Yahoo Autos Sikes, Hughes share USF2000 wins on turbulent day at Road America
USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires title rivals Lochie Hughes (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and Simon Sikes (Pabst Racing), from Augusta, Ga., shared the victory spoils in Saturday’s Discount Tire Grand Prix of Road America. Coincidentally, both had some form of trouble in one of the races.
Hughes encountered a problem with his car in the opening race and later was assessed a 5s penalty for blocking, which dropped him from 10th to 12th, while Sikes placed 10th in race two following some on-track skirmishes. Consequently, Hughes’ slender points lead has diminished by one, from four points to three, heading into the second half of the season.
Jacob Douglas (Pabst Racing), from Christchurch, New Zealand, scored a career-best second-place finish Saturday morning ahead of VRD Racing’s Nikita Johnson, from Gulfport, Fla. After starting from pole position in race two, Mac Clark, from Milton, Ont., Canada, finished second ahead of 14-year-old Max Garcia (Pabst Racing), from Coconut Grove, Fla.
Hughes began the weekend in emphatic style during qualifying on Friday by securing his second Cooper Tires Pole Award of the season, and his first since the opening round on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., in early March. The Australian teenager took full advantage of the pristine new track surface on the challenging 4.014-mile circuit by posting a new lap record of 2m07.8964s, an average speed of 112.985mph. His time comfortably eclipsed the old standard of 2m09.2583s set by Rasmus Lindh in 2018.
A clean start saw Hughes maintain his advantage for the first half-lap ahead of Sikes and the rest of the closely matched pack. Unfortunately, Hughes then made a mistake under pressure at Turn 6 and ran wide, which immediately cost him a couple of positions to Sikes and Clark.
An incident at Turn 1 on the second lap ensured a full-course caution with Sikes at the head of the field, where he was to remain for the remainder of the 12-lap race. Sikes had to withstand challenges at no fewer than three restarts following a series of minor incidents before racing clear to score his third win of the season and briefly retake the championship points lead.
Hughes regained one of his lost places by slicing past Clark at Turn 5 at the first restart, only to slide wide again at Turn 6 and lose several positions after his rear wing collapsed. Hughes stopped to have the wing reattached and did well to climb back to 10th at the finish prior to the penalty.
Clark fell out of contention after being one among three drivers who attempted to run side-by-side through Turn 5 following one of the restarts. He, too, resumed at the back but did gain the consolation of a new lap record, 2m09.1655s, on the final lap.
“It was a fun race,” Sikes said. “Starting second, I was able to get the lead on the first lap into Turn 6 and from there, it was just about trying to hold on to that position. We had several restarts, all of which were all about heavy defending and trying to maintain that lead. Once we got down to the last restart, it was a fun cruise to the end and I was appreciating the awesome Wisconsin scenery. I am so thankful to win at home for Pabst and the first weekend racing with Mockett on the car.”
All of the drama allowed New Zealander Jacob Douglas, who celebrated his 18th birthday earlier in the week, to emerge in a clear second place in his first outing for the locally based Pabst Racing team.
Nikita Johnson (VRD Racing), from Gulfport, Fla., impressively overcame some problems in qualifying by rising from 12th on the grid to complete the podium in third. Johnson’s fine drive earned him the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
Chase Gardner (Exclusive Autosport), from Prosper, Texas, and Elliot Cox (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development), from Indianapolis, Ind., also took advantage of the incident-packed race to round out the top five after starting deep in the pack.
