TORONTO – Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing travelled north of the border to Canada last weekend for the 30th running of the Toronto Indy, and the team came away with their eighth win of the season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and a pair of podium finishes in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.
Canadian Parker Thompson improved from his podium finish on Saturday to win on his home soil on Sunday, scoring an emotional victory to extend his lead in the championship. Anthony Martin added a second USF2000 podium for the team on Sunday to remain second in the chase for the title. The team’s Pro Mazda driver Nico Jamin continues to impress in his rookie campaign, scoring a pair of podium finishes that were highlighted by an impressive second on Saturday, which have put him into a tie for third in the series championship.
“The guys put in a strong effort all weekend and were challenged by a pretty difficult race track, which makes the performances by Parker, Anthony, Nico and Jorge all the more impressive,” offered Dominic Cape, co-owner of the team with his brother Nicholas. “The racing was very aggressive and we’re proud of the guys for getting the results they did. We’re all looking forward to getting to Mid-Ohio to continue our fight for the championships.”
Cape’s cars factored into the fight for podium results in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, as Jamin continued to develop his speed in this car. The reigning USF2000 champion qualified third and then avoided an incident in the opening corners of the first race to finish second, his best result of the year. On Sunday, Nico came back to finish third, which was his third straight podium result. The performance has brought him into a tie for third place in the point standings with five races remaining.
Jorge Cevallos joined the team in Toronto, and was focused on coming up to speed steadily, learning the tricky Toronto street circuit with each new session. Cevallos qualified sixth and then posted race results of seventh and eighth.
Martin drew first blood in USF2000 qualifying, earning the pole position on Saturday morning after he and Thompson took turns topping the speed charts in the two Friday practice sessions. Martin did make heavy contact with the wall to end the day on Friday, and a subsequent wrist injury made things much tougher for the remainder of the weekend. Thompson qualified third to take up position on the inside of the second row for the start of Race #1 on Saturday afternoon, while Cape’s Nikita Lastochkin was on his game as well, qualifying seventh for the first 30-minute race. Jordan Cane was 12th to begin the weekend.
In Race #1, Martin slid into second behind Victor Franzoni for the start of the race while Thompson began the battle in fourth. With Jordan Lloyd running between the two Cape cars, the front-running quartet raced through the middle laps of the race, holding their positions. Martin’s run to second was cut short on lap 13 when he had an issue entering Turn 8, pushing wide at the exit and making contact with the outside wall that ended his day early and left him with a 16th place finish. This would advance Thompson to third, taking the final position on the podium. Lastochkin had also turned in a strong race and was up to fifth before pushing over the edge in Turn 6, making contact with the wall and ending his race. Cane ran a strong and steady race, and recorded his fifth top-10 of the year in ninth.
Thompson was not to be denied in the second USF2000 race, which was held on Sunday. He quickly moved past Martin to take over the lead and he held the spot all the way to the checkered flag, maintaining a gap through the race. The final margin of victory was 0.9177 and it provided Cape Motorsports with their eighth win of the year and a commanding leading in the championship with Thompson and Martin sitting first and second overall. Martin raced through the massive pain in his wrist to put in a stellar effort, finishing second to keep himself in the title fight. Lastochkin ran a steady race to finish sixth, while Cane got caught up in a first lap incident that took him out of the race.
The next rounds of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires will take place on July 29-32 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Mansfield, Ohio. The Pro Mazda pilots will compete in a doubleheader, ahead of a tripleheader at the finale to make up for cancelled round at Iowa Speedway.
DRIVER PERFORMANCE / QUOTES
NICO JAMIN – PRO MAZDA #2
Qualifying: 3rd – 1:11.2613
Race 1: 2nd
Race 2: 3rd
Driver Quote: “I'm pretty happy after this race weekend in Toronto. It is the best performance of the season so far for us, with two podium finishes and we jumped to the third place in the championship standings. We made it three podiums in a row now, but I am definitely hungry for much more. We are working hard as a team, and giving it 100% to get wins before the end of the season. We'll bring this momentum to Mid-Ohio, which has been the turning point of my season last year with three wins, so I'll try to make it happen again this year!"
JORGE CEVALLOS – PRO MAZDA #6
Qualifying: 6th – 1:11.7984
Race 1: 8th
Race 2: 7th
About Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing:
Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing was formed in 2010 as a partnership between two successful racing entities. With leadership from brothers Nicholas and Dominic Cape, and along with Wayne Taylor and his organization in Indianapolis, the team campaigns cars in the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The goal of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing is to provide unmatched driver development both on and off the track. It is difficult for a young driver to jump into a professional series and win, regardless of talent. Through coaching and mentoring, Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing provides young drivers with as much knowledge of motorsports to become as successful as possible.