New Zealand drivers Jacob Douglas and Sebastian Manson returned to the track over the weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Rounds 13 and 14 of the 2025 USF Pro Championship.
The picturesque 3.6km road course hosted a competitive field and two action-packed races, where both Kiwis demonstrated speed, grit, and progress, albeit not without challenges.
The weekend began with a pair of test sessions on Friday, and Douglas, driving for Pabst Racing, immediately showed promising pace. He was fourth in the opening session, just 0.328s off the benchmark set by his teammate and championship leader Max Garcia, who set a 1:17.845.
Douglas improved his time by nearly four-tenths in the second session, clocking a 1:17.812 to go third fastest, only 0.033s behind VRD Racing’s Max Taylor, who topped the times.
Manson, competing for TJ Speed Motorsports, gradually built momentum. He was 15th in the first test but improved significantly in session two, cutting nearly eight tenths from his best time to finish 12th and less than six-tenths off the pace.
In official practice, Douglas stayed near the front, ending the session second quickest with a 1:17.110, just 0.193s shy of Garcia, who again led the field. Manson continued his upward trend, taking 17th but again slicing over half a second off his personal best.
Qualifying for Race 1 didn’t go entirely to plan for Douglas, who admitted he didn’t extract the full potential from the car. He lined up sixth on the grid, while Manson secured 16th out of 18 starters.
Race 1:
Saturday’s opening 30-lap race got underway under clear skies with Garcia and Ariel Elkin (TJ Speed) leading the field to green.
A clean start for Garcia allowed him to begin building a lead, but chaos erupted behind when Alessandro De Tuillo and Mac Clark tangled while fighting for third, sending Clark into the grass and down the order.
Douglas capitalised, moving up to fifth, while Manson impressed with a fast start, gaining four spots on the opening lap and jumping into 11th, then 10th soon after.
A Lap 5 incident brought out the full-course caution when George Garciarce suffered a puncture following contact with Logan Adams. At the Lap 7 restart, Douglas lost a position to Turn 3 Motorsport’s Nicholas Monteiro.
He had to defend from teammate Michael Costello. Manson continued his charge, climbing as high as ninth after Frankie Mossman ran into trouble.
Douglas regained fifth place from Monteiro on Lap 14 and began to chase down De Tuillo, getting within six-tenths at one stage before the Italian driver edged back out.
Manson, meanwhile, engaged in a tense back-and-forth with Joey Brienza before eventually settling into ninth.
Despite not having the pace to challenge the podium in the closing laps, Douglas held firm for fifth at the chequered flag, while Manson finished a solid ninth, his fifth top-ten of the season.
Garcia took a commanding win by 7.3 seconds over Elkin and Taylor, with De Tuillo in fourth.
Race 2:
Sunday’s Race 2 saw Douglas start from the front row alongside Garcia, while Manson again lined up 16th. Garcia got the jump off the line, while Douglas found himself in a side-by-side battle with Mossman for second.
Disaster struck early for Manson, who collided with Monteiro at Turn 12. The incident sent Manson spinning and left him with two punctures and a damaged car.
Both drivers were forced to pit, and while Manson briefly returned to the track four laps down, lingering issues ultimately led to his retirement on Lap 14.
Up front, Garcia steadily pulled away from Douglas, with the gap extending to nearly two seconds by Lap 4. A full-course caution on Lap 8 following Nick Gilkes’ stoppage temporarily bunched the field, but Garcia once again broke clear on the restart.
Douglas held his own in second but didn’t have the pace to reel his teammate back in.
As the race settled, Garcia maintained control and sealed his second win of the weekend, completing a clean sweep at Mid-Ohio. Douglas crossed the line in second, earning his fifth podium of the season and a valuable points haul.
Championship Picture:
The strong weekend has boosted Douglas back into the top five of the championship standings. He now sits fifth overall with 243 points, closing in on De Tuillo, who holds fourth with 267.
Garcia, meanwhile, has extended his dominant lead, now with 384 points, 97 clear of Elkin in second, while Clark sits third, just eight points behind Elkin.
For Manson, it was a weekend of mixed fortunes. His ninth-place finish in Race 1 was another sign of his consistent development in his rookie season, but the DNF in Race 2 keeps him 13th in the standings on 115 points.
USF Pro 2000 action returns next weekend, July 18-20, at the Streets of Toronto in Ontario, a 1.7-mile, 11-turn street circuit.
Header Image: USF Pro 2000
