Day: March 14, 2018

Posted by admin on in Mazda Road to Indy

Exclusive Autosport Returns To USF2000 Podium In ST. Pete With Igor Fraga @ExclAutosport

 

For Immediate Release: March 14, 2018 – Exclusive Autosport

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 11, 2018) – The 2018 season of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda has all the makings of becoming the most competitive in the nine-year history of the program, and Exclusive Autosport is excited to be right in the mix for the title in only their second year as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires. Brazilian Igor Fraga led the team’s USF2000 contingent with a podium finish in Race 2, leaving him third overall in the championship standings. The team’s talented Mexican driver Manuel Cabrera had a tougher weekend than was hoped, leaving with two unfinished races, while Canadian Jayson Clunie kept his car clean all weekend which resulted in a pair of solid top-20 finishes.

 

“I am really proud of my Exclusive Autosport team as this was our first weekend running a combined five cars in both championships,” offered Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal. “The crew did a phenomenal job prepping the cars and maintaining them throughout the weekend. Not only did they provide well-built cars, but also incredibly fast cars as we had drivers in both series start from the front row and drivers in both series finish on the podium. A huge thank you to Aero Advanced Paint Technology for their support. We use their unbelievable product on our entire fleet including our USF2000 and Pro Mazda cars. Not only does Aero™ look amazing, but it is durable, lighter and a really great fit with our program.”

 

“In USF2000, Jayson Clunie did a great job,” Duncalfe continued. “He missed this event last year, so this was his first time on the streets of St. Petersburg. He worked extremely hard this weekend and showed improvements each time out. His times improved every session and he was able to capitalize on mistakes and carnage ahead of him throughout the races. Manuel had a difficult debut weekend in USF2000. Manuel had a great start in Race 1, however was hit from behind in the first corner ending his day prematurely. Manuel had a solid second race going on Sunday until contact in a late race restart caused some damage to Manuel’s car that ultimately ended his day. He is a superb driver, but he truly had some unfortunate luck. I feel for him, however, I am confident he will come back stronger for Indianapolis.  Igor had a really strong debut performance in not only USF2000, but also on a temporary street course, qualifying fourth and second and getting his first podium. I am certain that he would have had two podium finishes had he not been hit from behind in corner 1 of the opening lap of Race 1. He showed his resilience and charged from dead last up to finish in eight position (with a damaged car).  He did an incredible job on Sunday, keeping his composure while fending off some attacks for position. He is a rookie who drove like a veteran this weekend.”

 

As expected, Race 1 had quite an eventful opening lap turn one. Clunie was able to make it through all the havoc unscathed, but Fraga and Cabrera were unfortunately collected due to the errors of others. After getting hit from behind, Fraga continued with a damaged car, working himself masterfully back up to the eighth position. Manuel was not quite as lucky, as damage from the incident left his car undriveable, forcing him to retire with a 25th place finish. Clunie stayed out of trouble the entire race and managed to work his way up to the 17th position.

 

In Race 2, the streets of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg did not cause any more craziness and all the cars were able to make it through the opening corner without incident. After starting on the outside of the front row following a tremendous qualifying effort, Fraga maintained his second spot and after some close battles with the third-place car, he muscled his way to the end to wind up on the second step of the podium in his debut of USF2000 career. It really worked out well for his points, as he will head into the INDYCAR Grand Prix at IMS third in the points standings. Cabrera started 17th and was quickly in the middle of a heated battle, which eventually resulted in a DNF that was out of his control. Unfortunately, this left him to end up 21st for the day. Clunie capitalized on the mid-race chaos, improving his lap times and moving his way up to finish 20th.

 

The next stop for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda is the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the INDYCAR Grand Prix. The Exclusive Autosport trio will take to the 2.439 mile, 14-turn road course on May 10-12. This will be the first time that both Fraga and Cabrera will have driven the track, but they’ll arrive with high expectations for positive results using the baseline set by teammate Parker Thompson last year.

 

Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with great companies, such as AERO™ Advanced Paint Technology (www.rethinkpaint.com), which is used on all their race cars.

 

EXCLUSIVE AUTOSPORT – DRIVER RESULTS AND QUOTES

USF2000 – ROUNDS 1/2 – MARCH 9-11, 2018

GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG – ST. PETERSBURG, FL

 

IGOR FRAGA – #90

Qualifying 1: 4th – 1:12.841

Qualifying 2: 2nd – 1:12.493

Race 1: Start – 4th / Finish – 8th   

Race 2: Start – 2nd / Finish – 2nd

Driver Quote: “This weekend was quite hard for me, because I don’t have a lot experience here in America. I’m used to standing starts, so getting use to rolling starts was a challenge. The second race was a lot better than the first at the start, as I used what I learned from the first race to defend my position. The team did an awesome job to always set-up of the car and make it comfortable for me. The second race was so close with third place, so with no mistakes, I was able to finish in second place. I wish I could have gotten two podiums, but after this I’ll be more prepared and with more experience here in America, I’m excited for the next race! Thank you very much to the Exclusive Autosport team and all of my sponsors.”

