Virginia International Raceway Day 1 Trackside Report

Amy Greenway

August 26, 2017 03:05

Virginia International Raceway Day 1 Trackside Report

Schedule of Today’s Events (All Times Local)

Friday, Aug. 25, 2017

7:00 a.m. Registration Opens

7:00 a.m. F4 Tech & Scales Open

7:45 a.m. F4 U.S. Tech Closes

8:00 a.m. F4 U.S. Official Practice Starts

8:30 a.m. F4 U.S. Official Practice Ends

9:00 a.m. F4 U.S. Tech Opens

9:25 a.m. F4 U.S. Official Practice 1 Ends

12:45 p.m. F4 U.S. Tech Closes

12:45 p.m. Lunch Starts

12:50 p.m. Pregrid for Qualifying Opens

1:15 p.m. Lunch Ends

1:15 p.m. F4 U.S. Qualifying Starts

1:45 p.m. F4 U.S. Qualifying Ends

1:45 p.m. F4 U.S. Parc Ferme Starts

2:45 p.m. F4 U.S. Parc Ferme Ends

3:00 p.m. F4 U.S. Tech Opens

4:00 p.m. F4 U.S. Drivers Meeting Starts

4:00 p.m. Registration Closes

4:30 p.m. F4 U.S Drivers Meeting Ends

5:00 p.m. F4 U.S. Tech Closes

Entry List

Car #:

Driver:

Hometown:

Team:

Engine:

Sponsors:

