The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda heads west to California this weekend for the first time this season with a 26-car field full of talented young chargers set to contest two races which will comprise the Allied Building Products Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The challenging 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course with its signature Corkscrew turn, will host pivotal rounds with the possibility of the champion’s crown being clinched this weekend while no fewer than 17 drivers will battle for a top-five standing in the final results.
USF2000 represents the first step on the Mazda Road to Indy which also includes the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Firestone Indy Lights. The winner of this year’s 14-race USF2000 title-chase will earn a scholarship package from Mazda and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder to graduate into Pro Mazda for 2014.
Scott Hargrove, 18, from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, currently leads the way after a consistent campaign that has so far netted three wins and four second-place finishes aboard the No. 38 Analytic Systems/Race Energy/Metal Action/Skip Barber Racing/Bell Racing Van Diemen-Mazda fielded by Florida-based Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.
Hargrove holds a 46-point advantage, 227-181, over 20-year-old teammate Neil Alberico, but with 30 points for a race win and additional points for the driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying, the fastest race lap and whoever leads most laps in the race, the outcome is far from being decided.
Hargrove would need to amass a 66-point advantage at the end of the weekend to clinch the crown prior to the season finale at Houston.
“Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was where I drove a race car for the very first time back in 2010 with Skip Barber,” said Hargrove. “The USF2000 championship is coming down to the final two weekends, meaning there is no room for a mistake. I haven’t won a race since March and I expect that could change this weekend. Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing has done an awesome job all year and we are all ready to step up our game and finish the year off strong!”
Alberico, from nearby Los Gatos, Calif., trailed by as many as 77 points at one stage and has some momentum – and home track advantage – on his side after winning five races so far this year in the No. 2 Racelite Protection/Bondurant School/eFormulaCarNews.com/J&M Trophy entry, including two of the last three at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in early August.
“I haven't actually raced at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca before, although it was the first track I drove on at the Skip Barber Racing School back in 2007,” said Alberico. “So, I guess you could say it's been a long anticipated race weekend! The championship is still up for grabs, and personally I’m just going to focus session by session on having a flawless weekend.”