American rookie Kyle Connery took his second straight win and fourth of 2011, vaulting from fourth in the race after starting second to pass Tim Minor, Remy Audette and then Chris Livengood for the lead in the first of two F2000 Championship Series races at Mosport.
“I didn’t get a great start and we were behind Tim (Minor) for a while,” said Connery. “I got past him and then the caution came out so we had a chance to get by Remy; once I saw him I was just thinking championship.”
Connery, driving for CC Autosport and James Lee Racing, continued: “We had to finish ahead of him (Remy Audette) today. And then when I saw Chris (Livengood), I tried to set a pace and was able to put a move on him entering turn eight for the lead. Today was good for the points.”
Connery claws back ten points on Audette in the Championship, now down by only 53 points.
Livengood set the fastest race lap and finished second ahead of Canadian Audette.
“Those two other guys, Remy and Kyle, what an absolutely fantastic race,” said Livengood, who passed Audette for the lead on lap two and gapped the Canadian in a highly entertaining F2000 race at the 10-turn Canadian road course on a warm day in Ontario.
“I battled as hard as I could but didn’t come out on the top step like we wanted,” added the Mid-Ohio winner, driving for Work Racing/John Walko Racing.
Audette, meanwhile, did lose a few points but came home with another consistent podium finish, and his ninth straight top-seven finish this season.
“I did my job for the Championship,” Audette commented. “We ran a good race; we have to finish well for the points. Tomorrow is another day so we will prepare the car accordingly and I will prepare myself.”
Robert La Rocca was fourth in the RFR chassis for HP-Tech Motorsport. The Florida-based squad also takes home the CellMark Paper Hard Charger Award, with teammate and fellow Venezuelan rookie Giancarlo Potolicchio advancing seven positions during the race.
Tim Minor won another Masters Class trophy by finishing fifth overall.
“I got a good start but the car went away rather quickly with some massive oversteer,” Minor explained.
Zach Craigo notched his best result of the year for Front Range Motorsports, finishing sixth ahead of Brent Gilkes, Tim Paul, Angel Benitez and Dan Denison, who completed the top ten for Polestar Racing Group.
Matt McDonough started at the back of the field in the new Radon chassis for development and testing reasons, after qualifying a strong sixth, and was classified 18th at the end of the race, which ended early due to a crash involving Gustavo Rizzo in turn four
Saturday July 23 sees the F2000 grid qualifying at 9:45 a.m. and conclude the weekend with a 6:05 p.m. scheduled race start. Follow live on www.f2000series.com and on Twitter @F2000.