Skylar Robinson

Augusta, Ga

Momentum Motorsports

Honda

Momentum Motorsports

Vincent Khristov

Delray Beach, FL

Indy Motorsports Group

Honda

CPC Inc

Jim Goughary Jr

Jupiter, FL

Primus Racing Team

Honda

Primus Race Parts

Austin McCusker

Glen Head, NY

Primus Racing Team

Honda

Dot Works / Primus Racing

Parker Locke

San Antonio, TX

Jay Howard’s Motorsports

Driver Development

Honda

Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Development

Blake Mount

Denver, CO

JDX Racing

Honda

Expedia / HD Supply / Sobel Westex

Kyle Kirkwood

Jupiter, FL

Cape Motorsports

Honda

Mathias Soler-Obel

Bogota, Colombia

Cape Motorsports

Honda

Davis Durrett

Carmel, IN

Indy Motorsports Group

Honda

Tyler O’Connor

New Hartford, CT

Jay Howard’s Motorsports

Driver Development

Honda

Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Development

/ Lucan Oil / Green 1

Moises de la Vara

Guadalajara, Mexica

DE Force Racing

Honda

UAG / Promomin / Repsol

Elliot Finlayson

Yorkville, IL

Jay Howard’s Motorsports

Driver Development

Honda

Kent Vaccaro

Plattsburgh, NY

Momentum Motorsports

Honda

Momentum Motorsports

Timo Reger

Houston, TX

JDX Racing

Honda

Jacob Abel

Louisville, KY

Abel Motorsports

Honda

Abel Construction / Advance Inc

Benjamin Pedersen

Copenhagen, Denmark

Global Racing Group

Honda

DirtFish / Alfa Romeo of Seattle / Egrari Non- Invasive Center

Austin Kaszuba

Burleson, TX

Crosslink Racing

Honda

LVP Powder and Paints / Cross Link Power Coating

Ben Waddell

Denver, CO

JDX Racing

Honda

Stoner Car Care / USWAG

Jonathan Scarallo

Smithtown, NY

Group A Racing

Honda

Chris Archinaco

Pittsburgh, PA

Indy Motorsports Group

Honda

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Jordan Sherratt

Durban, South Africa

Crosslink Racing

Honda

Crosslink Powder Coating

Justin Sirgany

Kingston, Jamaica

Global Racing Group

Honda

JFP / Your Complete Décor Solution / Bob Marley Foundation

Jack William Miller

Westfield, IN

Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon Motorsports

Honda

Indy Dental Group LLC / Blue Marble

Baltazar Leguizamon

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon Motorsports

Honda

Motorola

John Paul Southern Jr

Westlake, OH

Jay Howard’s Motorsports

Driver Development

Honda

Pittsburgh International Race Complex

Raphael Forcier

Montreal, Quebec

Indy Motorsports Group

Honda

Parizeau Pawulski Deslandes Architetcs

Jacob Loomis

Corinth, TX

Global Racing Group

Honda

Optima Anesthesia / Epic Electric

Kory Enders

Warwick, NY

DE Force Racing

Honda

MBSugerland

Dakota Dickerson

San Diego, CA

Kiwi Motorsport / RJB Motorsports

Honda

RJB Motorsports / Metalloid Corporation

Brendon Leitch

Invercargill, New Zealand

Kiwi Motorsport LTD

Honda

ITM / Kiwi Motorsport

Lawson Nagel

Fort Worth, TX

Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon Motorsports

Honda

Marc Samuels Jewelers

Christopher Gumprecht

Stanfordville, NY

C.G. Racing

Honda

Steve Bamford

Toronto, Ontario

Cape Motorsports

Honda

Rice Race Prep

Car count: 33

***

Teams started arriving at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Alton, Virginia, around 6:30 a.m. The temperature was 61 degrees with 56 percent humidity. Wind speeds were at 5 miles per hour.

***

The first morning test session began at 8:00 a.m. and lasted 30 minutes. F4 U.S. was the first session of the day. Track conditions were cold and damp from morning dew. Thirty-two of the 33 competitors tested. Austin Kaszuba of Burleson, Texas, did not participate due to mechanical issues that stemmed from the promoter test day on Wednesday. Several short yellow flags flew during the session. Turn 17 created problems for the competitors, collecting four drivers at separate times throughout the practice. At the five-minute mark, Chris Gumprech of Stanfordville, New York, hit the tire wall in T3, which caused a red. The driver was uninjured but the clean-up and restructure of the wall consumed a lot of practice time. The cars returned to the track for three additional laps, until another red stopped their progress. Individual, unrelated incidents from Jordan Sherratt of Durban, South Africa, and Ben Waddell of Denver caused the flag. Sherratt shunted in T17 and Waddell hit the tire wall in T10. Both drivers were unharmed. Sherratt returned to the pit-lane lineup, but severe damage from impact mangled Waddell’s car, forcing him to retire. The clean-up and wall reinforcement ran out the practice clock and the session finished under red conditions. Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, laid down the fastest lap time in practice with a 1:55.455.

