INDIANAPOLIS, IN -  After a two-month hiatus, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Presented by Mazda series was back in action over the weekend, moving the race action to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH.

With two of the four BAR drivers in the Top 10 during practice, Colorado native Scott Anderson and Aussie Roman Lagudi were continually battling one another near the top of the time sheets. However, engine problems plagued New Yorker Luca Forgeois while teammate and Pennsylvania resident Colin Thompson found it difficult to adapt to the track's ever-changing conditions.

Once qualifying for Race 1 came around, Lagudi, Anderson and Forgeois managed Top 10 efforts with P4, P6 and P10, respectively; Thompson was not far behind in P15. Because of a rule violation, Race 1 polesitter Matthew Brabham had his times thrown out, and was sent to start the race at the back of the field which allowed for everyone to begin the race one position forward than what they had qualified.

Now starting in the Top 5, Anderson and Lagudi battled with the front of the pack and crossed the start-finish line in P2 for Anderson and P5 for Lagudi. The second-place finish was Scott's highest finish of the season and his first podium in USF2000. For Roman, the finish became his sixth (out of seven races) Top 5 finish. Perkasie, PA native Thompson would see the checkered flag fly in eighth after moving up seven spots from his P15 start, with Forgeois shortly thereafter in tenth, bringing home solid Top 10 finishes for the entire team.

Based off of fastest lap times from Race 1, Race 2 would see the Belardi crew starting in P3 -Anderson, P7 - Lagudi, P11 - Forgeois and P13 - Thompson.

Sunday started off with a bang when a huge downpour occurred just minutes after the series began their morning warm-up. The less than ideal conditions seemed to have improved by the drop of the green flag of Race 2 although it was declared a wet start by series officials. Anderson had a tremendous start gaining the lead before the first lap had even completed.  Soon after a melee broke loose when Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammates Matthew Brabham and Spencer Pigot caused the first full-course caution of the race.

Following another lap, multiple cars were seen off-course in the now dry conditions and series officials signaled another full-course yellow caution. Once the restart was given, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver and 2011 Skip Barber Champion Anderson held on to his lead over the field once more after Pigot and Brabham became entangled a second time.

A quick clean-up of the circuit occurred, and only one green lap remained; the Fort Collins, CO. resident brought his No. 14 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Neuropathy Testing Center/Laser Centers car all the way to the checkered flag in P1.

With the fastest lap of the race occurring on the last lap by Anderson, the USF2000 Rookie secured a fourth place spot in the Championship standings directly behind teammate Lagudi who remains in third.

Unfortunately the rest of Belardi Auto Racing did not have quite the showing Scott did during Race 2. California resident Lagudi saw the checkered flag in sixteenth after a pitstop gamble to change from rain tires to slicks that did not pay off due to multiple caution flags. Teammate Forgeois followed in P22 after making contact with another car during the warm-up lap and Thompson was shown in P28 after making contact during the first lap and was unable to complete the race.

Belardi Auto Racing will bring their winning team to beautiful Elkhart Lake, WI next week for Round 8 and 9 of the 2012 season. Keep up to date with the Mazda Road to Indy team by 'liking' them on Facebook or following them on Twitter.

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SCOTT ANDERSON, DRIVER NO. 14 MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS DEVELOPMENT/NEUROPATHY TESTING CENTER/LASER CENTERS/BELARDI AUTO RACING

I had some really good opening laps at the start of the race and was able to put a decent gap on Spencer (Pigot) and Matt (Brabham). After that, with the restarts, they were able to get some pretty close attempts at me. At the end, I was just trying to hang on to the car and keep a gap and really not throw it off. I was happy to bring it home and extremely happy to have a win. I have to say a huge thanks to the Belardi Auto Racing guys and MAZDASPEED Motorsports.
 
About Belardi Auto Racing
Belardi Auto Racing is a Cooper Tires Presents USF2000 Powered by Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights team based in Brownsburg, Indiana. The 2011 season saw two race wins, 10 podiums, 17 top-five finishes and 36 top-tens. Follow the team on Twitter, Facebook  or their official website, www.BelardiAutoRacing.com.