Danial Frost Joins Antoine Comeau in Two-Car Effort
Vernon Hills, Ill. – Following a favorable series test yesterday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with drivers Danial Frost and Antoine Comeau, Turn 3 Motorsport is pleased to confirm that Frost will be joining the team alongside Comeau for the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.
After a three month hiatus due to the ongoing pandemic, it was 18-year-old Frost who took the top spot of the day at the official Road to Indy test with a fastest lap time of 1:16.6264 and an average speed of 108.084 mph around the 2.258-mile road course, previewing his potential for success in teaming up with T3M.
The Singaporean driver is no stranger to the PM-18 race car having won two races and finishing fifth in the Indy Pro 2000 championship in his rookie season last year. Frost was slated to race in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship this year until the season was suspended due to complications revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Indy Pro 2000 schedule was also heavily altered for the same reasons, the series was able to formulate a new agenda, allowing drivers to still participate in a full season of competition and opening the door for Indy Lights entrants to find a new racing home in 2020.
“I’m very excited to be driving with Turn 3 Motorsport in the Indy Pro 2000 series this year,” said Frost. “We tested together last week to get the chemistry and understanding with the team a bit better before yesterday’s test and everything went really well. It’s a great team to work with and an easy environment to be in. I could see the team was fast last year, and we proved that again with our results at Mid-Ohio. It feels great to have been fastest at the first official series test, and I’m really looking forward to challenging for the championship title this year with the team.”
“I’m very happy to have someone as talented as Danial as part of our team,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “Having him join our program is going to benefit the team and Antoine throughout the year, and hopefully we will be able to make this a competitive season for both of our drivers. We had a very good test at Mid-Ohio yesterday which gives us a great platform to build on heading into the first race at Road America next weekend.”
Running in alliance with Frost’s #68 DEN-JET car will be Canadian driver Antoine Comeau in the #3 ACR/Eastern car.
Comeau, a full-time partner at an options trading firm in Chicago, was going to miss the original season-opener in St. Petersburg, Florida due to work conflicts but will now get to start the season with the rest of the field at the new premiere at Wisconsin’s Road America road course next week.
The 2019 Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup North America champion joined the Indy Pro 2000 series midway last year in addition to his sports car campaign with the goal of entering a full season in 2020. With the testing and experience he was able to gain during the postponement, Comeau showed up at the Mid-Ohio test with the fourth fastest lap time in the first two sessions and the sixth fastest time overall, setting the bar for a strong season ahead.
“I was really happy to be more competitive at this test than I was in the car last year,” said Comeau. “Having Danial as a teammate was great for me because he set a good baseline for me to learn from, and we ended the day strongly. Now, I’m really looking forward to our first race at Road America next week.”
Another new addition to the team is seasoned engineer Ernie Gonella who has a decade of experience working within the Road to Indy. Gonella has contributed to many victories and championships over his years in the industry, making him a valuable asset to the relatively new Turn 3 Motorsport team.
“Adding a second car to our program also meant we needed to bring in some extra people,” continued Dempsey. “I’m very excited to have Ernie Gonella on board to help us with the technical side of our team. We’ve worked together for close to ten years now, and we have a very clear understanding of each other’s strengths, so that makes us a great team which we have proven over the years. Also coming into the team is Richard Lyons who is helping the team in a driver development role in 2020. He comes with 20 years of racing experience at a very high level, so I really feel the team will benefit with having both Ernie and Richard as part of our program. With the team we’ve established, we hope to challenge for race wins throughout the 2020 season.”
The first race of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season takes place next week on July 9-10 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The double header event will run in support of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, making sure to be an exciting opening weekend for the ladder series.