Pos	No.	Name	Best Tm	Diff	In Lap	Hometown	Team	Sponsor
1	8	Kyle Kirkwood	1:55.455		5	Jupiter Fla.	Cape Motorsports	Cape Motorsports
2	29	Jonathan Scarallo	1:55.821	0.366	5	Smithtown N.Y.	Group A Racing	Group A Racing
3	61	John Paul Southern Jr	1:55.849	0.394	5	Westlake Ohio	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Pittsburgh International Race Complex/ Jay
4	2	Skylar Robinson	1:56.059	0.604	4	Augusta Ga.	Momentum Motorsports	Momentum Motorsports
5	11	Tyler O'Connor	1:56.520	1.065	5	New Hartford CT	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Developm
6	9	Mathias Soler-Obel	1:56.696	1.241	4	Bogota COL	Cape Motorsports	Cape Motorsports
7	86	Brendon Leitch	1:56.820	1.365	5	Invercargill NZL	Kiwi Motorsport	ITM/ Kiwi Motorsport
8	62	Raphael Forcier	1:56.868	1.413	4	Montreal Qué. Can.	Indy Motorsports Group	Parizeau Pawulski Deslandes Architects
9	85	Dakota Dickerson	1:57.136	1.681	5	San Diego Calif.	Kiwi Motorsport	Kiwi Motorsport
10	14	Elliot Finlayson	1:57.243	1.788	5	Yorkville Ill.	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Developm
11	28	Ben Waddell	1:57.560	2.105	2	Denver Colo.	JDX Racing	Stoner Car Care / USWAG
12	07	Steve Bamford	1:57.875	2.420	5	Toronto Ont. Can.	Cape Motorsports	Rice Race Prep
13	77	Kory Enders	1:57.952	2.497	3	Warwick N.Y.	DE Force Racing	MBSugerland
14	5	Austin McCusker	1:57.963	2.508	5	Glen Head N.Y.	Primus Racing Team	Dot Works / Primus Racing
15	35	Chris Archinaco	1:58.032	2.577	5	Pittsburgh Pa.	Indy Motorsports Group	Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
16	24	Benjamin Pedersen	1:58.070	2.615	2	Copenhagen DNK	Global Racing Group	Dirtfish/Alfa Romeo of Seattle/Egrari Non-In
17	39	Justin Sirgany	1:58.128	2.673	5	Kingston JAM	Global Racing Group	JFP / Your Complete Décor Solution / Bob M
18	16	Kent Vaccaro	1:58.172	2.717	4	Plattsburgh N.Y.	Momentum Motorsports	Momentum Motorsports
19	40	Jack William Miller	1:58.265	2.810	4	Westfield Ind.	Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon M	Indy Dental Group LLC / Blue Marble
20	68	Jacob Loomis	1:58.581	3.126	5	Corinth Texas	Global Racing Group	Optima Anesthesia / Epic Electric
21	10	Davis Durrett	1:58.698	3.243	4	Carmel Ind.	Indy Motorsports Group	Underwood Machinery Transport / Tag Heu
22	4	Jim Goughary Jr	1:59.181	3.726	4	Jupiter Fla.	Primus Racing Team	Primus Race Parts
23	19	Timo Reger	1:59.185	3.730	2	Houston Texas	JDX Racing	JDX Racing
24	22	Jacob Abel	1:59.504	4.049	5	Louisville Ky.	Abel Motorsports	Abel Construction / Advance Inc
25	6	Parker Locke	1:59.546	4.091	5	San Antonio Texas	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Developm
26	7	Blake Mount	2:00.945	5.490	4	Denver Colo.	JDX Racing	Expedia / HD Supply / Sobel Westex
27	3	Vincent Khristov	2:03.105	7.650	2	Delray Beach Fla.	Indy Motorsports Group	Counter Pressure Casting Machines
28	37	Jordan Sherratt	2:04.252	8.797	2	Durban ZAF	Crosslink Racing	Crosslink Powder Coating / Patrick Flynn Mo
29	12	Moises de la Vara	2:06.676	11.221	3	Guadalajara MEX	DE Force Racing	UAG/Promomin/Repsol
30	45	Baltazar Leguizamon	2:08.842	13.387	1	Buenos Aires ARG	Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon M	Motorola
31	96	Lawson Nagel	2:09.948	14.493	1	Fort Worth Texas	Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon M	Marc Samuels Jewelers
32	97	Christopher Gumprech			0	Stanfordville N.Y.	C.G. Racing	C.G. Racing

