Jacob Douglas has been victorious in mixed weather conditions in Race 1 at the Indianapolis Road Course in USF Pro 2000, while Sebastian Manson has come away with a top four finish in Race 2 after a retirement in Race 1.
Race 1
In a mixed weather race at the Indianapolis Road Course, Jacob Douglas showed his skill to convert a solid qualifying position into a race win.
With a split of mixed wet and dry conditions on the opening lap, Douglas was able to challenge for the lead into turn one but quickly backed out, slotting back into fifth. Drivers were clearly on edge through the first few corners, with it looking like drivers were racing on ice while they brought their tires up to temperature.
Sebastian Manson’s race came to an unfortunate early end after an incident in turn seven left him stranded on the grass, leaving him out of the race.
After starting on wet tires, Douglas came into the lane to change onto slicks. He emerged from the lane in eleventh, and the race quickly resumed with twenty laps to go.
The Kiwi then focused on working his way up the field, and as other drivers came into change tires, Douglas found himself shooting back up the order. Another full course yellow came out on lap thirteen, where Douglas found himself in second.
Douglas was soon promoted to the lead as the driver ahead came into the lane. The race went green but quickly found itself under caution again after a further incident, with Douglas still in the lead.
The race resumed on lap nineteen and Douglas did not look back, quickly pulling a three second margin after a singular lap. From here, all the Kiwi had to do was keep the car on the track.
Mac Clark started to bring the gap down in the last two laps, but Douglas’s great restart left him untouchable, bringing home victory for the Pabst Racing team by over a second and a half.
Race 2
There was no doubt that this would be a slicks race for Race 2 as the sun shone down in Indianapolis, with Race 1 winner Douglas starting in second place.
A full course yellow came out on lap three, with Douglas in third and Manson up in fifth. The race resumed soon after, and Manson was quickly challenging Douglas for third.
However, green flag running did not last long as the #4 car was left stranded on the infield, badly damaged in what looked to be a significant crash. The race eventually got resumed on lap ten, but green flag running only lasted six turns as once again, the full course yellow came out for a car stranded on the grass.
In that very short period of green flag running, Douglas had held onto third while Manson had fallen back to sixth.
On the restart on lap twelve, the top six were close to inseperable as Douglas fell down to sixth, while Manson was able to jump up to third.
Lap fourteen brought close racing for Douglas as he battled in a four-car pack for sixth. The Kiwi was lucky to avoid damage after contact with Andres Cardenas, but the battle meant he fell down to tenth with ten laps to go.
The busy safety team was run off their feet with another full course yellow, with the race being resumed on lap eighteen.
On the restart, Manson had moved back to sixth while Douglas had moved into ninth.
While battling for fourth, Manson made a superb pass around the outside into turn 1 to take the place, going deep on the brakes to get it completed.
Manson was able to hold onto fourth place to the chequered flag, which can be considered a great drive with all the in-race carnage.
Pabst Racing’s Douglas crossed the line in eighth, with the final confirmed classifications showing him finishing in ninth.
Douglas now sits sixth in the championship, with Manson down in sixteenth after a tough Race 1.
USF Pro 2000 will be back as a support category for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, with on-track action kicking off on 21st May after a series test on the 19th.
