Nico Jamin, who made his American racing debut at St. Petersburg just a year before, came to St. Petersburg to race in the opening rounds of the 2015 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda with ambition and determination to score the maximum points possible. The Frenchman was able to finish twice on the podium in the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with a pair of third-place drives.
After the two rounds at St. Petersburg, home of his Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing team, he is now ranked third in the championship standings.
Jamin was hoping for a pole position, but qualified third on Friday and while disappointed, knew that he would have a great car for the race. In Race 1, a competitor bumped Jamin during the Turn 1 melee, leaving the Frenchman to drive throughout the race with a bent suspension.
In Race 2 Jamin, driving the No. 2 Synova Eco-Plastics entry, started third again and tried everything to pass his teammate for second, but at the end had to settle with a third-place podium finish.
"The first meeting of the 2015 championship at St. Petersburg is in the books now and it's been pretty successful for me,” Jamin said after the race. “I ended up with two third-place finishes. I scored very big points for the championship. Obviously it's not exactly where I want to be, but we'll work even harder to get victories now.”
Following the Cooper Tires Winterfest, 19-year-old Jamin knew that the 2015 championship would be a tough one and after the first two rounds, he understands that he is going to have to battle hard at every race to beat Jake Eidson and teammate, Aaron Telitz. Jamin, from Rouen, France, is ready for the challenge and is already looking forward to the next rounds in New Orleans.
“There is still a very long way to go in this championship," Jamin said. "We have 14 races left. I'm sure it's going be very exciting. I'm already looking forward to NOLA in two weeks. I did very well there during the Winterfest, so I am confident that my Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing team will give me a great car to compete for the win there.”
The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will return to action, once again in support of the Verizon IndyCar Series, at NOLA Motorsports Park, just a few miles from downtown New Orleans, La., on April 10-12.
Stay tuned for live timing and scoring at www.usf2000.com. Follow Nico Jamin all season on his website: www.nicojamin.com, on Facebook at www.facebook/nicojamin.racing and on Twitter @Nico_Jamin.