***

12:00 p.m. Competitors and staff broke for lunch early

***

The second F4 U.S. testing session started after lunch at 1:05 p.m. Gumprech, Waddell, Sherratt, Lawson Nagel of Fort Worth, Texas, and Benjamin Pedersen of Copenhagen, Denmark, served a five-minute penalty at the start of qualifying for incidents that occurred in practice. All 33 cars participated, however, Chris Archinaco of Pittsburgh was assigned “not classified” for his session. After completing his first lap, Archinaco hit the tire wall in T3, which brought out the red flag. The damage sustained to his car caused him to retire to the paddock and withdraw from the next round of racing. Archinaco was uninjured. The session continued with Skylar Robinson of Augusta, Georgia, Dakota Dickerson of San Diego and Kirkwood exchanging fast lap times. Their battle for the Cameron Das Hard Charger Award presented by ProSim halted after incidental contact between Justin Sirgany of Kingston, Jamaica, and Blake Mount of Denver caused a red. The session resumed with 5 minutes on the clock, just enough time for Kirkwood to capture fast lap. Dickerson finished just over a tenth of a second behind Kirkwood with Baltazar Leguizamon of Buenos Aires, Argentina close behind. (provisional results listed below)

Pos	No.	Name	Best Tm	Diff	In Lap	Hometown	Team	Sponsor
1	8	Kyle Kirkwood	1:54.337		11	Jupiter Fla.	Cape Motorsports	Cape Motorsports
2	85	Dakota Dickerson	1:54.501	0.164	4	San Diego Calif.	Kiwi Motorsport	Kiwi Motorsport
3	45	Baltazar Leguizamon	1:54.553	0.216	8	Buenos Aires ARG	Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon M	Motorola
4	2	Skylar Robinson	1:54.792	0.455	11	Augusta Ga.	Momentum Motorsports	Momentum Motorsports
5	86	Brendon Leitch	1:54.812	0.475	4	Invercargill NZL	Kiwi Motorsport	ITM/ Kiwi Motorsport
6	61	John Paul Southern Jr	1:54.955	0.618	9	Westlake Ohio	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Pittsburgh International Race Complex/ Jay
7	68	Jacob Loomis	1:55.026	0.689	11	Corinth Texas	Global Racing Group	Optima Anesthesia / Epic Electric
8	9	Mathias Soler-Obel	1:55.080	0.743	8	Bogota COL	Cape Motorsports	Cape Motorsports
9	62	Raphael Forcier	1:55.146	0.809	11	Montreal Qué. Can.	Indy Motorsports Group	Parizeau Pawulski Deslandes Architects
10	29	Jonathan Scarallo	1:55.193	0.856	10	Smithtown N.Y.	Group A Racing	Group A Racing
11	37	Jordan Sherratt	1:55.205	0.868	8	Durban ZAF	Crosslink Racing	Crosslink Powder Coating / Patrick Flynn Mo
12	24	Benjamin Pedersen	1:55.379	1.042	5	Copenhagen DNK	Global Racing Group	Dirtfish/Alfa Romeo of Seattle/Egrari Non-In
13	11	Tyler O'Connor	1:55.384	1.047	8	New Hartford CT	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Developm
14	28	Ben Waddell	1:55.440	1.103	8	Denver Colo.	JDX Racing	Stoner Car Care / USWAG
15	22	Jacob Abel	1:55.601	1.264	8	Louisville Ky.	Abel Motorsports	Abel Construction / Advance Inc
16	14	Elliot Finlayson	1:55.678	1.341	6	Yorkville Ill.	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Developm
17	77	Kory Enders	1:55.682	1.345	11	Warwick N.Y.	DE Force Racing	MBSugerland
18	10	Davis Durrett	1:55.863	1.526	7	Carmel Ind.	Indy Motorsports Group	Underwood Machinery Transport / Tag Heu
19	40	Jack William Miller	1:56.064	1.727	8	Westfield Ind.	Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon M	Indy Dental Group LLC / Blue Marble
20	12	Moises de la Vara	1:56.118	1.781	5	Guadalajara MEX	DE Force Racing	UAG/Promomin/Repsol
21	27	Austin Kaszuba	1:56.150	1.813	10	Burleson Texas	Austin Kaszuba Racing	LVP Powder and Paints/Crosslink Powder Co
22	5	Austin McCusker	1:56.423	2.086	10	Glen Head N.Y.	Primus Racing Team	Dot Works / Primus Racing
23	39	Justin Sirgany	1:56.442	2.105	6	Kingston JAM	Global Racing Group	JFP / Your Complete Décor Solution / Bob M
24	19	Timo Reger	1:56.684	2.347	6	Houston Texas	JDX Racing	JDX Racing
25	16	Kent Vaccaro	1:56.721	2.384	11	Plattsburgh N.Y.	Momentum Motorsports	Momentum Motorsports
26	4	Jim Goughary Jr	1:56.838	2.501	4	Jupiter Fla.	Primus Racing Team	Primus Race Parts
27	6	Parker Locke	1:56.947	2.610	7	San Antonio Texas	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driv	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Developm
28	3	Vincent Khristov	1:56.971	2.634	11	Delray Beach Fla.	Indy Motorsports Group	Counter Pressure Casting Machines
29	07	Steve Bamford	1:57.746	3.409	11	Toronto Ont. Can.	Cape Motorsports	Rice Race Prep
30	7	Blake Mount	1:58.440	4.103	7	Denver Colo.	JDX Racing	Expedia / HD Supply / Sobel Westex
31	96	Lawson Nagel	1:58.584	4.247	5	Fort Worth Texas	Miller Vinatieri Leguizamon M	Marc Samuels Jewelers
32	97	Christopher Gumprech	1:59.679	5.342	6	Stanfordville N.Y.	C.G. Racing	C.G. Racing

