Third-generation racer Matthew Brabham vaulted himself into the lead of the Cooper Tires USF20000 Championship Powered by Mazda by virtue of a pair of wins Friday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Matthew Di Leo, Scott Anderson and Spencer Pigot also visited the podium and will have another opportunity to make it onto the top step tomorrow morning when the USF2000 Series completes its first-ever triple-header race meeting in advance of the headlining American Le Mans Series Road Race Showcase.
Fresh off his first victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course two weeks ago, Anderson carried his form into qualifying by posting the fastest time in Belardi Auto Racing's #14 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Neuropathy Testing Center/Laser Nail Centers Van Diemen-Mazda featuring the OtterCares® Foundation. He was joined on the front row for Round 8 this morning by series points leader Pigot (#2 Team Pelfrey/Doug Mockett & Company/E-merging Technologies/Parathyroid.com/California Scents), while Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Brabham (#83 DTE Group) shared Row 2 with Di Leo (#56 Res Precast/MDL Racing).
The race fell under caution soon after the start following a variety of incidents around the opening 4.048-mile lap, but not before Pigot had made a bold move around the outside in Turn One to grasp the lead from Anderson, with Brabham also following past the polesitter.
After a lengthy clean-up, Brabham mirrored Pigot's earlier move by snatching the advantage in Turn One immediately after the restart. The grandson of three-time Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham and son of Le Mans winner Geoff Brabham never looked back, romping clear of his rivals to secure his second win of the season.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be back up on the first step, finally," said Brabham. "I have been so quick recently but just haven't been quite able to make that final step to the very front and win the race. So, this is fantastic and it is awesome to get back into the championship lead. I thought it was going to be a tough season for me for the rest of the year to try to get back those points I lost at Mid-Ohio, but I am sure Spencer will be back fighting for the championship and it will be a close battle until the end.”
Pigot was given a penalty for blocking, which he served as the checkered flag was shown, but his misery was compounded when he exceeded the speed limit in pit lane, thus earning another 30-second penalty which dropped him from fifth to 16th in the final results.
Di Leo inherited second, narrowly ahead of Anderson following a race-long battle. Trent Hindman was fourth in the third Cape Motorsports entry, followed by Neil Alberico (JDC MotorSports) and Luigi Biangardi (ArmsUp Motorsports), who snuck past Roman Lagudi (Belardi Auto Racing) on the final lap.
An intense battle for National Class honors saw 15-year-old RC Enerson (ZSports Midwest with Team E Racing) snatch the honors with a final-lap pass of race-long leader Mark Eaton (Robinson Motor Sports).
Round 9 this afternoon saw the grid decided according to each competitor's fastest race lap from the earlier outing, with Brabham on pole ahead of Anderson, Pigot and Di Leo.
Once again, Brabham displayed a clear rear wing to his pursuers as he took off into the lead and was never seriously challenged during the 12-lap race which was unencumbered by cautions.
The top four positions remained unchanged, with Anderson claiming his fourth straight podium finish in second – and earning an additional bonus point for setting fastest lap – ahead of Pigot and Di Leo. Alberico secured fifth after a protracted battle with Hindman.
In the National class, Henrik Furuseth bounced back impressively from an accident in the opening race which meant he had to start way back in 25th this afternoon. No matter, as the talented young Norwegian soon fought his way to the front and held off Enerson to win by less than a second. Furuseth established a new National Class lap record for good measure.