Mid-Ohio - May 2015 (Round 5 & 6)

The 2015 Hoosier Tire US Formula 1000 Championship Fueled by Sunoco made its return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend.  J.R Osborne was looking to continue his hot streak after a perfect weekend at VIR, while Alex Mayer was hoping to be the one to end his streak.  Osborne picked up where he left off by qualifying on the pole.

 

 

Grid for round 5:

1.  JR Osborne-1:23.851
2.  Jeremy Hill-1:24.074
3.  Alex Mayer-1:25.358
4.  Glenn Cooper-1:25.802
5.  Tyler Thielmann-1:29.779
6.  Dave O'Leary-1:34.208
7.  Steve Hamilton-1:34.279
8.  Zane Gibbs-1:36.634

 

Rounds 5 and 6 were run with several other classes so traffic featured prominently throughout the race.  At the start Osborne used those other classes to his advantage, jumping out to the overall lead and putting several cars between him and the rest of the Formula 1000 field.  Behind him, Cooper got a fantastic start and launched into second place while Hill and Mayer were bottled up by slower cars.  Once the drivers got into race rhythm, Osborne worked on extending his lead on each lap .
The battle for second was the one to watch.  Cooper held the second spot for several laps while Mayer attacked Hill for 3rd.  On lap 3, Hill gave up the spot, allowing Mayer to set off in pursuit of Cooper.  He closed up on Cooper and was able to make his move on lap 6, taking over P2.  Over the next few laps, Hill also began reeling in Cooper and got around him on lap 9.  Just a lap later, two cars in another class spun in the blind downhill turn 9.  They then collected two more cars, and Zane Gibbs took evasive action, avoiding contact but stalling in the grass, unable to continue.  
The cars were in a dangerous location so the race went full course yellow.  With only a handful of laps to go the officials decided to end the race early, giving the runaway victory to Osborne.  Mayer and Hill joined him on the podium.

 

Final results- round 5:
1.  JR Osborne
2.  Alex Mayer
3.  Jeremy Hill
4.  Glenn Cooper
5.  Tyler Thielmann
6.  Steve Hamilton
7.  Dave O'Leary
8.  Zane Gibbs

 

 

 

 

The grid for round 6 was set by each driver's fastest lap throughout the weekend, including the race.  Zane Gibbs and Steve Hamilton were the only drivers to improve their times in the race so they bumped O'Leary down the order.  The front of the grid was virtually identical to round 5.

 

 

Grid for round 6:

1.  JR Osborne-1:23.851
2.  Jeremy Hill-1:24.074
3.  Alex Mayer-1:25.358
4.  Glenn Cooper-1:25.802
5.  Tyler Thielmann-1:29.779
6.  Zane Gibbs-1:31.560
7.  Steve Hamilton-1:33.671
8.  Dave O'Leary-1:34.208

 

For the third weekend in a row, rain was a factor in the race outcome.  Intermittent rain storms soaked the track up until the cars were gridding but the rain was done and the wind was beginning to dry the track.  Most of the field arrived at the false grid on full wet tires, with the exception of pole-sitter Osborne on slicks and Thielmann on intermediates.  Osborne once again jumped out to an early lead with Mayer close behind. 

Grip was good in some places but standing water in turn 12 caught Osborne out and he spun on lap 2, handing the lead to Mayer.  Osborne's spin plus a few other cars off course brought out a full-course caution and subsequent black flag to bring the field to pit lane while crews cleared the track.  Osborne was able to rejoin at the back of the field but was two laps down.  This left Mayer, Hill, and Thielmann to battle for the win.  At the restart, Mayer took a cue from Osborne and left the field in his dust.  Behind him, Hill had his hands full with a continuous challenge from Thielmann.  Thielmann used traffic to his advantage and finally got around Hill on lap 16.  Thielmann then took advantage of his tire choice to begin chipping away at Mayer's lead.  With only three laps to go, he was able to get close but ran out of time.  Mayer took the win followed closely by Thielmann, then Hill. 

Meanwhile, Osborne sliced through the field, set fastest lap, passed Mayer to get one of his laps back, and finished 6th.  Gibbs and Hamilton had a spirited battle for fourth with Hamilton holding the spot for most of the race but giving it up to Gibbs when it counted.

 

Full results- round 6:
1.  Alex Mayer
2.  Tyler Thielmann
3.  Jeremy Hill
4.  Zane Gibbs
5.  Steve Hamilton
6.  JR Osborne
7.  Dave O'Leary
DNS  Glenn Cooper