TORONTO – Cape Motorsports added to their massive win total in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship this past weekend on Toronto, taking the victory in the opening round of the doubleheader at Exhibition Place street circuit. American Darren Keane provided the win, which was the first of his Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires career.
Keane was incredibly strong all weekend, qualifying on the front row for both races before following up the Saturday win with an impressive second place result on Sunday. Cape Motorsports driver Braden Eves continues to lead the championship standing leaving Toronto, having scored finishes of fourth and 11th in the two races. Reece Gold scored yet another top-10 finish on Sunday, coming back from a more eventful run in Race 1.
“Toronto, what a brilliant event for all the Road to Indy championships to race at, a real street fight,” enthused Dominic and Nicholas Cape, team owners. “It was great to see Darren win his first race and back it up with a fighting second on Sunday. Braden had a solid weekend going up until a late race coming together with Kaminsky whilst trying to wrestle third place from him. Reece worked very hard all weekend and came away with two good finishes. We’re all looking forward to going to Mid-Ohio and carrying on the fight."
The Cape trio was strong out of the gate in a shortened practice session on Friday morning. A trio of on-track incidents, including one of the very first lap, limited the green flag time but the team stayed out of trouble to dominate the top-five on the speed charts. Keane and Eves sat 1-2 after the session, while Gold was fifth.
Race 1 qualifying followed on Friday afternoon and Keane was again on his game, timing in second to secure a front row starting position. The actual green flag running timing was shortened again by driver errors, and with only six full-speed laps to get the job done, Toronto rookies Gold and Eves did well to set fourth and sixth, respectively.
Qualifying for the second race was held early Saturday morning and Keane pushed hard for the top spot, laying down the lap time necessary to grab the pole position and the bonus point that comes with it. Darren’s qualifying pace would put him on the front row for both races. Eves was just a couple of tenths behind in third, while Gold’s make a minor mistake and tapped the wall in Turn 8 early in the session, which was disastrous in terms of crucial track time. Reece was only able to turn three laps in the run, which set him behind much of his competition as qualified 17th.
Keane jumped right into the battle for the lead in the first race and eventually worked his way past to take over the point just after the halfway point of the race. Darren pushed to build a gap to his competition, but the yellow flag flew on lap 17 for a car in the tires on the exit of turn 8. The track crew worked quickly to clean up the incident, which set up a two-lap fight for the win. Keane held off all challengers on the restart to score his first Road to Indy victory. Eves finished off a race-long battle with a strong fourth place finish, while Gold used the race to gain the track experience he lost in the second qualifying session. Reece finished 13th in the final classification.
Keane started on the pole for the Sunday race, but fell to third by the end of the opening lap after wisely giving room in turn 1 to an overly-aggressive competition. Darren slotted into third early but went to work and eventually re-took second. He chased Christian Rasmussen for the lead for the entire 25 laps, but was not able to get by, taking a second-place finish and important championship points. Keane advanced to third in the standings with his stellar weekend performance in Toronto. Eves was again in fourth, fighting with Colin Kaminsky for the final step on the podium. Eves made a move for the spot in turn one on lap 23, and the resultant contact cut his right front tire, which required a trip to pit lane. Eves returned and would finish 11th. Now armed with more track time, Gold turned things up and advanced from 17th to ninth, his sixth top-10 of the year.
Eves continues to lead the USF2000 championship standings and will head to Mid-Ohio on July 26-28 with a 41-point advantage. Keane now sits third in the order while Gold is eighth.
CAPE MOTORSPORTS – DRIVER RESULTS AND QUOTES
USF2000 – ROUNDS 8/9 – JULY 12-14, 2019
HONDA INDY TORONTO – TORONTO, ONTARIO
DARREN KEANE - #2
Qualifying 1: 2nd – 1:13.758
Qualifying 2: 1st – 1:11.746
Race 1: Start – 2nd / Finish – 1st
Race 2: Start – 1st / Finish – 2nd
Driver Quote: “It was an amazing weekend for me and Cape Motorsports in Toronto. I was very happy to get two clean finishes and two great results. Coming away with a win is an amazing feeling, and I feel extremely motivated to get some more in the coming races. Huge thanks to Ozz Negri - we’ve been working together for 3 years now - and I can’t thank him enough for all he’s done. Another big thanks to my parents, Cape Motorsports, and In2itive Media Management for all their help!”
REECE GOLD - #3
Qualifying 1: 4th – 1:14.499
Qualifying 2: 17th – 1:15.337
Race 1: Start – 4th / Finish – 8th
Race 2: Start – 17th / Finish – 10th
Driver Quote: “It was a tough weekend in Toronto. I qualified four for the opening race but didn’t have the pace in the race itself and that set us back. Then, in Race 2, we had to start from the back due to an incident in qualifying. It was tough being given barely any track time, but I still came away with some good points. Thanks to the team and my sponsors Lucas Oil School of Racing and The Ticket Clinic.”
BRADEN EVES - #8
Qualifying 1: 6th – 1:14.559
Qualifying 2: 3rd – 1:11.960
Race 1: Start – 6th / Finish – 4th
Race 2: Start – 3rd / Finish – 11th
Driver Quote: “The weekend in Toronto was a tough one, and while I didn’t quite get the results I was pushing for, I gained more experience and I learned a lot, as always! Race 1, I didn’t quite have the pace. I struggled a little bit but nonetheless was able to hold my own in fourth, and battled for third on the last restart but maintained good points and knew exactly what I wanted in the car for Race 2. The start was hectic, as I was in fourth going into turn 3 but I was sandwiched between two cars, damaging my front wing. After I got around the two cars I had super good pace, and I was running down the leaders. When I caught up to Kaminsky, he was being super defensive. I made a move going into turn 1 and some contact was made, resulting in a puncture. I pitted and the team got a new tire on and I went back out to finish 11th. I’m confident heading into Mid-Ohio that I will be right back up there and I just have to keep pushing to get every point possible!”