NA-F2000: Series VIR Friday practice notes

VIR Practice: Cole Morgan Leads the Way

Alton, VA -- 2007 F2000 Champion Cole Morgan turned in fast lap of 1:55.6 to top the time sheets on Friday during practice for the opening rounds of the 2010 F2000 Championship Series season this weekend at VIR. With 30 cars taking to the track, traffic and local yellow flags played a big role.

Following Morgan on the time sheets in the second practice session were rookie Daniel Erickson, less a tenth off Morgan, Remy Audette and Alegra Motorsports teammates Fabio Orsolon and Victor Carbone. Last year's pole time was 1:54.708.

"It was a good session since we were able to get out first and had five clear laps," commented Audette, who set the track record here last season. "The team is doing a great job. We made some changes on the car to make it better and now we have to find some more time."

Andy Greene, who oversees Alegra's F2000 program, commented: "Today is practice, we'll have to see tomorrow. We had debris on the track take Victor's front wing off and damage the rear wing as well. Now it's time to get ready for tomorrow, talk to the drivers, debrief and try to find a few more tenths."

Rounding out the top ten in the second practice session were Rob Nicholas, 2008 Masters Class Champion Tim Minor, Tim Kautz, Jonathan Scarallo and Tom Fatur.

Rob Nicholas set the fast time in the first session at 1:56.785, in a practice split up by black flags. He was closely followed by newcomer Daniel Erickson, Cole Morgan, Canadian Remy Audette and returning 2009 Masters Class Champion Tom Fatur.

It was Erickson's second day ever in an F2000 car. His #02 is being fielded by Primus Racing and he is driving the same chassis that took the 2007 F2000 title with Cole Morgan, and finished second in last year's title fight with Matthew Inge at the wheel.

"The track was pretty green from the rain last night," said the Australian, Erickson. "There wasn't so much grip so we didn't get the setup perfect, and the session was also split up a bit with the black flags."

The first practice session saw the throttle stick on Al Guibord Jr's #95 Van Diemen, sending him in a spin that took off the front wing. Jonathan Scarallo went off as well, losing his rear wing.

Additionally, Chirs Gumprecht continued to battle fuel pickup issues in his St. Clair #97. SMR will not field the #14 for Blake Teeter after losing an engine yesterday.

Chris Livengood, the only Pinto powered car at VIR, was 12th fastest in the first session, out of 33 cars. Livengood has John Walko engineering his Van Diemen this weekend.

The F2000 Championship Series at VIR continues tomorrow, Saturday April 10 with a morning qualifying session followed by race one of the 2010 championship. Sunday has a similar schedule with a morning qualifying session followed by an afternoon 30-minute or 14-lap race. Fans and competitors can follow live updates, news and photos on www.F2000ChampionshipSeries.com or on Twitter @F2000.

-source: f2000