AVONDALE, La. – Victor Franzoni rose from second on the grid to take his first win of the young Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season for Afterburner Autosport in the second race April 12 at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Franzoni was pushed to the limit by Race 1 winner in dry conditions, Nico Jamin (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing), and Jake Eidson (Pabst Racing) finished third. The result moved Jamin to within seven points of Eidson after three rounds of the 16-race season.

Jamin's teammate, Aaron Telitz, started from the pole by virtue of posting the fastest lap during Race 1, but his advantage lasted for only two laps before Franzoni found a way past in Turn 4.

Click it: Race 1 results || Race 2 results

Franzoni kept his nerve at the restart, despite intense pressure from Jamin as the two leaders quickly distanced themselves from Eidson. Jamin was slightly quicker on Lap 9, but Franzoni responded in fine style by proving slightly faster on each of the final two laps of the weather-shortened race to secure the victory by 1.0153 seconds.

"I finished fourth (in Race 1) but we had a mechanical problem and it took until 11 p.m. last night to fix it,” Franzoni said. “The Afterburner guys worked so hard and I'm very grateful to them. I started second and at the race start, I couldn't see anything with all the spray. Then, when I took the lead, I had Nico pushing me, so I had to keep racing hard.

“It was a very difficult race, with the track so wet, but I'm very happy to be back on the podium and to win my first race this season."

In Race 1, Jamin, 19, won from the pole by 2.0124 seconds over Telitz, who finished second for the third consecutive race. Eidson, who won both races in Florida, finished third.

"I had a good Cooper Tires Winterfest at NOLA so when I came here I was pretty confident,” Jamin said. “Everyone on the Cape team has worked hard since St. Petersburg, because Jake (Eidson) was a little bit faster than us there. So it's a very big day for me, my first pole and my first victory.”

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will continue April 25-26 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.