Chris Griffis Memorial Test – U.S. F2000 (Update 5)

UPDATE #5

Nikita Lastochkin

A total of 19 USF2000 drivers turned a combined 1,356 laps during the two days, with Nikita Lastochkin maintaining his form from Saturday by posting the fastest times in every USF2000 session aboard the No. 2 Van Diemen-Mazda for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.

Los Angeles-based Lastochkin, who hails originally from Moscow, Russia, turned his best lap in the second of two sessions this morning at 2:09.5454 (94.494 mph).

"It's a really good feeling to top every session," said Lastochkin. "I was quite happy with the weekend and we had a really good car. I enjoyed every second I was out there on the track. I learned a lot and the team helped me to improve. Every time I was trying to do better. Overall, I couldn't be any happier."

Lastochkin was the only driver to dip below the 130-second barrier, although fellow series veteran Aaron Telitz, who finished third in this year's championship at the wheel of a Cape Motorsports entry, came close with a lap of 2:10.1965 this afternoon, driving the No. 21 car for Pabst Racing. Telitz also set the second fastest time this morning for the new-to-USF2000 RJB Motorsports entry at 2:10.7042 before handing over the controls to rookie Clint McMahan.

"It was a busy day," said Telitz, from Birchwood, Wis. "I started off with the guys at RJB and we had a new setup this morning that we wanted to try. I went out on used tires and the car felt pretty good. We put new tires on and everything was working great. The car really came to life from yesterday when we had a little bit of trouble. I moved over to Pabst because they had an extra car here. I went out and was P2 again in the second session. We made some improvements and went quicker again and missed being the fastest by a tenth in the last session. It was a great day and a lot of fun being here at Circuit of The Americas, a super awesome track. I'm glad the Mazda Road to Indy came here."

Dutch teenager Rinus Van Kalmthout impressed today aboard a second Cape Motorsports car. After gaining his first experience of USF2000 equipment yesterday with Afterburner Autosport as part of the Mazda Road to Indy/MAXSpeed Group Driver Development Program, the car racing rookie took full advantage of the additional mileage to post the third fastest time overall at 2:10.2804.

Garth Rickards, from Mechanicsburg, Pa., also made excellent progress today for Pabst Racing, fourth fastest overall at 2:10.5908, just one-tenth clear of Australian Formula Ford 1600 champion Cameron Hill, who once again impressed for JDC MotorSports.

11/22/15 Session 4 Results: Russian Nikita Lastochkin again set fast time for the USF2000 cars at COTA by a wide margin of 1.1419 sec. He was followed by Aaron Telitz and Cameron Hill. Times follow…..

11/22/15

Nikita Lastochkin

Los Angeles-based Russian Nikita Lastochkin set the pace in today's trio of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda test sessions, running the same Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing Van Diemen-Mazda with which Nico Jamin claimed this year's championship crown. Lastochkin, who concluded his rookie USF20000 season with a personal-best fifth-place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, came out of the box strongly this morning, topping the time charts at 2:22.928 during a 45-minute session which began on a wet but drying track. He continued that form throughout the day, which he concluded with a best lap of 2:10.217, an average speed of 93.997 mph.

"Today was actually quite great," said Lastochkin. "We started the day with a wet track and I just focused on improving every time I was in the car. Each time I went out, I wanted to do better. It felt really good because I haven't been doing much testing or anything since Mazda Raceway, since the finale, so to come out and know that I still have it is a good feeling."

Teammate TJ Fischer, from Vacaville, Calif., who has raced this year in European Formula Renault 2.0 competition, posted the second fastest time at 2:11.267, edging 14-year-old Mexican newcomer Andres Gutierrez (John Cummiskey Racing), whose older brother Jose has raced for the past two seasons in Pro Mazda, at 2:11.291.

The top five were completed by USF2000 veteran Garth Rickards (Pabst Racing) and a trio of rookies comprising Australian Formula Ford 1600 Champion Cameron Hill (JDC MotorSports), Canadian Chase Pelletier (Team Pelfrey) and Kyle Kirkwood (Afterburner Autosport), who earned his opportunity as part of the Mazda Road to Indy and MAXSpeed Group Driver Development Program.

"It was a great day," said Kirkwood. "The car was awesome and tons of fun. It was only my second time driving a car with aerodynamics and aero grip so that was a bit new to me and took me a few sessions to get used to it. It was actually my first time in the rain in a car so it was a little tough the first session. The second session, I was still getting used to the car and I was on used tires and I think we were about two seconds off. We went to new tires for the third session and I was quite quick and ended up being two seconds quicker than both of my teammates but we were still two seconds off (the fastest times) by the end of the last session. My goal coming in was to represent Mazda Road to Indy and Rotax the best I can and put down the best laps so I can prove to them that they picked the right driver for the opportunity."

Testing will continue tomorrow with three more sessions for each of the three categories.

11/21/15 Session 3 results…

11/21/15 Just as he did in session 1, Nikita Lastochkin was quickest in session 2 for the U.S. F2000 category at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test.

Results…

11/21/15 With a lap time of 2:22.928 Nikita Lastochkin put the #2 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entry atop the time sheets in the first U.S. F2000 session of the Chris Griffis Memorial Test this morning at Circuit of the Americas. The 25-year-old Russian was three tenths ahead of Pabst Racing's Yufeng Luo and nearly a full second quicker than teammate T.J. Fischer.

The U.S. F2000 cars will be back on the track at 10:45 a.m. Austin time for the second of six sessions during the two-day test. Session 1 times below…