Portante, Bamford and Norman Lead Practice at PittRace
Wampum, PA – Peter Portante, Steve Bamford and Keith Grant led Friday practice in the F1600, F2000 and Atlantic Championship Series, respectively, with each Series getting two full 30-minute sessions at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
F1600
The fastest lap of the day in the F1600 Formula F Championship Series came in the afternoon session as K-Hill Motorsports driver Peter Portante led the way with a time of 1:46.818, four tenths up on Team Pelfrey’s Phillippe Denes, the Championship points leader.
Portante is coming off a strong weekend at Mid-Ohio that saw him return to victory lane, while Denes held onto his points lead and looks to do the same ahead of the triple-header weekend at Pittsburgh.
“We need to go and win races, some people will always think championship but you need to have the confidence to believe you can win consistently, and if we do that we don’t need to worry about the championship points,” said Portante.
Rounding out the top five at the conclusion of the afternoon session were Kaylen Frederick, Neil Verhagen and Calvin Ming. Steve Bamford was the first of the Masters Class runners with a sixth place effort, with Hans Ada and Thomas Schwietz following.
Earlier in the day the times were a bit slower as K-Hill driver Neil Verhagen led morning practice with a lap of 1:47.515, just .101 seconds ahead of teammate Portante, with Frederick in third.
“I drove the expanded Pittsburgh track in my Skip Barber school when the track first opened in July of 2015,” said Frederick, who drives the No. 80 Mygale/Honda for Team Pelfrey. “I’m a huge fan of this course and find it among the best that I’ve driven in the series. The deep 80 feet dive in elevation at turns four and five is enormously fun, as well as the climb back out over the crest at turn six. Another highlight is that the track has a 2.8 mile combined length, and longer courses always add variety and challenge.”
Following Frederick on the morning time sheets were Ming and Denes, while Bamford and Ada repeated their morning and afternoon performances, sixth and seventh quick, respectively, in both sessions.
F2000
The fastest lap of the day in F2000 Championship Series practice came in the morning session courtesy of points leader Steve Bamford, who turned in a quick time of 1:41.394, and the backed that up with the fastest time in the afternoon practice.
Bamford, who is looking for his first victory at Pittsburgh in an F2000 car, looks to convert his practice pace to Saturday morning qualifying and followed by the first race of the double-header weekend, round nine, scheduled for Saturday afternoon before Sunday follows with another qualifying and race.
Bamford was followed by Brandon Dixon on the morning time sheets, with Trent Walko in third. Walko is making his 2016 debut after a strong 2015 season, and is racing in the No. 82 Mazda-powered Van Diemen in his first start for Team Pelfrey. Walko is also a local expert, having grown up in the area with and has considerable experience around the 2.8-mile course. Steve Jenks and Davy D’Addario completed the top five.
While Bamford led the afternoon session, it was Walko that moved up a spot, second quick and just .066 seconds off Bamford’s quick time, while John McCusker vaulted to third with a late flyer. Jenks and his No. 68 Van Diemen followed in fourth with Brandon Dixon in fifth.
Dave Weitzenhof was sixth quick, while Dan Denison was seventh in his first start since Road Atlanta, driving the No. 51 Polestar machine. D’Addario, Devin Lesueur and Chris Gumprecht followed.
Atlantic
Keith Grant led the way on Friday over two sessions in the Atlantic Championship Series practice, setting a fast lap of 1:34.139 at Pittsburgh International Race Complex with a time of 1:34.139 in the No. 40 Polestar Racing Group Swift 016/Mazda.
The fastest lap of the day came in the cool morning session, with Grant pacing his Polestar teammate and brother David Grant, with Ryan Norman, points leader, third quick followed by Rich Zober.
In the Atlantic Challenge, Connor Burke was fastest in the morning session but gave up the time in the afternoon to Bob Corliss, who was quickest at 1:36.937 in the No. 17 Comprent Motorsports Swift 014/Toyota.
Practice two saw times a bit slower at the top of the charts, with David Grant leading the way at 1:34.868, just .180 seconds ahead of K-Hill’s Norman with Keith Grant third quick.
Zober followed in fourth on the afternoon time sheets, ahead of teammates Lee Alexander and Chris Ash, with Chris Ash and Theodoras Zorbas. In the Challenge class, Corliss led Championship rival Hamilton and John Burke ahead of rounds nine and 10 of the 2016 Atlantic season.
Full results are available on www.F1600Series.com, www.F2000Series.com, and www.AtlanticChampionshipSeries.com.
Photos:
1. Peter Portante
2. Steve Bamford
3. Keith Grant
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/Formula Race Promotions