MANSFIELD, OHIO – Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing will arrive at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this week riding a positive wave of momentum, coming off a weekend on the streets of Toronto that featured one win and four podium finishes in Mazda Road to Indy competition. Canadian Parker Thompson finished in third on Saturday and was then victorious in the second race of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.
Thompson was joined by his teammate in victory lane on Sunday, as Anthony Martin finished second. The team’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires driver Nico Jamin continued his success in Canada, where he won in USF2000 in 2015, scoring a pair of podium results highlighted by a strong second on Saturday. Mid-Ohio was big for Jamin last year, as he swept the weekend, and he’ll be gunning for his first Pro Mazda race win after a great test at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn track in June. Thompson and Martin will be joined by Nikita Lastochkin and Jordan Cane in the team’s USF2000 cars in the tripleheader this weekend.
“We love Mid-Ohio and we love winning there just as much,” admitted Nicholas and Dominic Cape, the team’s owners. “We were able to win in both USF2000 and Pro Mazda last year, and we have great momentum with all of our drivers heading into the weekend, so we’re focused on victory once again.”
Thompson is the current USF2000 championship leader on the strength of four wins, and leads Martin by 20 points heading to Mid-Ohio. In his rookie debut at the track last year, Thompson finished in the top-five in all three races with the top result of fourth. Martin was also strong at Mid-Ohio last year, finishing on the podium in third in the opening race of the doubleheader, adding a fourth place result in Race #3. Lastochkin scored a pair of top-10s last year, while Cane was victorious at Mid-Ohio in the F1600 Championship last summer.
Jamin was dominant in the USF2000 races at Mid-Ohio last year, winning all three events to fire up his run to the series championship with Cape Motorsports. Now running in Pro Mazda with the Mazdaspeed scholarship that is awarded to the title winners, Jamin has been emerging as a force in the series, scoring three podium finishes in the last four races. Cape Motorsports scored a win and a runner-up finish last year with Neil Alberico behind the wheel, and is aiming to continue that streak with Jamin.
The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires events at Mid-Ohio will get underway with a full day of testing on Thursday, July 28. On Friday, USF2000 will be on-track at 8:30 am EDT for a 30-minute qualifying session that will lead into Race #1 at 1:00 pm. Race #2 is set for 1:00 pm on Saturday and Race #3 will take place at 9:15 am on Sunday morning. Jamin will receive a fourth practice session on Friday morning at 7:45 am and will qualify at 11:30 am. The Pro Mazda Championship will run both of their races on Saturday, at 8:35 am and 6:00 pm.
DRIVER QUOTES:
Parker Thompson – USF2000 - #2 Weyburn Energy
“Headed into Mid-Ohio, I have a lot of confidence coming out of an awesome home race in Toronto. I will be looking to use the momentum to pick up where I left off at the collective test earlier this year at Mid-Ohio. We know we have a fast racecar at Mid-Ohio, now it's just time to go execute a solid performance in Ohio. I can't wait to arrive and get down to business!”
Anthony Martin – USF2000 - #8 Burgess BLA
“Going into Mid-Ohio this week, I know that I have some ground to catch up on Parker, so I will be taking every opportunity I get against him. The Cape crew have given me a fast car all year and now I have take advantage of that and do everything I can to win races and, most importantly, gain points back on Parker. It will be very tough to do, but it is definitely possible.”
Nikita Lastochkin – USF2000 - #9 Russkaya Mekhanika
“One of the highlights of the season is coming up; the tripleheader in Ohio! It's definitely one of the most technical tracks on the calendar. I’ve always had fun racing at this track in different categories and I’m looking forward to the weekend. There are only two meetings left this season, so I'm sure everyone is going to push as hard as they can for the result. I think there is going to be some very exciting racing this week and I'm going to make sure to get the most out of myself.”
Jordan Cane – USF2000 - #6 Adidas
“I’m feeling confident going into the Mid-Ohio weekend. We had a really good two-day test here during June, and I know we are all working really hard as a group in order to compete at the sharp end of the grid. I hope that now we can show where we should be. Mid-Ohio was the kick start to my season last year, and it’s where I got my very first win.”
About Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing:
Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing was formed in 2010 as a partnership between two successful racing entities. With leadership from brothers Nicholas and Dominic Cape, and along with Wayne Taylor and his organization in Indianapolis, the team campaigns cars in the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The goal of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing is to provide unmatched driver development both on and off the track. It is difficult for a young driver to jump into a professional series and win, regardless of talent. Through coaching and mentoring, Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing provides young drivers with as much knowledge of motorsports to become as successful as possible.