Enerson and Furuseth Share National Class Wins
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Third-generation racer Matthew Brabham vaulted himself into the lead of the Cooper Tires USF20000 Championship Powered by Mazda by virtue of a pair of wins today at the fast and challenging Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Matthew Di Leo, Scott Anderson and Spencer Pigot also visited the podium and will have another opportunity to make it onto the top step tomorrow morning when the USF2000 Series completes its first-ever triple-header race meeting in advance of the headlining American Le Mans Series Road Race Showcase.
Fresh off his maiden victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course two weeks ago, Anderson carried his form into qualifying by posting the fastest time in Belardi Auto Racing’s #14 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Neuropathy Testing Center/Laser Nail Centers Van Diemen-Mazda featuring the OtterCares® Foundation. He was joined on the front row for Round 8 this morning by series points leader Pigot (#2 Team Pelfrey/Doug Mockett & Company/E-merging Technologies/Parathyroid.com/California Scents), while Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Brabham (#83 DTE Group) shared Row 2 with Di Leo (#56 Res Precast/MDL Racing).
The race fell under caution soon after the start following a variety of incidents around the opening 4.048-mile lap, but not before Pigot had made a bold move around the outside in Turn One to grasp the lead from Anderson, with Brabham also following past the polesitter.
After a lengthy clean-up, Brabham mirrored Pigot’s earlier move by snatching the advantage in Turn One immediately after the restart. The grandson of three-time Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham and son of Le Mans winner Geoff Brabham never looked back, romping clear of his rivals to secure his second win of the season.
Pigot was given a penalty for blocking, which he served as the checkered flag was shown, but his misery was compounded when he exceeded the speed limit in pit lane, thus earning another 30-second penalty which dropped him from fifth to 16th in the final results.
Di Leo inherited second, narrowly ahead of Anderson following a race-long battle. Trent Hindman was fourth in the third Cape Motorsports entry, followed by Neil Alberico (JDC MotorSports) and Luigi Biangardi (ArmsUp Motorsports), who snuck past Roman Lagudi (Belardi Auto Racing) on the final lap.
An intense battle for National Class honors saw 15-year-old RC Enerson (ZSports Midwest with Team E Racing) snatch the honors with a final-lap pass of race-long leader Mark Eaton (Robinson Motor Sports).
Round 9 this afternoon saw the grid decided according to each competitor’s fastest race lap from the earlier outing, with Brabham on pole ahead of Anderson, Pigot and Di Leo.
Once again, Brabham displayed a clear rear wing to his pursuers as he took off into the lead and was never seriously challenged during the 12-lap race which was unencumbered by cautions.
The top four positions remained unchanged, with Anderson claiming his fourth straight podium finish in second – and earning an additional bonus point for setting fastest lap – ahead of Pigot and Di Leo. Alberico secured fifth after a protracted battle with Hindman.
In the National class, Henrik Furuseth bounced back impressively from an accident in the opening race which meant he had to start way back in 25th this afternoon. No matter, as the talented young Norwegian soon fought his way to the front and held off Enerson to win by less than a second. Furuseth established a new National Class lap record for good measure.
Race #1 contingency awards included the Tilton Hard Charger Award, for the driver who gained the most positions during the race, which was claimed by Afterburner Autosport’s Heamin Choi (#21 F1PILOT.com) who went from 28th to 12th for a gain of 16 positions; the PFC Award for the winning car owner, which was issued to Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing; and the Staubli Award, a random finisher award, which was presented to Luigi Biangardi (#15 Inject-It/Gulfstream Properties/Slick Locks/Chicago Indoor Racing with ArmsUp Motorsports).
Contingency awards for Race #2 included the Tilton Hard Charger Award, for the driver who gained the most positions during the race, which was claimed by Belardi Auto Racing’s Luca Forgeois (#9 Gearup/Splashlight/Café Noir) who went from 26th to 12th for a gain of 14 positions; the PFC Award for the winning car owner, which was issued to Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing; and the Staubli Award, a random finisher award, which was presented to Trent Hindman (#3 Premier Woodcraft/Zydro+/DFL Construction/RaceLite Protection with Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing).