***

Official qualifying results are listed below. Penalties from Round 12 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and VIR qualifying affected results. Kirkwood received a two-grid spot penalty for rolling on the start from Round 12. He will now start in P3 instead of on pole. Jack William Miller of Westfield, Indiana, was also issued a penalty from Round 12 for causing an incident. Steve Bamford of Toronto will serve a 10-grid spot penalty for the next three races for an engine change. He moved from P22 to P32. Vincent Khristov of Delray Beach, Florida, Parker Locke of San Antonio and Kory Enders of Warwick, New York, all were issued penalties for continuing on a red flag during qualifying. Each will suffer a two-grid spot penalty.

PO	Car NO	Name/Hometown	Sponsor	Best Time	Best Speed	Diff
1	85	Dakota Dickerson/San Diego Calif.	Kiwi Motorsport	1:54.501	102.81	0.164
2	45	Baltazar Leguizamon/Buenos Aires ARG	Motorola	1:54.553	102.77	0.216
3	8	Kyle Kirkwood/Jupiter Fla.	Cape Motorsports	1:54.337	102.96	-
4	2	Skylar Robinson/Augusta Ga.	Momentum Motorsports	1:54.792	102.55	0.455
5	86	Brendon Leitch/Invercargill NZL	ITM/ Kiwi Motorsport	1:54.812	102.53	0.475
6	61	John Paul Southern Jr/Westlake Ohio	Pittsburgh International Race Complex/ Jay Howard’	1:54.955	102.41	0.618
7	68	Jacob Loomis/Corinth Texas	Optima Anesthesia / Epic Electric	1:55.026	102.34	0.689
8	9	Mathias Soler-Obel/Bogota COL	Cape Motorsports	1:55.080	102.29	0.743
9	62	Raphael Forcier/Montreal Qué. Can.	Parizeau Pawulski Deslandes Architects	1:55.146	102.24	0.809
10	29	Jonathan Scarallo/Smithtown N.Y.	Group A Racing	1:55.193	102.19	0.856
11	37	Jordan Sherratt/Durban ZAF	Crosslink Powder Coating / Patrick Flynn Motorsport	1:55.205	102.18	0.868
12	24	Benjamin Pedersen/Copenhagen DNK	Dirtfish/Alfa Romeo of Seattle/Egrari Non-Invasive C	1:55.379	102.03	1.042
13	11	Tyler O'Connor/New Hartford CT	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Development/Luca	1:55.384	102.03	1.047
14	28	Ben Waddell/Denver Colo.	Stoner Car Care / USWAG	1:55.440	101.98	1.103
15	22	Jacob Abel/Louisville Ky.	Abel Construction / Advance Inc	1:55.601	101.83	1.264
16	14	Elliot Finlayson/Yorkville Ill.	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Development	1:55.678	101.77	1.341
17	10	Davis Durrett/Carmel Ind.	Underwood Machinery Transport / Tag Heuer / Mole	1:55.863	101.6	1.526
18	12	Moises de la Vara/Guadalajara MEX	UAG/Promomin/Repsol	1:56.118	101.38	1.781
19	77	Kory Enders/Warwick N.Y.	MBSugerland	1:55.682	101.76	1.345
20	27	Austin Kaszuba/Burleson Texas	LVP Powder and Paints/Crosslink Powder Coating	1:56.150	101.35	1.813
21	5	Austin McCusker/Glen Head N.Y.	Dot Works / Primus Racing	1:56.423	101.11	2.086