 

MANUEL CABRERA – #91

Qualifying 1: 16th – 1:13.897

Qualifying 2: 17th – 1:13.542

Race 1: Start – 16th / Finish – 25th    

Race 2: Start – 17th / Finish – 21st  

Driver Quote: “It was a great weekend in St. Pete because I learned a lot. It was difficult in the races, but I am pleased to gain the experience and will look to improve my driving as I focus on the next race. I’m going to work very hard during this month and the next one to have a better result at Indianapolis!”

 

JAYSON CLUNIE – #92

Qualifying 1: 23RD – 1:16.585

Qualifying 2: 24TH – 1:16.542

Race 1: Start – 23rd / Finish – 17th    

Race 2: Start – 24th / Finish – 20th  

Driver Quote: “It is really exciting to get back in the Exclusive Autosport cars for a race weekend! This was my first time at this race and I was really surprised how fun and smooth the track is. The weekend started off slowly for me, but I got better every time out. The field this year is very strong, so it will be harder to meet my goal of top-10s, but it should only make me better. I can’t thank Michael and Kimberly enough for the opportunity to be part of such a great team.”

 

Posted by admin on in Mazda Road to Indy

Exclusive Autosport Scores PRO MAZDA Podium In Debut @ExclAutosport

For Immediate Release: March 14, 2018 – Exclusive Autosport

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 11, 2018) – Exclusive Autosport enjoyed a successful debut in the Pro Mazda
Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, earning a podium finish at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, thanks to an impressive run by series rookie Parker Thompson. The Canadian finished second in Race 1 and then backed up his strong performance with a fifth in Race 2, which leaves him sitting second in the championship standings to begin the 2018 season. Exclusive Autosport fielded a pair of Tatuus PM-18 cars in St. Pete for Thompson and fellow Canadian Antonio Serravalle, the 15-year-old rookie from Ontario. Serravalle logged tremendous experience on the challenging street circuit, finishing 11th in the opening race and 13th in the second event of the doubleheader.

 

“I am really proud of my Exclusive Autosport team,” enthused Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal.

“This was our first weekend running a combined five cars in both championships. The crew did a phenomenal job prepping the cars and maintaining them throughout the weekend. Not only did they provide well-built cars, but also incredibly fast cars, as we had drivers in both series start from the front row and drivers in both series finish on the podium. A huge thank you to Aero Advanced Paint Technology for their support. We use their unbelievable product on our entire fleet including our USF2000 and Pro Mazda cars. Not only does Aero™ look amazing, but it is durable, lighter and a really great fit with our program.”

 

“Antonio (Serravalle) did a phenomenal job,” Duncalfe continued. “He’s only 15 and this was his first race weekend in a car (having made the jump from shifter karts directly into Pro Mazda). He finished every session, continued to make improvements and ran quicker times each session.  He will continue to develop and will be a threat as the season progresses. Parker (Thompson) once again showed how strong he is as a driver and how well prepared and fast the EA cars are. He drove solid all weekend and I’m pleased to be leaving St. Petersburg with a podium and sitting second in the overall championship points standings.”

 

Thompson got the weekend off to a good start in Race 1 qualifying on Friday afternoon, posting the second quickest time of the 20-minute session (1:08.288) to secure the outside of the front row for the opening event of the year. For Serravalle, every session was a new experience and Antonio approached qualifying wisely, dropping 2.5 seconds off the best time he turned during his initial run in Friday morning practice to sit 16th. Qualifying for the second race of the weekend took place early Saturday morning in cool temperatures, and Parker was again pushing hard, but got blocked by a slower driver on a flying lap that had him on-pace to take the pole. As a result, he put his #90 PM-18 on the outside of row three in the sixth position. Continuing his improvement and comfort level, Antonio was able to better his time from Race 1 qualifying, advancing to the 14thposition.

 

At the start of the opening race of the year, as expected, the first turn of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg featured havoc, but thankfully, Thompson and Serravalle were able to weave their way through cleanly. Parker assumed the early lead and then paced the field for the first half of the race until a late full-course yellow re-stacked the field. On the ensuring restart, he was dropped to second and, while he fought back valiantly, the end result was a solid second place finish. Antonio did a fantastic job in his debut, keeping his nose clean and crossing the line in 11th place.

 

Race 2 on Sunday afternoon began with some confusion, as a race control communication issue led to a disjointed start, which ended with a red flag stoppage to reset the grid for a single file restart. In the original start, Thompson had been able to advance to third, but the red flag negated that tremendous opportunity. It was quite frustrating for everyone involved. Parker restarted sixth, but starting single file made it more difficult to make up any positions when the race began. Thompson grabbed one position over the race distance to finish P5, posting another top-five finish that put him into second in the championship standings heading to Barber Motorsports Park in late-April. Antonio performed well in his second MRTI race, staying out of trouble while gaining valuable experience. A late-race spin put him a lap down, but he continued to leverage the track time. Antonio showed great maturity when being overtaken by the leaders, pulling through pit lane to avoid any issues. Again, he completed every session and finished the day in the 13th position.

 

The next stop for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will take the team to Barber Motorsports Park on April 20-22. Thompson has a successful history at Barber with four top-five finishes in his four starts there, two of which were wins in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Unlike St. Petersburg, Antonio has experience on the track from pre-season testing and he will look to improve his times and experience at Rounds 3 and 4.