Machado Perez and Mokarem share USF Juniors spoils

A pair of closely fought races wrapped up the Grand Prix of Homestead Presented by YACademy and the start to a new season of USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire.

Machado Perez claimed an accomplished victory Wednesday morning for VRD Racing by Pole Position with Olivia Racing’s Karol Pasiewicz and DEForce Racing’s Vilho Aatola rounding out the podium for the second day running.

In the second race Wednesday afternoon, Max Mokarem timed a mid-race restart to perfection, leaping from fourth into a lead he was able to hold until the finish for Zanella Racing. Pasiewicz once again finished second – by a whisker – with Olivier Mrak grasping the final podium finish for Zanella Racing following a penalty assessed to Exclusive Autosport’s Bex Cranston.

A second qualifying session helped determine the starting order for both of today’s races, with Machado Perez regaining his impressive pace from testing and practice by posting the fastest time to snag the Continental Tire Pole Award. DEForce Racing’s Aatola lined up alongside on the front row with yesterday’s winner Mokarem and Casper Nissan (JHDD powered by ECR) sharing the second row of the grid.

A thrilling race ensued, with all 20 laps run under green-flag conditions. Machado Perez led the opening four laps before Mokarem moved up front. Nissen, Pasiewicz and Aatola also remained strongly in contention.

On the 15th lap, Mokarem and Nissen ran side by side through Turn 3, but then made contact as they hit the brakes for Turn 4. In a flash, both ran wide and Machado Perez regained a lead he was never to lose.

Pasiewicz chased as hard as he could but once again had to settle for second with Nissen barely edging out Aatola and Victor Couto (Zanella Racing) in a photo finish for third.

Later, however, 10-second penalties were assessed to both Nissen and Couto for avoidable contact, which relegated them to 10th and 11th in the final results and, for the second race in a row, elevated Aatola to the podium.

Cole Medeiros moved up to fifth, narrowly ahead of Exclusive Autosport teammate Cranston, who pocketed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 15th on the grid to sixth at the finish.

The final race of the opening round, held this afternoon, saw Machado Perez once again snaring the Continental Tire Pole Award by virtue of posting the best of each driver’s second-fastest lap during qualifying this morning or their best laps from the earlier race. Nissen gained some consolation by lining up second, based upon his improvement in the race, with Pasiewicz and Mokarem on row two.

Machado Perez led the early stages, albeit not by much as Pasiewicz remained hot on his heels before some debris on the race track brought out the full-course caution flags with six laps in the books.

The race went green again with eight laps remaining, but there was immediate controversy as Machado Perez found himself swallowed up by the pack, believing that others behind him had jumped on the throttle before the green flag waved. However, a thorough review by race officials determined that Mokarem’s leap from fourth to the lead was indeed legitimate, so the 14-year-old led the pack as the remainder of the field jostled in his mirrors.

Pasiewicz was especially unfortunate, trapped behind Machado Perez as the race was restarted, to the extent that he completed the following lap all the way down in 10th. But Pasiewicz posted another magnificent charge and even grasped the lead briefly heading into the final banked corner on the last lap, only to leave a small gap on the inside which Mokarem instantly filled and then nosed ahead to win by a mere 0.0094s.

Mrak, who had been running eighth prior to the caution, profited from a 10-second penalty to Cranston for avoidable contact to claim third ahead of Max Cuthbert, who earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 14th on the grid.

The day’s two PFC Awards went to Dan Mitchell and Yannick Rolland (VRD Racing by Pole Position) and Jose and Jessica Zanella as the winning car owners.

USF Juniors will now take a break before assembling at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C., for another tripleheader event on May 2-3.