New Zealand Grand Prix winner Liam Sceats will start on the second row when he makes his USF Pro 2000 race debut on Sunday morning (NZ time).
The Auckland-based teenager has shown great pace all weekend on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.9km) street circuit, going eleventh quickest in the sole practice session, his first-ever outing on a street circuit, before improving for third in qualifying.
Competing for TJ Speed Motorsport, Sceats completed 25 laps in practice on Saturday morning, setting a best time of 1:11.2740, just seven-tenths of a second off the pace of top driver Lochie Hughes.
He would improve on this significantly in qualifying, setting a best lap of 1:10.5260 and falling just 0.0468 seconds off the front row.
Hughes backed up his practice pace to claim the pole, his 1:10.16.13 over three-tenths quicker than his teammate Danny Dyszelski, the fastest rookie who locks out the front row for Turn 3 Motorsport.
Sceats has Pabst Racing’s Christian Brooks starting alongside him in fourth and VRD Motorsport’s Nikita Johnson and Pabst Racing’s Jace Denmark behind.
David Morales, a 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship competitor, qualified 13th.
The opening race of USF Pro 2000 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, run in support of IndyCar, begins at 5.55 a.m. on Sunday, with Race 2 going green at 2.00 a.m. on Monday.
The event will be live-streamed on the USF Pro Championships YouTube page.
Header Image: TJ Speed Motorsports
