Jacob Douglas has come away from the opening round of the 2023 USF2000 in St. Petersburg in 10th in the standings.
The young Kiwi finished 8th in the first of two races and 15th in the other, off the back of a Lap 1 incident which put him three laps down.
The Exclusive Autosport racer was immediately on the backfoot in qualifying when traffic jeopardized his run. He was unfortunate to tumble down the order and forced to start yesterday’s Race 1 off the sixth row, in 11th.
The 20-Lap opener saw Douglas move forward and sneak into the top 10, a hard fought eighth on the unforgiving Streets of St. Petersburg the reward.
Australian Lochie Hughes was Race 1’s winner with Evagoras Papasavvas and Nikita Johnson also on the podium.
Those same streets were the cause of grief for Douglas among many others in this morning’s Race 2 with only 13 of the 21 cars finishing on the lead lap. Several separate incidents saw a magnitude of pit lane repairs taking place, including for Douglas who returned to action three laps down from his own Lap 1 drama.
Despite involvement in the unfolding chaos, the Kiwi put his head down and punched out some solid lap times on his return. His personal best clocked as the second fastest of the race showing he has the same pace as the contenders ahead. Only Simon Sikes was able to better a 1:12.8 in his drive to second.
Johnson was Race 2 winner whilst Hughes backed up his Race 1 victory with another podium in third.
The USF2000 Championship returns over March 23-26 at Sebring, a track where Douglas has already experienced success this year. He’ll be one to watch as a title favourite looking to bounce back from a tricky opening round.
