Gavin Baker Photography
Escorpioni extends USF Juniors points lead with Mid-Ohio win
Leonardo Escorpioni came from behind Friday afternoon to claim a sublime victory in the first leg of the PFC Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio doubleheader for USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire. Escorpioni, from Windermere, Fla., grasped the lead from Zanella Racing teammate Ty Fisher following a mid-race restart and led the remainder of the 20-lap distance to claim his fourth victory of the season and extend his championship lead to 23 points over Oliver Wheldon, who finished fourth for VRD Racing.
Another Florida-based Brazilian, Joao Vergara, maintained his championship aspirations by finishing a close second, while early pacesetter Fisher had to settle for third.
Fisher, 14, from White Rock, B.C., Canada, was the fastest man in qualifying Friday morning, duly securing his second Continental Tire Pole Award of the season. Escorpioni was less than one tenth of a second slower to assure himself a starting position on the outside of the front row. VRD teammates Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., and Vergara shared row two.
A couple of midfield incidents broke up the first half of the race with Fisher narrowly holding onto his lead. But Escorpioni made a strong restart at the second time of asking as the two teammates jostled for the top spot. They successfully negotiated the majority of the undulating Esses, between Turns 4 and 6, in side-by-side formation, displaying tremendous respect for each other’s abilities without either wanting to give an inch.
But it was Escorpioni who prevailed, with Vergara, who had displaced Wheldon following an earlier restart on lap seven, also snapping at his heels. Next time around under braking at the top of the hill for Turn 2, Vergara saw a small opening and went for it. Second place was his reward.
Vergara then set a new fastest lap of the race on laps 12 and 13 in his pursuit of Escorpioni, while Fisher, in third, reset the mark next time around as the three leaders remained in close formation.
Wheldon, unfortunately, by this stage was no longer in the mix for the win following a skirmish at the exit of the final corner with Jay Howard Driver Development’s Liam Loiacono, from Queensland, Australia, up from eighth on the grid, which saw Wheldon being edged wide onto the grass. The consequent massive loss of momentum relegated Wheldon briefly to eighth.
The battle for the lead intensified in the closing stages as Escorpioni and Vergara traded fastest race laps with Fisher also hot on their heels. Escorpioni, though, was up to the challenge, and eventually took the checkered flags just 0.7921s ahead of Vergara. Fisher finished just behind the pair of them in third.
Lioacono couldn’t quite match the leading pace in fourth, but remained clear of Rodrigo Gonzalez, from Mexico City, Mexico, who was fifth for DEForce Racing ahead of the recovering Wheldon.
DEForce Racing’s Vilho Aatola, from Turku, Finland, drove well from a disappointing 12th on the grid to eighth ahead of Diego Guiot (Zanella Racing), from The Woodlands, Texas, Brenden Cooley (Exclusive Autosport), from Mokena, Ill., and the younger of the Gonzalez brothers, Patricio, who earned his first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season after rising from 18th on the grid to 10th.
Juan and Jessica Zanella took home their sixth PFC Award of the season as the winning car owners.
The USF Juniors weekend will conclude with a second 20-lap race at 9:40 a.m. EDT Saturday in advance of the second practice session for the NTT IndyCar Series contenders.
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