Monterey, Calif.  – The seventh round of the Pacific Formula F2000/F1600 Championship presented by Primus Racing Parts, held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with the San Francisco Region of the SCCA in their SFR Championship Series Double Regional was dominated by Timothy De Silva in a Dave Freitas Racing Van Diemen in a drive that has become reminiscent of his recent form.  Starting with qualifying on Friday De Silva in his #3, TLP Racing, DRF Van Diemen, lapped the 2.338 mile circuit nearly a second faster than his nearest competitor to claim the pole position, led the race from flag to flag, set the fastest race lap breaking the existing track record.

Qualifying was held on Friday under sunny and cool conditions with temperatures reaching into the seventies as the series drivers took to the track promptly at 1:10pm and it was Timothy De Silva, #3, TLP Racing, DRF Van Diemen, leading the session and was the only driver to get into the 1m26sec bracket with a time of 1m26.943sec.  De Silva’s time was nearly a second faster than second place qualifier Alex Kirby; #81, LA Prep Inc., Fast Forward Components, Piper Race Cars, Piper DL7, putting Kirby in the ideal spot to challenge De Silva in the race.  Third fastest went to Bob Negron, #9, Terri Negron Web Design, Rosy’s at the Beach, Negron Racing Van Diemen, in his first appearance in the series this season, drawing on his vast experience at this venue.  Next was 2015 series champion Tom Hope; #10, Primus Racing Parts, Dart, H+M Racing Van Diemen RF03.  Heading the third row was James Hakewill, #88, Van Diemen RF03 lining up beside Scott Huffaker; #09, Van Diemen RF02.  Next up were Scott Vreeland, #51, Redhorse Constructors, Porter Racing, BV Training Van Diemen RF01 and Harin de Silva; #96, DFR Van Diemen RF06 followed by Connor Funk; #97, DFR Van Diemen RF03, Peter West; #99, Racing Optics, Kodenko Jeans, Malibu Health, Frank Monise Motors, DFR Van Diemen RF05, Paul Rodler in his #45, Porter Racing, 1991 Swift DB6/Pinto, Ray Bill Dormandy, #15, Cecilia Rose Foundation, Van Diemen RF02, Jeffrey Pietz, #80, Cleveland Infant Care, Van Diemen DP 08, Sterling Ellsworth, #22, That’s My Juice Racing, LLC, Van Diemen RF01, John Fabijanic, #46, Piper DF5, and Paul McFarlane, #37, Magtrax, HorseTrack Software, Van Diemen RF94.

At the green flag the field streamed side by side down to the Andretti hairpin for the first time with Timothy De Silva edged ahead of Alex Kirby with Tom Hope, Bob Negron, James Hakewill, Scott Huffaker in close pursuit, but by the end of the first lap it was De Silva with a clear lead from Kirby, Hope, Negron, Huffaker, Hakewill, Vreeland, Funk, Harin De Silva, West Rodler, Dormandy, Pietz, Ellsworth, McFarlane and Fabijanic slowed by brake issues.

Unfortunately for Rodler, his race was to last just two laps as a broken header forced his retirement.

Behind De Silva, as he stretched out his lead, were several good battles taking place between Hope and Kirby, Huffaker and Negron and Funk and Vreeland with the latter resolved on lap 6 when Funk got by Vreeland and began to pull away. 

Closer to the front Hope managed to get by Kirby as oversteer began to show its affects when Kirby began to lose grip in his rear tire and began losing ground allowing Hope to get by on lap 7. Hope, now in second place, attempted to close the gap to leader De Silva.  This was to no avail as De Silva was just too fast on this day and Hope had to settle for the second step on the podium.
Lap 7 also saw Huffaker pass Negron as Negron began to experience gearbox problems that would force him into retirement three laps later.

Huffaker now clear in fourth place began his push toward the Kirby in third eventually catching and passing him with four laps to go to claim third place in a car he was still at odds with, even so he believed that second place was possible and admitted that he was moving in the right direction with the car.

