2011 Streets of St. Petersburg

The USF2000 National Championship made its debut in 2010. The series serves as one of the rungs on Mazda's Road to Indy. The program aims to provide a scholarship fund path to reach the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. The Road to Indy has attracted driving talent from all over the world. Last year's champion, Sage Karam, is participating in the season's Star Mazda Championship.

Formula 2000 cars first appeared in North America during the mid-80s. The category was particularly popular in Canada, with series' sponsored by Export A and Canadian Tire. The early cars were powered by a four-cylinder, 2.0-liter overhead-camshaft Ford engine, which produced approximately 150-horsepower. Mounted to the engine is a Hewland Mk 9 gearbox with four forward speeds and one reverse. The single-seater chassis is a tubular spaceframe design fitted with an aluminum floor pan and fiberglass bodywork. The cars also use wings mounted at the front and rear. The whole package weighs just under 1,200-lbs.

Today's Formula 2000 cars conform to many of the same rules, but advances in technology and aerodynamics have allowed them to be faster.

The 2011 USF2000 series has two classes:

Championship: Teams in the division are limited to a Van Diemen chassis manufactured from 2001 to 2010. The cars in this category are powered by a Mazda MZR engine. The power plant is a four-cylinder, double-overhead camshaft, fuel-injected, two-liter motor which produces 170-horsepower.
National: This group is for cars 1998 and newer that conform to Sports Car Club of America's Formula Continental rules. These cars are powered by the Ford Zetec, a four-cylinder, double-overhead camshaft, fuel-injected, two-liter motor, but only produces 150-horsepower.

The 2011 schedule consists of twelve races over seven race weekends on seven tracks – two street circuits, two ovals, and three permanent road courses.

March 17-18 - Sebring International Raceway
March 26-27 - Streets of St. Petersburg
May 28 - Indianapolis Raceway Park
June 19 - Milwaukee Mile
August 6-7 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
August 19-20 - Road America
September 3-4 - Streets of Baltimore

Rounds three and four of the 2011 USF2000 National Championship were held during the Honda Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg. Drivers would complete on the fourteen-turn 1.800-mile temporary street course in Saint Petersburg.

Last year, Spencer Pigot won the BF Goodrich / Skip Barber National championship and was awarded a season in the USF2000 series. Pigot competed in the Cooper Tires Winterfest and finished second. At St. Pete, he drove the No. 8 Team MAZDASPEED Van Diemen DP08 and qualified on the pole for race one. Pigot would go flag-to-flag for the victory. In the finale, he put pressure on Petri Suvanto but finished second.

Finland’s Petri Suvanto participated in last year’s Formula BMW Europe where he finished eleventh in the final standings. This season, Suvanto joined Cape Motorsports driving the No. 3 Van Diemen DP08. He qualified third for the weekend’s first contest and inherited a runner-up result when the second-place starter, Juan Piedrahita, crashed on the opening lap. Suvanto started and finished first on Sunday.

The driver of the No. 7 Team Zakosi Data Backup Van Diemen DP08, Zach Veach, swept round one at Sebring – grabbing the pole and winning. During the qualifying session for Saturday’s race, he recorded the fifth-fastest time. Veach was involved in the turn-one incident but slipped through to finish third. The event ended with him starting third on the grid, but he lost a position to the hard-charging Wayne Boyd and finished fourth.

Wayne Boyd drove the No. 4 ASA Pole Mecanique Van Diemen DP08 prepared by Belardi Auto Racing. Boyd qualified sixth for round three at St. Petersburg. The Northern Irishman battled with Vincent Beltoise and lost a position to finish seventh. The next day would provide Boyd with an opportunity to redeem himself. At the start, he shot from fourth to second but could not hold the position and finished third.

There were three entries in the National class for 1998 and newer that conform to Sports Car Club of America’s Formula Continental rules. The fastest driver at St. Pete was Luca Forgeois piloting the No. 97 Stevenson Motorsports prepared Van Diemen. Forgeois qualified on the category pole for round three and finished ninth overall, earning the National victory. He ended the weekend with another win while finishing tenth.

POS	START	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Spencer Pigot	Team MAZDASPEED/Skip Barber	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
2	3	Petri Suvanto	Cape Motorsports	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
3	5	Zach Veach	Team Zakosi Data Backup	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
4	10	Matthew Di Leo	RES Precast	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
5	11	Cole Morgan	Liberty Engineering/Sim-Sport	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
6	8	Vincent Beltoise	Pole Mecanique Ales en Cevennes	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
7	6	Wayne Boyd	ASA Pole Mecanique	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
8	14	Shannon McIntosh	Glass Hammer Racing	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
9	13	Luca Forgeois	Café Noir	Van Diemen	21	-
10	15	J. R. Smart	Smart Motors	Van Diemen	21	-
11	12	Ardie Greenamyer	Hi-Rise Equipment	Van Diemen	20	-
12	2	Juan Piedrahita	GFK Motors/Montopharma	Van Diemen DP08	0	Did Not Finish
13	4	Tõnis Kasemets	Pabst Racing Services	Van Diemen DP08	0	Did Not Finish
14	7	Luke Ellery	Luke-Ellery.com/Red Line Oil	Van Diemen DP08	0	Did Not Finish
15	9	Timmy Megenbier	Sick Tea/Rahal Foods	Van Diemen DP08	0	Did Not Finish

POS	START	DRIVER	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Petri Suvanto	Cape Motorsports	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
2	2	Spencer Pigot	Team MAZDASPEED/Skip Barber	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
3	4	Wayne Boyd	ASA Pole Mecanique	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
4	3	Zach Veach	Team Zakosi Data Backup	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
5	6	Vincent Beltoise	Pole Mecanique Ales en Cevennes	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
6	15	Timmy Megenbier	Sick Tea/Rahal Foods	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
7	7	Matthew Di Leo	RES Precast	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
8	14	Luke Ellery	Luke-Ellery.com/Red Line Oil	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
9	12	Juan Piedrahita	GFK Motors/Montopharma	Van Diemen DP08	21	-
10	10	Luca Forgeois	Café Noir	Van Diemen	21	-
11	9	Ardie Greenamyer	Hi-Rise Equipment	Van Diemen	21	-
12	11	J. R. Smart	Smart Motors	Van Diemen	21	-
13	8	Shannon McIntosh	Glass Hammer Racing	Van Diemen DP08	15	Did Not Finish
14	13	Tõnis Kasemets	Pabst Racing Services	Van Diemen DP08	10	Did Not Finish
15	5	Cole Morgan	Liberty Engineering/Sim-Sport	Van Diemen DP08	9	Did Not Finish

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