The final race will kick off track activities on Saturday and is scheduled for 8:45 am, just before the ALMS race warm-up. Live Timing and Scoring is available at www.usf2000.com.
Quotes – Race #1:
Matthew Brabham, #83 DTE Group (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing) – First: “I am absolutely thrilled to be back up on the first step finally. I have been so quick recently but just haven’t been quite able to make that final step to the very front and win the race. So, this is fantastic and it is awesome to get back into the championship lead. I thought it was going to be a tough season for me for the rest of the year to try to get back those points I lost at Mid-Ohio, but I am sure Spencer will be back fighting for the championship and it will be a close battle until the end.”
Matthew Di Leo, #56 Res Precast (MDL Racing) – Second: “I finished second again today which is good in carrying the momentum from Mid-Ohio and I am confident now for our next race. This race was good. I started fourth and after the restart, I made my way back up to third and got away from Scott Anderson. I was battling with Spencer Pigot and kept trying to get him in Turn Five but could never make the move on the outside and had to settle behind him for a bit. Then he got the drive-thru penalty which gave me second. I am totally pumped for the next race, but I don’t want the second and the thirds, I want to bring it to the top now.”
Scott Anderson, #14 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Neuropathy Testing Center/Laser Nails Centers (Belardi Auto Racing) – Third: “Coming into the race and starting on pole, we were expecting to do a little bit better. We obviously have the speed. Now it is just a matter of getting that speed early on and taking advantage of it more quickly so we can fight the entire race for first instead of third.”
RC Enerson, #10 Patriot Bank/Team E (ZSports Midwest w/Team E Racing) – First National Class: “At the start, it was hectic. You see people flying everywhere and a couple of cars go into the sand trap. I was just trying to dodge some debris and some wings. When the yellow came out, I was third in class. From there, I just had to work, work, work. I passed Patrick Gallagher and I had a great run with Mark Eaton. It was a great battle and I was able to pass him on the last lap going into Turn Five. I didn’t think I was going to be able to make the corner and I just stretched it coming into the checker.”
Quotes – Race #2: Matthew Brabham, #83 DTE Group (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing) – First: “It was great, just fantastic to get another win. I am very happy with how things have gone this weekend. It was good to get those race wins under my belt. I’ve been struggling a little bit to get to that next step on the podium, but the car was really, really good through the race. It was good enough to keep me out in front so I was really happy with the team. The track conditions were a lot tougher than the race before and the guys were putting a lot more pressure behind me. Scott [Anderson] was really quick mid-race and I was starting to get a bit worried but in the end it turned out really well and I am looking forward to the next race.”
Scott Anderson, #14 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Neuropathy Testing Center/Laser Nails Centers (Belardi Auto Racing) – Second: “This race was definitely an improvement from the first race. The start of the race was much better than this morning’s and I was able to really come on strong right away and kind of pressure [Matthew] Brabham during the middle of the race. I think we may have something to work on car-wise and maybe something where I could have helped to save the tires at the end but I feel like everyone had the same problem. I am looking forward to a good race tomorrow and, being on pole, hopefully I can do a little bit better.”
Spencer Pigot, #2 Team Pelfrey/Doug Mockett & Company/E-merging Technologies/ Parathyroid.com (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing) – Third: “It was an improvement from the race this morning, so at least we were able to get on the podium. Hopefully, we will be able to go back and look over everything and make some improvements to the car for tomorrow and we’ll be able to fight for the win.”
Henrik Furuseth, #32 Palfinger/Akrene Mek Verksted (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing) – First National Class: “It was a very good race for me. I had a good start and I was able to pass RC [Enerson] fairly quickly and was able to hold him behind me the whole race. He was putting pressure on me so it was quite tough, but the car was very good. I have to thank my team Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing for that. They did a great job in fixing the car after the crash in Race 1.”