Behind Kirby who finished fourth came Hakewill, Funk, Vreeland, who claimed Master Class honors, Harin De Silva and West, who was the last of the un-lapped cars.  These were followed by Dormandy, Pietz and Ellsworth, one lap down, Fabijanic, down two laps and McFarlane, three laps in arrears. 

Timothy De Silva’s victory was his fifth consecutive, extending his points lead in the series and with his lap of 1m26.881s, set a new FC track record.  During his run to the checker, De Silva was never headed nor seriously challenged as he won by a margin of 11.411 seconds.

The field returns Sunday morning with a brief final qualifying session and 10:30 am race.

This season the Pacific Formula F2000 Championship Series is included in the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200k Scholarship Shootout in 2016.  The shootout will be expanded to include the champions of junior open-wheel and karting series both nationally and internationally.  The winner of the knockout style shootout will be provided with a $200k Scholarship to enter the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in 2017 – the first rung in the Mazda Road to Indy ladder sanctioned by INDYCAR.

The Mazda Road to Indy is the only driver development program of its type in the world offering a clear, scholarship-funded path to the Verizon IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500.

The Pacific F2000/F1600 series has a rich history and includes among its alumni drivers J.R. Hildebrand, 2011 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the year and Dane Cameron, Tudor Series Prototype and GTD winning driver along with Pro Mazda Presented by Cooper Tires driver Patricio O’Ward and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda drivers Nikita Lastochkin and Yufeng Luo.

Sunday begins with a brief morning qualifying followed by racing at 2:50 p.m. 

F2000 Qualifying: 1. Timothy de Silva (Van Diemen RF01), 1m26.943s; 2. Alex Kirby (Piper DL7), 1m27.811s; 3. Bob Negron (Van Diemen RF99), 1m27.914s; 4.Tom Hope (Van Diemen RF03), 1m28.215s; 5. James Hakewill (Van Diemen RF03), 1m28.387; 6. Scott Huffaker (Van Diemen RF02), 1m28.732s; 7. Scott Vreeland (Van Diemen RF01), 1m29.244; 8. Harindra De Silva (Van Diemen RF06), 1m29.520s; 9. Connor Funk, (Van Diemen RF03), 1m29.568s; 10. Peter West, (Van Diemen RF05), 1m30.001s; 11. Paul Rodler (Swift DB6/Pinto), 1m32.275s; 12. Ray Bill Dormandy (Van Diemen RF00), 1m32.932s; 13. Jeffrey Pietz (Van Diemen DP08), 1m33.492s; 14. Sterling Ellsworth (Van Diemen RF01), 1m35.390s; 15. John Fabijanic (Piper DF5), 1m38.728s; 16. Paul McFarlane (Van Diemen RF94/Pinto), 1m47.775s. All cars run on Ford Zetec engines, unless noted and Pirelli Tires.

F2000 Round 7 (17 laps): 1. T. De Silva, 2. Hope, +11.411s; 3. Huffaker, +12.561s; 4. Kirby, +21.831s; 5. Hakewill, +32.621s; 6. Funk, +32.894; 7. Vreeland, +43.526s; 8. H. De Silva, +1m05.422s; 9. West, +1m06.970s; 10. Dormandy, +1 lap; 11. Pietz, +1 lap; 12. Ellsworth, +1 lap; 13. Fabijanic, +2 laps; 14. McFarlane +3 laps; 15. Rodler, +15 laps.
Fastest race lap: T. De Silva, 1m26.881s.
Master class winner (over 50): Vreeland.
Points: 1. T. De Silva, 206; 2. Hope, 166; 3. Huffaker, 148; 4. Hakewill, 130; 5. Funk, 104; 6. Armington, 97; 7. H. De Silva, 86; 8. West, 79; 9. Kirby, 68; 10. Fierberg, Kodenko, 54; 12. Vreeland, 47; 13. Ellsworth, 33; 14. Fabijanic, 30; 15. Negron, 6.

The series can be followed at https://www.facebook.com/pacificf2000racing and https://www.twitter.com/PacificF2000.

For more details go to http://www.pacificf2000.com or contact Peter West at pacificf2000@hotmail.com.