Granfors takes first USF Pro 2000 victory

Joel Granfors started a lowly 18th for this morning’s second leg of the Discount Tires Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course. But the rising star from Eskilstuna, Sweden, took advantage of a series of opportunities and ended up with a convincing maiden USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires victory.

Mexico’s Salvador de Alba capped a banner day for the Canadian-owned Exclusive Autosport team by finishing second. Jace Denmark finished third for Pabst Racing.

Championship leader Myles Rowe looked to bounce back from a disappointing race on Friday after claiming the Cooper Tires Pole Award for Pabst Racing with Force Indy by virtue of setting the fastest lap in yesterday’s race. Rowe duly held onto the lead at the start, only for an unforced error at Turn 7 on the opening lap to send him wide onto the grass and to the tail of the field. Instead it was Francesco Pizzi who took the early advantage for TJ Speed Motorsports after starting second.

An early full-course caution following an incident farther down the field proved pivotal in the outcome of the race. Pizzi, still out front, was slow on the restart and consequently was swamped by the chasing pack.

De Alba, who was seventh in line for the resumption, timed his jump to perfection, leaping into the lead by the start/finish line, followed by the opportunistic Granfors, who had made up nine positions over the course of the first couple of laps and then leapt from ninth to second.

But the rookie Granfors was far from done. After another full-course caution interruption, the Swede took advantage of a big draft from de Alba as the leaders sped toward Turn 1, then promptly braked later, on the outside line, to grasp the lead.

Granfors, who finished second in last year’s GB3 Championship in the UK, never looked back as he raced away to take the checkered flag over three seconds clear of de Alba.