22	39	Justin Sirgany/Kingston JAM	JFP / Your Complete Décor Solution / Bob Marley Fo	1:56.442	101.1	2.105
23	19	Timo Reger/Houston Texas	JDX Racing	1:56.684	100.89	2.347
24	16	Kent Vaccaro/Plattsburgh N.Y.	Momentum Motorsports	1:56.721	100.86	2.384
25	4	Jim Goughary Jr/Jupiter Fla.	Primus Race Parts	1:56.838	100.76	2.501
26	7	Blake Mount/Denver Colo.	Expedia / HD Supply / Sobel Westex	1:58.440	99.392	4.103
27	96	Lawson Nagel/Fort Worth Texas	Marc Samuels Jewelers	1:58.584	99.271	4.247
28	6	Parker Locke/San Antonio Texas	Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Development	1:56.947	100.66	2.610
29	40	Jack William Miller/Westfield Ind.	Indy Dental Group LLC / Blue Marble	1:56.064	101.43	1.727
30	3	Vincent Khristov/Delray Beach Fla.	Counter Pressure Casting Machines	1:56.971	100.64	2.634
31	97	Christopher Gumprecht/Stanfordville N.Y	C.G. Racing	1:59.679	98.363	5.342
32	07	Steve Bamford/Toronto Ont. Can.	Rice Race Prep	1:57.746	99.978	3.409

Car #07: 10 place grid penalty, per F4US SR 28.2.a (engine change)

Car #3: 2 place grid penalty, per driver's meeting notes 5.4 & 5.6 (ignoring red flag) Car #6: 2 place grid penalty, per driver's meeting notes 5.4 & 5.6 (ignoring red flag) Car #8: 2 place grid penalty, per F4US SR 36.7.b (rolled with start lights on in R12) Car #40: 10 place grid penalty, per F4US SR 15.1.d (causing a collision)

Car #77: 2 place grid penalty, per driver's meeting notes 5.4 & 5.6 (ignoring red flag)

***

4:00 p.m. Drivers required a mandatory meeting regarding starting procedures.

***

5:00 p.m. Tech inspections end. All cars passed tech with only minor infractions issued.

Quotes from Practice Results

Tyler O’Conner, Jay Howard’s Motorsports Driver Development- Everyone at MDD has helped make the transition to F4 as smooth as possible. My first official day in the F4 U.S. car was fantastic. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as many laps in as we were hoping, but the car had excellent speed. We started well in practice and the car felt great in qualifying. Overall, I’m pleased with how Friday went and I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow to help the team come away with some points.

Moises de la Vara, DEForce Racing-It is a great feeling getting back into the F4 U.S. car that taught me so much about racing. The grid has grown substantially since I competed last season, and that makes it very fun. We had great pace in the first practice, but unfortunately had a mechanical issue in qualifying that set us back. I am looking forward to the races and seeing what we can accomplish our first weekend competing.

Results

Photos

Like (0) Dislike (0)