LEXINGTON, Ohio – Rounds 11 and 12 of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course turned out a fifth-place finish for championship contender Josh Green and a competitive race run for teammate Jonathan Browne.
On Thursday’s pre-event test day, Green delivered the second fastest lap time in session two with the third fastest overall time of the day. Unfortunately, qualifying didn’t see that same result, and with only .4 seconds separating the lap times across the top 11 cars, Green qualified seventh for Race 1.
Knowing how close the field was, Green had a good start in Race 1 and was able to work his way up to a fifth-place finish after 30 laps of racing, gaining valuable points for the championship.
Still chasing the pace, Green qualified 11th for Saturday evening’s Race 2. With changing track conditions, the final race of the day was the most challenging to make gains in, but Green ultimately earned a ninth-place finish for the #3 car to round out the weekend.
#3 Josh Green // Indy Pro 2000
SessionGuardian / Zimperium / Lionfish Tech Advisors / Mark Green / JHG Investments
“It was a tough weekend out at Mid-Ohio,” said Green. “As a team we struggled to find the pace we needed to run up front and fight for podium positions. As a positive though, we fought hard for two top-10 finishes and some needed points moving us forward in the championship standings. I’m excited to get street fighting in Toronto!”
Teammate Jonathan Browne had a tough weekend at Mid-Ohio, qualifying the #2 car 12th and 13th for Races 1 and 2, respectively. Race 1 didn’t bring much more luck for the Irishman as he went off course on the exit of Turn 1 on Lap 8, causing him to go a lap down and finish the race in 12th.
After a run of challenging sessions, Browne came back at his best in the second and final race of the weekend, racing with the same pace as the top half of the field and demonstrating his competitiveness. Though Saturday night’s Race 2 was the most difficult to gain positions in, Browne was able to finish P11 after a great race run.
#2 Jonathan Browne // Indy Pro 2000
Human Centred Movement / CRPS Awareness
“Unfortunately, it was a very tricky weekend for us,” said Browne. “We struggled to find pace and a good rhythm out there. Thankfully we found some pace in the last race which we will use as a momentum builder heading to Toronto.”
“It didn’t turn into the weekend we expected after the pace we showed with Josh in practice,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “We felt our qualifying pace didn’t reflect the pace we had earlier in the weekend. Josh drove great in Race 1 to move up to fifth. In Race 2, we got a bit stuck. Jonathan also struggled to get comfortable with the car and track, but I was happy to see he found great pace for Race 2. The track was tricky this weekend for both engineers and drivers. We will learn together and move on to Toronto.”
Up next for the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is the Grand Prix of Toronto July 15-17.