Sunday June 12, 2022 by Philippe Brasseur
In support of the IndyCar series, competitors from the Road To Indy series were also in action this weekend at the long Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
In the USF2000 series, the two scheduled races took place on Saturday. These were somewhat disrupted, with a little rain, neutralizations and even a red flag interruption of the second event, the time to get a competitor out of the gravel traps.
Poorly qualified, with 14th then 9th lap times, after he had nevertheless managed to get the second fastest time in free practice, Thomas Nepveu, the only Quebec driver to evolve in the Road To Indy sector, made superb comebacks in the race, finishing 6th then 3rd.
In the first race, he managed to go from 14th to 6th in just 5 laps. Then attempting a final overtake for 5th position, he finally had to settle for 6th on the track, which however became 5th in the official classification after a penalty to a driver in front of him.
“The first round went very well,” said the driver of the No.10 Cromwell / Pétrole Bélanger / Home Hardware / Karting Excellence car. “I made some good overtakes. I think I could have aimed for 4th or 5th place but there was an accident in front of me and I made a bad decision when I tried to avoid a competitor, when I was 5th , which wasted my time. I was still very happy with the car and our speed after starting 14th” adds Thomas.
The second race of the day went even better for the young driver from Oka, as he climbed on the third step of the podium after making another series of overtakes despite the few laps under green flag that experienced this race. “Unfortunately, we ran out of laps in the second race! confirms Nepveu, who adds: “I would have liked it to be longer so that I could fight for 2nd place, but I’m very happy with my result. We had a good start and good restarts despite the conditions which were difficult, especially with the rain which came along”.
Rain came on lap 7 of 12, followed by a red flag. Thomas therefore did well with only three laps on the green flag at the end of the race.
Thomas Nepveu is now 7th in the drivers’ championship, 5 points from 6th position. The next event will be at Mid-Ohio from June 30 to July 3, for a triple program.
The first race was won by Jace Denmark, ahead of Myles Rowe, Billy Frazer and Dillan Christie. The second by Michael D’Orlando, ahead of Rowe, Nepveu, Bijoy Garg and Denmark. For full rankings, click here.
In the 2000 Indy Pro series, victories for rookie Louis Foster, championship leader, and Braden Eves. For full rankings, click here.
The Indy Lights race is the one that has experienced the most upheaval since after having started this Sunday morning, it will finally be resumed after the IndyCar race, around 3:15 p.m. this Sunday.
The race was interrupted due to a red flag on lap 9 this morning, after a spectacular crash by Christian Bogle (Dale Coyne Racing). The pilot damaged the safety fence on the outside of turn 5 after taking off into the grass. Bogle was not injured in the incident.
–
