HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A pair of thrilling races today wrapped up the Grand Prix of Homestead Presented by YACademy and ensured a spectacular start to a new season of USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire.
Machado Perez, from Madrid, Spain, claimed an accomplished victory this morning for VRD Racing by Pole Position with Olivia Racing’s Karol Pasiewicz, from Lodz, Poland, and DEForce Racing’s Vilho Aatola, from Turku, Finland rounding out the podium for the second day running.
The final race saw Lebanon’s Max Mokarem time a mid-race restart to perfection, leaping from fourth into a lead he was able to hold until the finish for Zanella Racing. Pasiewicz once again finished second – by a whisker – with Canada’s Olivier Mrak grasping the final podium finish for Zanella Racing following a penalty assessed to Exclusive Autosport’s Bex Cranston, from Greenwich, Conn.
A second qualifying session this morning helped determine the starting order for both of today’s races, with Machado Perez regaining his impressive pace from testing and practice by posting the fastest time to snag the Continental Tire Pole Award. DEForce Racing’s Vilho Aatola, from Turku, Finland, lined up alongside on the front row with yesterday’s winner Mokarem and Denmark’s Casper Nissan (JHDD powered by ECR) sharing the second row of the grid.
A thrilling race ensued, with all 20 laps run under green-flag conditions. Machado Perez led the opening four laps before Mokarem moved up front. Nissen, Pasiewicz and Aatola also remained strongly in contention.
On the 15th lap, Mokarem and Nissen ran side by side through Turn Three, but then made contact as they hit the brakes for Turn Four. In a flash, both ran wide and Machado Perez regained a lead he was never to lose.
Pasiewicz chased as hard as he could but once again had to settle for second with Nissen barely edging out Aatola and Brazilian Victor Couto (Zanella Racing) in a photo-finish for third.
Later, however, 10-second penalties were assessed to both Nissen and Couto for avoidable contact, which relegated them to 10th and 11th in the final results and, for the second race in a row, elevated Aatola to the podium.
Canada’s Cole Medeiros moved up to fifth, narrowly ahead of Exclusive Autosport teammate Bex Cranston, from Greenwich, Conn., who pocketed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 15th on the grid to sixth at the finish.
The final race of the opening round, held this afternoon, saw Machado Perez once again snaring the Continental Tire Pole Award by virtue of posting the best of each driver’s second-fastest lap during qualifying this morning or their best laps from the earlier race. Nissen gained some consolation by lining up second, based upon his improvement in the race, with Pasiewicz and Mokarem on row two.
Machado Perez led the early stages, albeit not by much as Pasiewicz remained hot on his heels before some debris on the race track brought out the full-course caution flags with six laps in the books.
The race went green again with eight laps remaining, but there was immediate controversy as Machado Perez found himself swallowed up by the pack, believing that others behind him had jumped on the throttle before the green flag waved. However, a thorough review by race officials determined that Mokarem’s leap from fourth to the lead was indeed legitimate, so the 14-year-old led the pack as the remainder of the field jostled in his mirrors.
Pasiewicz was especially unfortunate, trapped behind Machado Perez as the race was restarted, to the extent that he completed the following lap all the way down in 10th. But Pasiewicz posted another magnificent charge and even grasped the lead briefly heading into the final banked corner on the last lap, only to leave a small gap on the inside which Mokarem instantly filled and then nosed ahead to win by a mere 0.0094 of a second.
Mrak, who had been running eighth prior to the caution, profited from a 10-second penalty to Cranston for avoidable contact to claim third ahead of Max Cuthbert, from Chelmsford, England, who earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 14th on the grid.
The day’s two PFC Awards went to Dan Mitchell and Yannick Rolland (VRD Racing by Pole Position) and Jose and Jessica Zanella as the winning car owners.
USF Juniors will now take a deserved break before assembling at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C., for another tripleheader event on May 2/3.
Provisional championship points after three of 16 races:
1. Max Mokarem, 82
2. Karol Pasiewicz, 75
3. Vilho Aatola, 53
4. Olivier Mrak, 53
5. Ivan Machado Perez, 43
6. Casper Nissen, 41
7. Bex Cranston, 38
8. Cole Medeiros, 37
9. Victor Couto, 36
10. Max Cuthbert, 33
Race 2 Quotes:
Ivan Machado Perez (#10 HONR the drive/Skip Barber Racing-VRD Racing Tatuus JR-23): “It was a pretty chaotic race. At the start I thought maybe I had it as I opened a bit of a gap, but then afterwards Mokarem caught me back. And from there onwards it was just about trying to stay in the pack, trying to fight cleanly and trying not to position myself in a vulnerable position towards the end of the race. When the cars unfolded, I was just able to pull away a bit. It was a really good race and I'm really happy with the car the guys gave me.”
Karol Pasiewicz (#25 Olivia Racing Tatuus JR-23): “The race was quite exciting. Starting from P6, I had to move my way up. Some actions were really risky. I risked a lot this race and hopefully for the next race we can do something more.”
Race 3 Quotes:
Max Mokarem (#46 District Construction Corp./Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “This is definitely a great start. It was actually my first time winning in races like this in this big of a field. Especially after getting yesterday’s win, this one was a bit more surprising because I had a little bit of trouble in Race 2. In Race 3 I started back up towards the front and managed to keep my car in the right spot and keep out of trouble. Once the safety car rolled around, everyone was all packed up. I managed to get a really good jump and jump all of the cars at the start. From there on, I kind of pulled away but the car from behind started catching up to me. Once he overtook me on the oval, I managed to get a tow back and get it at the last thousandth of a second.”
Karol Pasiewicz (#25 Olivia Racing Tatuus JR-23): “It was a crazy race. At the safety car restart, the leader didn’t see the green flag so we lost a lot of time. I saw everyone go past me and I think I was then down in P10. I made my way back up. I am really surprised that I even caught the leader and tried to take a win away from him. It is amazing to start out the season like this, but I would be more happy leading the championship.”