Due to the  COVID-19 pandemic, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship race schedule inevitably had to change. The second round of the championship will be a tripleheader outing on Wednesday and Thursday (July 29/30) at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the city of Lexington, Ohio. For Brazilian driver Kiko Porto (Banco Daycoval / Petromega / DEForce Racing / Speed Group) - who finally landed in Houston, Texas, this past Tuesday (July 21) - it will be his debut race of the season after he was allowed to return to the U.S. in these times of closed borders.
 
Porto was at his DEForce Racing team's headquarters last week, where he participated in two training sessions on the team's track. The circuit, which is in the city of Angleton, in the state of Texas, was used by the Brazilian for performance tests of the car. This time, however, getting back in the cockpit was more important as the tests will guide the opening of his season.
 
“It has been four months since I have been in the car and I needed to feel the sensitivity of the equipment again to prepare to return to competition. I managed to do a lot of laps and I'm happy to see that I'm still fast. I hope to have a good result at Mid-Ohio, but the most important thing is to be back competing in the races,” said Porto.
 
This Wednesday a practice session is scheduled in the morning and, in the afternoon, a qualifying session that sets the starting grid for Race One later in the day. On Thursday morning, a second qualifying session will take place followed by the final pair of races.