Lexington, Ohio – For the second day in a row, RC Enerson was the class of the field in the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, Round 11 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. But following a dramatic green/white-checkered finish in diabolical wet conditions, it was Jake Eidson who emerged to take the victory – his second of the season – for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.
Enerson, driving the #7 Peninsula Pipeline/Patriot Bank/Tampa Bay Rays/Bell Helmets/ Sparco Van Diemen-Mazda for Team E Racing, once again managed to beat polesitter Florian Latorre (Cape Motorsports) away from the rolling start. Several incidents broke up the race with a series of full-course cautions, but each time Enerson was able to maintain his hard-won advantage.
The final restart, with just one lap remaining, provided the talking point of the race as Brazilian Victor Franzoni (Afterburner Autosport) got the jump on Enerson at the green flag and grasped the preferred inside line under braking for Turn One. Advantage Franzoni. Enerson, however, made a faster exit to Turn Two, leading onto the main straightaway, and was able to accelerate past his rival on the run toward Turn Four. Enerson still led into the Esses, where Franzoni’s attempt to regain the lead resulted in contact, sending them both spinning to the outside of the turn.
Eidson (#2 Penthouse Beach Vacations/1st Bank/Bell Helmets/OMP), close behind in third, was perfectly positioned to move through into the lead, which he held for the final mile or so to secure the victory.
Aaron Telitz also drove a strong race. The Birchwood, Wis., native started third for ArmsUp Motorsports, found himself relegated to 13th at the end of the first lap of competition, then charged through the field to finish second.
Norwegian Henrik Furuseth posted another late charge for JAY Motorsports, just managing to edge ahead of Latorre for third at the checkered flag. Franzoni recovered to cross the line in fifth but fell to 14th in the final results after being assessed a 30-second penalty for his part in the last-lap incident with Enerson, who finished eighth.
Furuseth’s performance to claim his first podium finish of the season earned him the Tilton Hard Charger Award, after climbing from 14th on the grid, as well as the Staubli Award and the RePlay XD Move of the Race for passing three cars followed a restart on Lap 9.
The PFC Award and customized Race Energy charger – the official battery of the ladder series – went to the winning team of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.
Round 12 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will take place tomorrow (Sunday, August 3) at 9:05 a.m EDT.
Jake Eidson, #2 Penthouse Beach Vacations/1st Bank/Bell Helmets/OMP (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing): “I don’t really know what happened the first few laps. It was all a blur really. I passed a few cars and I was able to pass my teammate after a couple of laps. We had a full course caution and by then I had moved up to second. I didn’t do too well on the restart and lost a position. We had another caution and I was able to get a good restart that time. I saw that Victor [Franzoni] and RC [Enerson] were battling pretty hard and I was hoping to take advantage of any mistakes they made and they did. It feels great to get my second win and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”