CAPE MOTORSPORTS’ ASKEW SWEEPS USF2000 WEEKEND AT INDIANAPOLIS
Donison makes first trip to USF2000 podium, Martin cards two Pro Mazda top-fives
The start of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires season has been incredibly successful for Cape Motorsports, as the multi-time USF2000 series champions are off to a massive start. The team has won five of the first six races in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda with their talented rookie driver Oliver Askew, sweeping this past weekend’s event on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to extend the streak. Askew’s teammate Ricky Donison also turned in his best performance of the year, finishing third in Race 1 before recovering from opening lap contact in Race 2 to knife through the field back to eighth. It was a stellar outing overall for Donison, who becomes the first driver from India to podium in MRTI competition. In the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Anthony Martin scored a pair of fourth places finishes to keep himself in the hunt for the title.
”We are so proud of everyone’s efforts for the Indy GP,” stated Dominic and Nicholas Cape, post-race. “Anthony had a fantastic drive in the first race after a brilliant move in turn 1, and he grabbed some valuable points in race two. Oliver was spectacular again and captured his fifth straight victory after another clean sweep. It’s truly an impressive young man. Ricky’s performance was remarkable, he’s coming on in leaps and bounds. His drive from last place to eighth after contact with Ming, yet again, was truly impressive. He was on pace all weekend and we are so pleased for him after a difficult start to the season.”
The Cape Motorsports engineering staff has quickly dialed in their set-up program for the new Tatuus USF-17 race car, which has provided Askew and Donison with a capable platform to take on the ultra-competitive USF2000 grid.
In qualifying for Race 1, Askew earned his fourth pole of the year thanks to a new track record time of 1:24.6831 that took advantage of the cooler morning temperatures, while Donison showed his quickest pace of the year with a lap of 1:25.0610 that would put him P3 for the start. Qualifying for Race 2 was also held on the Friday, and Askew again topped the chart to secure the inside of the front row, albeit a little slower that his record pace of the morning. Donison was again right in the mix, timing in fourth.
The opening race of the doubleheader on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road required two runs to the line to get the green flag, but Askew made quick work of his competition to pull a quick gap. The caution came out immediately on lap two for an incident in turn seven, but Askew handled the restart well and would go on to a 5.2381-second win. Donison ran his best race of the year to cross the line in fourth, and he would be promoted to the podium following a post-race technical DQ.
Race 2 was held on Saturday morning, and the start was a carbon copy of Friday’s event with a yellow being displayed early after opening lap contact. Donison was caught up in the seven-car melee, as he was spun from behind in Turn 2. Luckily, he was able to get re-fired and joined the grid at the tail of the field, setting up an impressive charge forward. Askew once again romped away to the race win, although this time he saw a 4.4-second lead vanish with just two laps to go when a car became stranded just inside the apex of turn seven. Oliver again managed the restart and held a 1.2488-second advantage at the line. Ricky had climbed back up to ninth through the race and then jumped on the opportunity to move to eighth when a battle for third opened the door for him to slip through on the final lap.
The Pro Mazda series was back on-track at Indy as well, for the first time since the opener at St. Petersburg. Cape Motorsports driver Anthony Martin came in as the point leader having both races in Florida, and he would go on to score a second in Race 1 and a fourth in Race 2 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to now sit just six points behind Victor Franzoni heading to Round #3 in Wisconsin. The Mazda Scholarship driver qualified third for Race 1 and had a great battle with Franzoni for the lead early on before taking second. Anthony qualified fourth for the second race of the doubleheader and then fought Team Pelfrey’s Carlos Cunha for third and ended up fourth.
Cape Motorsports, Oliver Askew, Ricky Donison and Anthony Martin will now focus on the next event on the MRTI schedule, which will be held at the end of June in Elkhart Lake, WI at the iconic Road America (June 23-25).
DRIVER PERFORMANCE / QUOTES
COOPER TIRES USF2000 CHAMPIONSHIP POWERED BY MAZDA – ROUNDS #5/6
PRO MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COOPER TIRES – ROUNDS #3/4
MAY 11-13, 2017 – INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – INDIANAPOLIS, IN
OLIVER ASKEW – USF2000 #2
Qualifying 1: 1st – 1:24.6831
Qualifying 2: 1st – 1:24.7400
Race 1: Start – 1st / Finish – 1st
Race 2: Start – 1st / Finish – 1st
Driver Quote: “Once again, my Cape Motorsports-prepared Mazda Scholarship car was on rails, over three tenths quicker than anyone else all weekend. Everyone is working very well together, the system works. I can’t thank my team enough for the hard work and expertise they are putting in to win these races.”
RICKY DONISON – USF2000 #3
Qualifying 1: 3rd – 1:25.0610
Qualifying 2: 4th – 1:25.2088
Race 1: Start – 3rd / Finish – 3rd
Race 2: Start – 4th / Finish – 8th
Driver Quote: “I am extremely happy with the way the weekend went. Coming into this round, I didn’t know what to expect, but from the first session onwards I knew I was going to be fast and be in contention for the top five, however, getting a podium was a bonus. I’m glad that my team is leading the championship again and couldn’t thank them enough for giving me the best car on the grid. I’m looking forward to the next round, hopefully I can fight for a win at Road America.”
ANTHONY MARTIN – PRO MAZDA #8
Qualifying 1: 3rd – 1:23.8527
Qualifying 2: 4th – 1:23.9988
Race 1: Start – 3rd / Finish – 2nd
Race 2: Start – 4th / Finish – 4th
Driver Quote: “This weekend was really tough for me. We struggled to get the car performing the way we wanted it to. Disregarding that, we still came away with some good championship points. We aren’t out of the running and it is really close now. We will go back and recap on the weekend and work harder to get a strong car for the upcoming race in Elkhart Lake. I love that track and I hope with the two wins from last year, that will motivate and help us to get everything out of the car.”
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