Road Atlanta-March 2015 (Round 1 & 2)
The 2015 Hoosier Tire US Formula 1000 Championship Fueled by Sunoco got underway Friday with the first of three qualifying sessions. 2014 East champion Jeremy Hill put up the fastest time, followed by Glenn Cooper and Shane Prieto. However, the second session defending national champion J.R. Osborne took to the track and picked up where he left, taking the pole with a lap of 1:21.112 and relegating Hill to the outside of the front row. Several other drivers found more speed in the second session, which ultimately set the grid for round 1.
Grid for Round 1
| 1 |
JR Osborne |
1:21.112 |
| 2 |
Jeremy Hill |
1:22.172 |
| 3 |
Alex Mayer |
1:22.200 |
| 4 |
Jason Bell |
1:22.309 |
| 5 |
Nicolas Ortiz |
1:23.536 |
| 6 |
Glenn Cooper |
1:24.009 |
| 7 |
Shane Prieto |
1:24.381 |
| 8 |
Jose Gerardo |
1:28.163 |
| 9 |
Pete Frost |
1:32.026 |
| 10 |
Joel Haas |
1:32.990 |
| 11 |
William Falatick |
1:34.691 |
Round 1 featured an exciting Formula 1-style standing start. With the pit lane fence lined with spectators, the field lined up in the start boxes awaiting the countdown. When the green flag flew all the drivers got away cleanly and through turn 1. Hill and Mayer both got a jump on Osborne, dropping the pole sitter to third. As the field approached turn 10, Shane Prieto and Nicolas Ortiz got together, sending Ortiz backwards across the grass, stopping on the racing line. This brought out a black flag all, returning the field to pit lane to clear Ortiz's car. On the restart, Hill resumed the lead, being hounded by Mayer and Osborne. As they entered turn 10, Mayer made a move to get around Hill and started pulling away. Several laps later, Hill began closing the gap and on lap 10 got close enough to make a move and retook the lead. The white flag came out that lap, just as Osborne was getting close enough to make it a three way battle.
As the leaders dove into turn 10 for the last time, Mayer pulled out to pass Hill and Osborne pulled out to pass Mayer. They went three-wide into the braking zone but Osborne got pushed onto the grass and was unable to slow in time, spinning into the gravel trap. Mayer came out of the turn in front of Hill and they crossed the line that order. Osborne was able to get moving again but had dropped to 7th. Behind the leaders, Jason Bell and Glenn Cooper had been battling for the fourth spot but with Osborne's trouble, it became a battle for the podium. Bell prevailed and Cooper settled for fourth.
Final race results for Round 1:
| 1 |
Alex Mayer |
| 2 |
Jeremy Hill |
| 3 |
Jason Bell |
| 4 |
Glenn Cooper |
| 5 |
Shane Prieto |
| 6 |
Pete Frost |
| 7 |
JR Osborne |
| 8 |
William Falatick |
| 9 |
Nicolas Ortiz |
| 10 |
Jose Gerardo |
| 11 |
Joel Haas |
| Prize Fund for Round 1 |
| 1st Place |
Alex Mayer |
4 Hoosier Tires,
$250 Taylor Race Engineering Certificate
|
| 2nd Place |
Jeremy Hill |
2 Hooser Tires |
| 3rd Place |
Jason Bell |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| 4th Place |
Glenn Cooper |
1 Free Sprocket from Sprocket Specialists |
| Pole |
J.R Osborne |
(1:21.112) 1 Hoosier Tire |
| Sunoco Hard Charger Award |
Pete Frost |
$200.00 cash
(moved up 3 positions) |
| Random Drawing |
Nicholas Ortiz |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing |
Shane Prieto |
1 Hoosier Tire |
The grid for round 2 was set by each driver's fastest lap throughout the weekend, including the race. William Falatick was the only driver to improve his time in the race so the round 2 grid was virtually identical to round 1.
