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Testing report

Askew stretches advantage, Martin rises in MRTI testing

Cape Motorsports enjoyed a satisfying day of Spring Training on Homestead Miami Speedway’s road course, as Oliver Askew led USF2000 and Anthony Martin topped the Pro Mazda timesheets.

Oliver Askew, Cape Motorsports

Oliver Askew, Cape Motorsports

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Anthony Martin, Cape Motorsports
Anthony Martin
Oliver Askew
Oliver Askew, Cape Motorsports

USF2000

Askew not only maintained his position at the top of the USF2000 leaderboard, he pulled a remarkable 0.4sec clear of his nearest opponent on the second and final day of this series’ segment of Mazda Road To Indy Spring Training.

With a best time of 1min23.9142sec, Askew put Cape Motorsports’ #3 Tatuus USF-17 Mazda on top with a lap turned in the first of three sessions today. Around the 2.21-mile Homestead Miami Speedway road course, that equated to 94.811mph for the Team USA Scholarship winner and also victor in the inaugural Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout.

“The team is really good at making the right changes for us to learn,” said Askew, “which is what we’ve been doing these two days. We haven’t gone out with the same car as the previous session.

“We picked right up where we left off yesterday and, at the end of the day, we were the only car in the top six that didn’t put new tires on. We’re all getting more knowledgeable about the new car with every change that we make. The Tatuus USF-17 is fantastic. The series has done a great job putting it together and making it user-friendly.

“I didn’t expect the test to go this well so I’m extremely happy and very confident that we’ll be winning races this year.”

 His closest opponent was Team Pelfrey’s new recruit Kaylen Frederick, who was 0.15sec faster than yesterday’s P2 man Rinus VeeKay. Again, both Newman Wachs Racing and Pelfrey had three cars in the Top 10 while last year’s third place finisher, Victor Franzoni, remained just outside it.  

1 Oliver Askew                   Cape Motorsports                 1min23.9142sec
2 Kaylen Frederick            Team Pelfrey                           1:24.3181
3 Rinus VeeKay                  Newman Wachs Racing        1:24.4653
4 Andre Castro                   Newman Wachs Racing       1:24.6664
5 Robert Megennis           Team Pelfrey                          1:24.6747
6 Calvin Ming                     Pabst Racing                          1:24.7375
7 Parker Thompson          Exclusive Autosport              1:24.8296
8 Kyle Kirkwood                 Benik                                      1:25.0495
9 Dakota Dickerson           Newman Wachs Racing       1:25.0892
10 Ayla Agren                     Team Pelfrey                          1:25.1130
11 Victor Franzoni              ArmsUp Motorsports          1:25.1383
12 Kory Enders                   DEForce Racing                     1:25.2600
13 Lucas Kohl                     Pabst Racing                           1:25.3061
14 Moises de la Vara         DEForce Racing                      1:25.3097
15 Luke Gabin                    Exclusive Autosport               1:25.5477
16 Ricky Donison               Cape Motorsports                 1:25.6420
17 Kris Wright                     John Cummiskey Racing      1:25.6730
18 Devin Wojcik                  ArmsUp Motorsports           1:26.7343
19 Dev Gore                        Exclusive Autosport              1:26.9352
20 Chandler Horton          RJB Motorsports                    1:27.6053
21 Bruna Tomaselli*          ArmsUp Motorsports           1:28.1298

All cars Tatuus except *= previous spec Van Diemen

PRO MAZDA

Reigning USF2000 champion Anthony Martin and Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing hinted that they might give Team Pelfrey a tough time in the Pro Mazda championship battle this year.

The Australian narrowly edge the series’ dominant team with his fastest run of the morning, as Carlos Cunha became Pelfrey’s fastest driver, and Nikita Lastochkin also edged ahead of TJ Fischer, yesterday’s pacesetter.

Martin stated: “The last couple of days have been a big learning curve. The first day didn’t go as planned for us but, like we always do, we bounced back and this second day has been very productive. We’ve learned a lot about car setup and with my driving and, most importantly, we were quite fast.

“The biggest thing we worked on was driving, just getting me used to the car. I think the transition has gone well. This car has more power and more grip than the USF2000 car but it’s fun to learn.”

Ex Brazil F3 race winner Cunha said: “It was a very good test for me. Last week was my first time in this car and it’s very different to drive than the Formula 3 car. It has more power and I am still getting used to the tires and the difference in downforce. This year will be very challenging but I have two good teammates. I need to learn a lot – about the car and about the tracks. I’ve never driven on a street course before!”

Mazda Road To Indy Spring Training continues tomorrow, with the Indy Lights cars hitting Homestead’s road course, after testing on the oval on Monday.  

1 Anthony Martin      Cape Motorsports                   1:23.6329
2 Carlos Cunha          Team Pelfrey                            1:23.7299
3 Nikita Lastochkin   Team Pelfrey                            1:23.7980
4 TJ Fischer                 Team Pelfrey                            1:24.0550
5 Sting Ray Robb       World Speed Motorsports     1:25.4694
6 Bobby Eberle          World Speed Motorsports     1:25.6938
7 Jeff Green                Green Racing                           1:26.7837

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