ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. – Leading open wheel junior formula team Exclusive Autosport made its Road America debut this past weekend in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Prior to the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires event, the team had tasted F1600 victory with their USF2000 pilot Dev Gore at Mt. Tremblant and then scored a pair of F1600 race wins in the F1 Canadian Grand Prix support event in Montreal with Gore’s MRTI teammate Parker Thompson at the wheel.
The Canadian followed up with Ontario F1600 wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park just a week later. Armed with this momentum, the crew and drivers tackled the four-mile Road America layout and came away with strong results as Thompson posted a pair of top-five finishes to remain in the championship hunt. Dev Gore scored his best results of the year with a high finish of 11th, while Jayson Clunie was back with the team once again and recorded a top-15 run in Race 1.
The drivers hit the track on Thursday afternoon for a single practice session that would set the table for Race 1 qualifyingon Friday morning, but a red flag during the event’s only practice severely hampered the track time that the team needed, it being their first trip to Road America. Overnight rain presented the USF2000 drivers with wet but drying conditions, which put on the pressure late in the short 20-minute session. Thompson spent time on the top of the charts during the run and was looking good, but a minor miscue sent him off track in the late going. Thompson wisely elected to bring the car to pit lane for an inspection, which eliminated a chance to leverage the increased grip at the end of the session as the track was drying. This dropped him from first to seventh, setting up a challenge for Race 1. Gore delivered his best qualifying effort of the year, pushing the limits, taking ninth in the tricky conditions, while Clunie qualified 17th.
In the first race of the doubleheader, Thompson attacked quickly during the opening lap chaos and moved to fifth to begin the battle. The team elected to keep Parker on his qualifying tires in order to save fresh Coopers for both Race 2 qualifying and the race itself. This put the onus on Thompson to battle hard, as he was surrounded by drivers with fresh rubber. He would eventually cross the stripe in fifth after a hard-fought battle for the top-five. Gore settled into a fight for the top-10 for the majority of the race and ended up 12th. Clunie pushed his personal limits all race long and was rewarded with a 14thplace finish.
Qualifying for Race 2 took place on Friday afternoon and Parker was on pole for most of the session, leveraging his fresh tires, but in another late session flurry, he slipped to fourth in the order to put himself on the outside of row two for the start of the backend of the weekend doubleheader. Gore was again impressive in the qualifying session and was 12th quickest, while Clunie continued his pace improvement by timing in 14th on the results sheet.
Thompson got a good start to the race and held station in fourth through to an early full course yellow, but on the ensuing restart, he missed the jump and paid the price, losing several positions all the way to turn five. After falling to 10th, Parker delivered a remarkable effort to battle his way back to fifth to complete a double-top-five weekend to earn valuable points in the championship. Gore controlled his start and ran 12th, and was then embroiled in a great battle for the final position in the top-10. He would eventually finish 11th. Clunie enjoyed better pace in Race 2, but was unluckily involved in a minor incident that would end his day early.
The next event on the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will take the drivers to the 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway on July 8-9 to add oval experience to their resumes.
Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with great companies, such as AERO™ Advanced Paint Technology (www.rethinkpaint.com), which is used on all their race cars.
DRIVER PERFORMANCE / QUOTES
COOPER TIRES USF2000 CHAMPIONSHIP POWERED BY MAZDA
EVENT #4 – JUNE 22-24, 2017
ROAD AMERICA – ELKHART LAKE, WI
PARKER THOMPSON - USF2000 #90
Qualifying 1: 7th – 2:14:733
Qualifying 2: 4th – 2:11.039
Race 1: Start – 7th / Finish – 5th
Race 2: Start – 4th / Finish – 5th
Driver Quote: “"Overall, I think the Openhwy #90 Exclusive Autosport team did a great job catching up to the rest of the USF2000 grid that had test time at Road America before the event. The huge circuit is not easy to dial a car in at, so I'm very proud that we had as competitive a car as we did. Realistically, to be competing for pole positions for both races with only one 30-minute session on the track is pretty awesome. Apart from that, we had solid points hauls in both races. We may not have had the pace and results we wanted, but I know the entire Exclusive Autosport organization is hungrier than ever to change that in the latter half of the season."
DEV GORE - USF2000 #92
Qualifying 1: 9th – 2:15.489
Qualifying 2: 15th – 2:12.648
Race 1: Start – 9th / Finish – 12th
Race 2: Start – 15th / Finish – 11th
Driver Quote: “Road America was not the weekend I hoped for, but I was able to show a bit of pace in tricky conditions, which is encouraging. I was not able to fully capitalize in the dry, due to a lack of pace. That said, we’re most definitely making gains, and I know that I am personally getting more and more comfortable with the car and want what it wants. I’m looking forward to my first oval race at Iowa in July.”
JAYSON CLUNIE - USF2000 #93
Qualifying 1: 16th – 2:17.7436
Qualifying 2: 18th – 2:13.7389
Race 1: Start – 16th / Finish – 14th
Race 2: Start – 18th / Finish – 16th
Driver Quote: “I was certainty not where I would like to be in the results but, if you want to get better at something that you love doing, you have to play in an arena with the best. This series is just that for open wheel at this level and I feel very proud to be a part of it and this team, so thanks Michael and Kimberly for keeping me around. Each session out, I continued to improve and make progress. Road America is a great place to race! The facility, event, fans and series create a great environment and it's makes me very proud to be a driver! I'm still lacking a bit in the starts, so more work needed there, but I am getting more used to the car. I had some pretty good battles through the race, but during an overtake in Turn 5, I pushed a bit wide and the other car came in a bit on me and we touched wheels which ended the day. Still taking away good things from the weekend, so I will put those in the toolbox and move on to Toronto. The car was the best it has been all year.”
About Exclusive Autosport: Exclusive Autosport (EA) is a professional racing team dedicated to the success of its drivers in open wheel formula car competition in North America. EA operate teams in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in the United States and the Formula Tour 1600 series in Canada. Exclusive’s drivers have secured numerous race wins, podium finishes and pole positions, as well as Rookie of the Year championships, a Team USA Scholarship and nominations for Team Canada F1600. Exclusive’s drivers are on the podium in over 80% of the races they enter. Exclusive Management Inc., the team’s parent company, has enjoyed great success in both open wheel and sports car racing and has worked with standout drivers like Thomas McGregor, Jack Mitchell Jr., Shelby Blackstock, Gregory Liefooghe, Jayson Clunie, David Levine and Trenton Estep. EM Inc. drivers are highly sought after in the motorsports industry.