Grid for Round 2:
| 1 |
JR Osborne |
1:21.112 |
| 2 |
Jeremy Hill |
1:22.172 |
| 3 |
Alex Mayer |
1:22.200 |
| 4 |
Jason Bell |
1:22.309 |
| 5 |
Nicolas Ortiz |
1:23.536 |
| 6 |
Glenn Cooper |
1:24.009 |
| 7 |
Shane Prieto |
1:24.142 |
| 8 |
Jose Gerardo |
1:25.009 |
| 9 |
Pete Frost |
1:30.133 |
| 10 |
William Falatick |
1:32.521 |
| 11 |
Joel Haas |
1:32.990 |
A light rain fell leading up to the start of round 2, forcing teams to choose between intermediate tires and full rain tires. As the race approached, it appeared there was a dry line forming on the track so pole sitter Osborne and Cooper chose intermediates, the remainder of the field starting on full wets. Minutes before the cars rolled out for the pace lap the rain intensified, making the full wet set up the correct choice.
At the green, Hill jumped to the lead once again, followed by Bell and Mayer, while Osborne clung to fourth. On the next lap, Mayer made his move and took the lead from Hill. Hill then fell under attack from Bell, who got around Hill on lap 3. On lap 4, Mayer pulled out his lead while Bell pulled away from Hill. Osborne was still in 4th but fading. On the next lap, his tire choice came back to haunt him as he spun in turn 10. This brought out a full course caution, bunching up the field while safety crews pulled Osborne from the gravel trap.
The race restarted on lap 8 and Bell gave chase to Mayer for the lead. Mayer started to pull away but it was all for nothing when a spinning Jose Gerardo brought out a second full course caution. After three laps under caution, the field dropped into turn 12 approaching the green flag and Bell got the jump on Mayer, leading into turn 1. Mayer didn't let him stay there long and retook the lead in turn 3. Mayer once again began pulling away from Bell while he pulled an even bigger gap to Prieto. They ran in that order for a few laps but by lap 16 Bell started closing the gap. On the next to last lap Bell was almost close enough to make a move for the lead but as they approached turn 10 for the last time, Bell spun, leaving Mayer to run to the checkered flag unchallenged. Prieto crossed the line second followed by Hill and Ortiz. Bell recovered to finish 8th. After the race it was determined that Prieto had passed under yellow and was penalized two spots, promoting Hill to second and putting Ortiz on the podium.
Final race results for round 2:
| 1 |
Alex Mayer |
| 2 |
Jeremy Hill |
| 3 |
Nicolas Ortiz |
| 4 |
Shane Preito |
| 5 |
Glenn Cooper |
| 6 |
Pete Frost |
| 7 |
Joel Haas |
| 8 |
Jason Bell |
| 9 |
JR Osborne |
| DNF |
Jose Gerardo |
| DNS |
William Falatick |
|
|
With a sweep of both races, Mayer leaves Road Atlanta leading the championship, followed by Hill. Cooper and Prieto are tied for 3rd.
| 1 |
Alex Mayer |
50 |
| 2 |
Jeremy Hill |
43 |
| 3 |
Glenn Cooper |
33 |
| 4 |
Shane Prieto |
33 |
| 5 |
Jason Bell |
32 |
| 6 |
Pete Frost |
31 |
| 7 |
J. R. Osborne |
30 |
| 8 |
Nicolas Ortiz |
30 |
| 9 |
Joel Haas |
25 |
| 10 |
William Falatick |
13 |
| 11 |
Jose Gerardo |
11 |
| Prize Fund for Round 2 |
| 1st Place |
Alex Mayer |
4 Hoosier Tires
$250 Taylor Race Engineering Certificate
|
| 2nd Place |
Jeremy Hill |
2 Hoosier Tires |
| 3rd Place |
Nicholas Ortiz |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| 4th Place |
Shane Prieto |
1 Free Sprocket from Sprocket Specialists |
| Pole |
J.R. Osborne |
(1:21.112) 1 Hoosier Tire |
| Sunoco Hard Charger Award |
Joel Haas |
$200.00 cash
(moved up 4 positions) |
| Random Drawing |
Shane Prieto |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing |
Pete Frost |
1 Hoosier Tire |
|
