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Lexington, Ohio (July 3, 2022) – Christian Weir and Spike Kohlbecker came away from Rounds 11/12/13 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with three top ten finishes between the pair of them.
Having previous experience racing at Mid-Ohio, Weir started the weekend with confidence and set the fourth fastest time in two of the three pre-event test sessions on Thursday. A tough qualifying run put the 15-year-old starting 12th for USF2000 Race 1 on Friday night.
Weir had an aggressive start in Race 1, pushing the #32 car up to ninth on the opening lap. After a yellow flag on Lap 3, Weir once again took advantage of the race restart to launch himself into seventh. More on track battles ensued over the 20-lap race with Weir eventually taking a sixth place finish in Race 1.
Weir started P12 once again for Race 2 but this time found himself in an early incident while going for position, resulting in a tire puncture and call to the pits for replacements. Though now in 16th, Weir rejoined the field and managed to put out the fastest lap time of the race, earning an additional championship point for the feat.
Having put out the best lap time in Race 2, Weir started ninth for the third and final race. The Naperville, Illinois native drove a solid race at the end of the day on Saturday and finished 10th, bringing home two top ten finishes for Turn 3 Motorsport.
#32 Christian Weir // USF2000
“It was another tough weekend,” said Weir. “We were struggling all weekend and couldn’t figure out why. With our pace being very on and off during the races, it was hard to get a grasp of what was going on. But we’ve found a step forward and we’ll look forward to Toronto rather than ponder on our results here.”
Teammate Spike Kohlbecker kicked off the weekend strong, putting in the sixth fastest lap time in the first pre-event test session then topping the final test session and solidifying his spot as one of the fastest cars of the day.
Qualifying didn’t show that same speed however, and Kohlbecker put the #33 car starting P13 for USF2000 Race 1. Kohlbecker’s luck didn’t improve on Friday night as he went off course in Turn 4, damaging his car and retiring after only three laps.
In Race 2, Kohlbecker came back ready to fight, racing his way up to tenth from P14 in the opening lap. From there, the 2021 Rookie of the Year improved to eighth before eventually settling for a ninth place finish in Race 2.
In the third and final race of the weekend, Kohlbecker again climbed from P14 to P11 on the opening lap and settled in for another good finish. Unfortunately, halfway through the race, Kohlbecker came into the pits after one of his seatbelts suddenly came loose, causing him to lose the positions gained and resulting in a P17 scoring.
#33 Spike Kohlbecker // USF2000
Ignite Autosport / Margay Racing / TierPoint / PSL / RSolution / TrueTitle / Ruckus Racing / Messmer Cares / Alvear / Cfx
“Mid-Ohio is always a super fun track to drive,” Kohlbecker. “We didn’t have the weekend we wanted, but we gave it our best effort as a team. On to the next one.”
Peter Dempsey
Turn 3 Motorsport Team Owner
“We showed good pace in practice with our USF2000 team but didn’t carry that through to qualifying,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “This really puts you on the back foot in a three race weekend. Both drivers had some solid drives to the top ten, but overall our performance wasn’t what we expected after practice. We will regroup, evaluate the weekend, and try to learn for an improvement in performance for Toronto.”
Up next for the USF2000 Championship is the Grand Prix of Toronto July 15-17, 2022.
To stay up to date on Turn 3 Motorsport, follow the team on social media using the handle @turn3motorsport.
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Photos: Gavin Baker Photo / Road to Indy
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