fifth and fourth-place cars. At the exit of the chicane coming to the checkered flag the two cars in front of Biangardi had heavy contact with parts of the cars flying at the No. 15 Van Diemen. In a split second decision, the Chicago driver moved left brushing the wall to miss the damaged cars to claim the fourth spot by the narrowest of margins. Dayson drove a controlled race to bring the car home in the eighth place in the National category for Zetec-powered cars.
Based on the strength of his quickest lap from race one, Biangardi lined up third on the grid. After a strong out-braking maneuver to move into the second spot on the opening lap into Turn One, Biangardi found himself in a heated contest for the spot in Turns Three and Four. While side-by-side on the exit of Three, Biangardi's car made slight contact with the wall as he slotted back into third. In the next brake zone, Biangardi made contact with the second-place car damaging the nose enough to pit for a nose change. During the pit stop a damaged brake line was discovered ending the race prematurely. Dayson in his Dayhu Group of Companies/Me & Lewis Ideas Inc./Regal Beagle Bar & Grill-backed car spent the race battling for the seventh spot in the National category. After losing the position briefly mid-race, the Vancouver driver was able to retake the spot before the race came to a close under caution flag conditions.
"This was a bittersweet weekend again for us," team owner Gregg Borland commented after the race. "Once again Luigi showed we have the speed to run at the sharp end of the grid. We just weren't able to capitalize on it. Luigi's avoidance run through the chicane was nothing short of impressive. I was in the corner and before I could spot him through he picked the right lane and not only saved the car but picked up the two spots. I thought James did a really good job this weekend again especially considering the severe lack of track time and changing conditions. Now we turn our attention to VIR and ending the championship on a high note."
ArmsUp Motorsports will continue its torrid pace as the team will once again be split this weekend. James Dayson will join the USF2000 series test at VIR on Thursday and the ArmsUp Vintage team will be running the Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival at Road America with Rick Balsley on Saturday and Sunday.
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.