St. Petersburg, Fla. – Jake Eidson and his Pabst Racing team continued their fine form this morning by leading throughout the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Race Two and completing a sweep of the opening weekend of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.
Just as was the case yesterday, 19-year-old Eidson took full advantage of his pole starting position to lead into the first corner from Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammates Aaron Telitz and Nico Jamin. Eidson led all 20 laps to take the victory but was pushed to the limit all of the way by Telitz. The pair of former Team USA Scholarship winners secured the top two positions for the second day running, with Frenchman Jamin once again rounding out the podium in third.
Eidson also had to contend with a full-course caution, which came after seven laps when Garth Rickards (Team Pelfrey) crashed out of seventh place in Turn Two. The race leader timed his restart to perfection but was never able to eke out a substantial advantage over Telitz, who kept the pressure on in second place. Telitz set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 19 to claim an additional championship point, but there was no way past Eidson who cemented his early series lead.
John Cummiskey Racing teammates and fellow Australian rookies Jordan Lloyd and Anthony Martin fought out an entertaining battle for fourth place. Lloyd seemed to have the edge in the early stages but it was a different story after the restart as Martin remained glued to his countryman’s tail before making a pass in Turn 10 with three laps to go. The move earned Martin, who finished fourth for the second day in a row, the Replay XD Move of the Race Award.
Sixth place was taken by Canadian karting ace Parker Thompson, who bounced back well for JDC MotorSports following an incident at the beginning of yesterday’s race.
Germany’s Keyvan Andres Soori (ArmsUp Motorsports), the youngest driver in the field at age 15, took seventh ahead of the Palmetto, Fla.-based Team Pelfrey trio of Nikita Lastochkin, Luke Gabin and Ayla Agren. Both Andres Soori and Gabin, the winner of last year’s Skip Barber Championship Shootout and a MAZDASPEED scholarship to graduate into USF2000, also had been eliminated in the first-lap incident on Saturday.
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Andrew List (D2D Motorsports) earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award for moving up five places during the race from his 17th starting position. The PFC Award was presented to the winning car owner, Augie Pabst, and the Staubli Award to Telitz
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.
Jake Eidson (#22 OMP/Bell Helmets/1st Bank/SAFEisFAST.com/Team USA Scholarship-Pabst Racing): “You talk about having weekends like this, but to actually have one is definitely easier said than done. Everyone at Pabst Racing has worked so hard, especially since Winterfest. We weren’t sure what kind of results we were going to have – obviously we were aiming for the win but to actually execute it is a relief. It was close today. On the restart, I didn’t get all the way down into first gear coming out of Turn One, so when I came back to gas on the acceleration, it was a bit slow. Luckily, I was able to make it out of there without being side by side for too long. I saw the two Cape cars battling coming out of Turn Four so it gave me some breathing room. It was nerve wracking, but thankfully we didn’t have any issues.
About USF2000: The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda debuted in 2010 and is a continuation of the highly-regarded USF2000 series which ran from 1990 through 2006, launching the careers of many of today’s top drivers. Sanctioned by INDYCAR and managed by Andersen Promotions, the series is the first official step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system. The top driver in the Championship class will earn a scholarship package from Mazda to advance to the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The series also is part of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder program which assists young drivers in advancing from the Skip Barber Racing School to USF2000. Additional information can be found at www.usf2000.com.
About Mazda, Mazda Motorsports, and MAZDASPEED: Mazda is a leading player in all aspects of sports car racing with an emphasis on endurance road racing. Mazda is the number-one brand for road-racers across North America among both club racers and professionals. Thousands of Mazda-powered grassroots racers compete in various classes with the SCCA and NASA highlighted by Spec Miata, the world’s largest spec class with over 2,500 cars built. Via the Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy and the Mazda Road to Indy, Mazda supports racers at all levels of the sport from club racing up to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship where it races with production SKYACTIV Technology.
Mazda remains the only Asian car company to score an overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1991). Mazda has had a naming rights agreement at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca since 2000.
Mazda Motorsports is managed by Mazda North American Operations (MNAO). MNAO is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.
Consumer information can be found at www.mazdausa.com, with press information at www.mazdausamedia.com. Racers and fans can follow the action on Facebook (Mazda Motorsports), Twitter (@mazdaracing), Instagram (MazdaMotorsport) and www.mazdamotorsports.com.
About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company: Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) is a global company with affiliates, subsidiaries and joint ventures that specialize in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car and light truck tires. The company also has subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of companies located in 11 countries around the world. Additional information can be found at www.us.coopertire.com.
Contact: Tamy Valkosky, Public Relations
949.459.9172 Office
949.842.3946 Cellular
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