Kasemets and Lall Cap off Palm Beach Weekend with Victories

Kasemets wins in the old Champ Car Swift Atlantic car. To this day even the Atlantic cars look better than the current IndyCars

It was Tonis Kasemets and Quinlan Lall coming out as winners after three separate races during the Palm Beach Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. Kasemets took victories in both the F1600 Formula F Championship Series and Atlantic races, while Lall led every lap in the F2000 race at Palm Beach International Raceway.

F1600

Tonis Kasemets showed off his diverse racing skill set by winning the F1600 Formula F Championship Series race against the latest of aspiring talents. Kasemets, from Estonia, took the lead from pole before dropping back to third as aggressive racing took place at the front. When those cars made contact, Kasemets found himself back in the lead in the Polestar Spectrum/Honda and went on to take the victory.

“Neither win was easy," said Kasemets. “The Formula F win was more work, and the Atlantic race was a different kind of driving. Winning both is fantastic."

Jordan Cane and Kyle Kirkwood were the two cars that found their way to the front. Cane, driving for Team Pelfrey, and Kirkwood, competing for Chastain Motorsports, had an entertaining battle in the mid-stages of the race for the lead before making contact in turn one. Kirkwood would recover to finish fifth and set fast race lap, with Cane finishing ninth.

Austin Mack ran up front early, before falling back and then charging through the field to finish second in his F1600 debut, driving the No. 11 K-Hill Motorsports entry. Ben Auriemma completed the podium for Team Pelfrey with a third place performance in the No. 82 Mygale/Honda.

Results

Pos No. Name Laps Diff Gap Best Tm Make
1 0 Tonis Kasemets 21 0.000 0.000 1:19.927 Spectrum
2 11 Austin Mack 21 7.594 7.594 1:20.045 Mygale
3 82 Ben Auriemma 21 7.891 0.297 1:20.307 Mygale
4 80 Robert Megennis 21 8.090 0.199 1:20.222 Mygale
5 29 Kyle Kirkwood 21 13.246 5.156 1:19.885 Mygale
6 26 Parker Chase 21 13.585 0.339 1:20.014 Mygale
7 7 James Goughary 21 17.947 4.362 1:20.453 Van Diemen
8 3 Joe Colasacco 21 18.149 0.202 1:20.691 Van Diemen
9 81 Jordan Cane 21 23.666 5.517 1:20.202 Mygale
10 27 Will Harvey 21 34.956 11.290 1:21.062 Mygale
11 28 Andrew Lewis 20 1 Lap 1 Lap 1:21.105 Mygale

F2000

Starting from pole, 15-year-old Quinlan Lall led flag-to-flag to cap off an event that saw him at the top of the time sheets consistently starting his second year of F2000 Championship Series competition.

“It was really close at the start, but I got the braking right into turn one and had a good run out of the corner," said the Momentum Motorsports driver. “From there it was about being consistent and setting lap times, while conserving the tires."

Skylar Robinson started from the outside pole position and fell into line, finishing second to Lall and never really challenging for the lead in the No. 86 Radon as Lall built up a nice margin by race-end.

Austin McCusker finished a solid weekend for Dotworks Racing to complete the podium in the RFR chassis – making the top three Van Diemen, Radon and RFR.

Robert Wright and Sam Chastain both retired with mechanical issues during the race.

Results

Pos No. Name Laps Diff Gap Make
1 1 Quinlan Lall 22 0.000 0.000 Van Diemen
2 86 Skylar Robiinson 22 4.440 4.440 Radon
3 6 Austin McCusker 22 10.647 6.207 RFR
4 77 Spencer Brockman 22 24.405 13.758 Van Diemen
5 22 Eric Filgueiras 22 36.040 11.635 Van Diemen
6 01 John McCusker 22 51.258 15.218 Van Diemen
7 95 Alan Guibord 22 1:05.701 14.443 Radon
DNF 30 T. Sam Chastain 8 DNF 14 Laps Van Diemen
DNF 90 Robert Wright 7 DNF 1 Lap Radon

Atlantic

Kasemets made it two wins from pole on the day as the driver dominated the Atlantic race. Running the fastest lap of the race, Kasemets easily won with a huge gap in the No. 9 Swift 016/Mazda, a car he helped build over the off-season.

Bruce Hamilton came home in second position for K-Hill Motorsports before an entertaining battle for third place ended with JR Smart getting the best of Ryan Verra for the final podium position.

Results

Pos No. Name Laps Diff Gap Best Tm Make Model
1 9 Tonis Kasemets 28 0.000 0.000 1:09.686 Swift 16
2 36 Bruce Hamilton 28 46.032 46.032 1:11.093 Swift 016A
3 09 J.R. Smart 27 1 Lap 1 Lap 1:12.020 Swift 014A
4 4 Ryan Verra 27 1 Lap 1.512 1:12.195 Swift 16
5 54 Mike Jacques 27 1 Lap 1.293 1:12.493 Swift 14
6 70 Lewis Cooper Jr. 27 1 Lap 1.304 1:11.786 Swift 16