Ming, Mount and Norman Win at Palm Beach Grand Prix
Jupiter, FL – Calvin Ming, Blake Mount, and Ryan Norman took victories at the Palm Beach Grand Prix in the F1600, F2000 and Atlantic races on Saturday afternoon in Florida. All three drivers were in K-Hill prepared entries, winning the first of two winter events that Formula Race Promotions is hosting in Florida, with Sebring following Feb. 19-21.
Race Summaries:
With the green flag out for the much-anticipated F1600 race, it was Kaylen Frederick leading the inaugural lap for Team Pelfrey ahead of Neal Verhagen and Phillippe Denes as a traditional action-filled F1600 race developed.
K-Hill’s Calvin Ming took the lead on lap two, as close racing saw the first four positions swapped back and forth between the two Peflrey cars along with Ming and his K-Hill teammate Verhagen.
Behind them was the second race for the final top five spot, with Roman De Angelis holding off Joe Colasacco in the early stages of the event.
Ming found himself back in the overall lead by lap five, but had his hands full with the Team Pelfrey duo, who used the draft to go back to one and two overall by lap seven, with Frederick’s No. 80 Mygale/Honda in the lead over Denes’ No. 81.
By lap nine, Ming had taken the lead back with a late-braking move on the inside in turn nine as the leaders went three-wide.
A lap later, Frederick went from third to first, with Ming back around for the lead just a couple of corners later.
A full course caution came out on lap 11 when the leaders tangled in turn nine, which saw Frederick end up in the tire wall. The driver emerged unscathed from the incident.
With the race back under the green flag, Ming was back in the lead with just four laps to go, with Denes passing for the lead on the same lap after restarting in third. Meanwhile, DeAngelis got the better of Verhagen for the final podium position.
On the last lap, it came down to Pelfrey’s Denes and K-Hill’s Ming for the win, as they had separated themselves from the field.
The two went side-by-side into turn nine at the end of the backstretch, with Ming coming out in the lead to take an exciting win ahead of Denes with Verhagen completing the podium.
The F2000 and Atlantic races on Saturday afternoon from Palm Beach ran to a 28-time limit under near perfect weather conditions.
Ryan Norman led from pole in his No. 48 K-Hill Swift 016/Mazda Atlantic Championship Series entry, taking the victory ahead of teammate Bruce Hamilton.
In the F2000 Championship Series, Blake Mount led from pole but went off on the opening lap, but was able to assume the lead to take the win for K-Hill Motorsports in the No. 7 Van Diemen.
Morning Qualifying:
In morning F1600 qualifying, Kaylen Frederick set the pace early, going to the provisional pole immediately in the session ahead of teammate Phillippe Denes as the two traded fast laps back and forth in their matching yellow Mygale/Hondas along with K-Hill’s Neil Verhagen. Denes eventually set the fastest lap of the session to take pole at 1:19.823 ahead of Frederick, Verhagen, Ming, and DeAngelis.
In F2000 qualifying, it was Blake Mount taking pole in his F2000 debut for K-Hill Motorsports, while Ryan Norman ran the fastest lap in Atlantic qualifying for K-Hill Motorsports. Contender Skylar Robinson was sidelined with a mechanical issue that ended his day.
Full results for the day are available on www.F1600Series.com, www.F2000Series.com, and www.AtlanticChampionshipSeries.com.
Next up, Formula Race Promotions hosts another Winter Exhibition event at Sebring International Raceway, Feb. 19-21.
Photos:
1. Calvin Ming
2. Ryan Norman
3. Blake Mount
On the Web:
F1600: www.F1600Series.com | Facebook | Twitter
F2000: www.F2000Series.com | Facebook | Twitter
Atlantic: www.AtlanticChampionshipSeries.com | Facebook | Twitter
About Formula Race Promotions:
Formula Race Promotions (FRP) operates the F1600, F2000 and Atlantic Championship Series. Starting with F2000 in 2006, FRP added F1600 in 2011 and Atlantic in 2012. The Series’ philosophy is to offer a vertical integration between club and professional racing, while offering some of the best race tracks and significant amounts of track time in single-class running. The 2016 schedule is composed of two winter events and seven-points paying weekends. FRP is privately owned and sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing.
Sources: Monty Mathisen/MathisenMedia PR