The weather conditions turned decidedly cooler on Wednesday (February 26) at Barber Motorsports Park, perfectly mirroring the demeanor of young Florida racer RC Enerson. The 16 year-old from New Port Richey, Fla., made a perfect start from pole position and controlled the final round of the six-race Cooper Tires Winterfest for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda to secure both the race win and the mini-series spoils for Team E Racing.
Englishman Michael Epps, who started second, needed to win the race and gain the bonus points for fastest race lap, and lead the most laps in order to wrest away the title from Enerson. Epps wasn't quite able to match his double race-winning form from day one, and came up just 0.003 shy of claiming the fastest lap point, which also went the way of Enerson, but still came away with yet another podium finish and second place in the final points tally. His efforts also ensured a comfortable Team Championship victory for Belardi Auto Racing.
Teammate Florian Latorre, from Libourne, France, held third place in the early stages before slipping back to fifth behind former F1600 Formula F Championship Series protagonists Aaron Telitz and Jake Eidson, who continued their battle. Once again it was Telitz (ArmsUp Motorsports), from Birchwood, Wis., who came out on top - by just 0.602 of a second on this occasion - to claim a well-deserved maiden podium finish. Fourth place, meanwhile, was enough for Eidson (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing), from Lakewood, Colo., to clinch third place in the Cooper Tires Winterfest.
Clarke Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, who scored his first victory at NOLA Motorsports Park last Saturday, posted another fine performance for JDC MotorSports. The 16 year-old lost a place on the opening lap to fall back to 11th, but charged hard thereafter to rise all the way to sixth ahead of teammate Scott Andrews, from Torquay, Victoria, Australia, who also made good progress from ninth on the grid.
Austin Cindric ran well in sixth during the early stages for Pabst Racing, but slipped back to ninth at the finish, behind Peter Portante (ArmsUp Racing). Felipe Donato, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, completed the top-10 for JDC MotorSports after a protracted battle with Daniel Burkett (Belardi Auto Racing).
"It was a great race today," stated Enerson. "I made a good start and just held my own in the race. To win the championship is just amazing. I want to carry this with me into the season and, hopefully, use this momentum to good effect in St. Pete and try to go for the regular season championship. The team did a fantastic job to give me a great car. My coach, Jonatan Jorge, has been amazing and I wouldn't be where I am today without him. I want to thank him, my parents, the team and everyone who supports me."
The regular Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season will kick off on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 29-30, with a doubleheader event in support of the IZOD IndyCar Series.
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