NA-F2000: Mid-Ohio round seven race summary

INCIDENT FILLED F2000 SERIES RACE ENDS WITH KROHN IN VICTORY LANE
Andersen Racing driver leads fellow rookies Miller and Audette to the checkered flag in Round Seven at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 12, 2008) - Anders Krohn extended his lead in the F2000 Championship Series Presented by Hoosier Racing Tire on Saturday (July 12) by taking the checkered flag first in an incident-filled Round Seven at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Making it a rookie sweep of the podium, the Andersen Racing driver was joined by JDC MotorSports' Chris Miller and Audette Racing's Remy Audette in the post-race celebrations.

Day two of the three-day F2000 Championship event at Mid-Ohio commenced with a 25-minute morning qualifying session setting the grid for race one of the doubleheader later in the day. Krohn topped the charts in the two Friday practice sessions and remained the class of the field in qualifying, setting a new lap record (1:24.909) to earn his fourth pole position of the season. ZSports Midwest's Noah Bystrom secured his first front-row start of the year via his final lap, while Miller and Brian Graham Racing's Kyle Marcelli earned row two starting positions.

While a heavy rain shower during the lunch break threatened to add some drama to the opening race of the weekend, the track was dry and the sun was shining when the Formula Ford 2000 cars rolled on-course late in the afternoon for the start of Round Seven. Getting the traditional green flag on the backstraight, Krohn held off the advances of Bystrom, Miller, Audette, Marcelli and Andersen Racing's Jonny Baker to lead through the 'Madness' section of the technical course.

Behind the leaders things proved more chaotic, as Andersen Racing's Doug Prendeville and R-Sport's Mike Mazziotti contacted one another and went off-course, with St. Clair Motorsports Matthew Inge joining the duo in the 'China Beach' gravel trap. By the time leaders reached the start/finish, the yellow flags were waving around the course.

After several laps behind the safety car, the race resumed with Krohn leading the 34-car field into and exiting the first turn. Behind the Norwegian, Bystrom had a less than ideal launch immediately losing a place to Miller, and coming under attack from Audette and Marcelli. Going down the long backstraight, Audette drafted past into third place just prior to Bystrom and Marcelli making high-speed contact with one another. While the majority of the field was able to miss the duo, JDC MotorSports' Juan Pfieffer was unable to clear the incident, coming to a rest off-course with damage to his car. With the three damaged cars lining the backstraight, the safety car was sent back on-course to gather the field.

As dark clouds appeared overhead, the F2000 competitors circulated behind the safety car for multiple laps before the green flag waved for a third and final time. In a repeat of the previous restarts, Krohn retained the lead through the opening turns, ahead of Miller and Audette. Not far behind the lead trio, Piper Racing's Jesse Yorio, having started in 11th, slotted into fourth, while 14th place starter Tim Dunn (the leading Masters pilot) took over fifth place in his R-Sport entry. Running unchanged to an early checkered flag, Krohn captured his fifth win of the season by 2.584s. Miller and Audette joined the championship leader on the podium, leading Yorio and Dunn to the stripe.

The fourth event on the F2000 Championship Series presented by Hoosier Racing Tire continues on Sunday (July 13) with a 25-minute morning qualifying session, followed by a scheduled 18-lap race, Round Eight, in the late afternoon.

-credit: www.f2000championshipseries.com