By: Tanner Watkins
December 4, 2018 | 8:00 AM
Full testing results for USF2000
While the top spot changed hands three times in as many sessions on Monday, the dust eventually settled with Australia’s Cameron Shields leading the way in USF2000 testing for Cape Motorsports.
Shields, a native of Toowoomba, Australia, piloted his machine to a lap time of 1m24.8199s to lead the field of 11 competitors. Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout contender Hunter McElrea was close behind with a runner-up lap time of 1m24.8908s while Braden Eves rounded out the top three at 1m25.0184s.
“I am testing with Cape Motorsports and so far it has gone very well,” said Shields. “We were fastest on the first day. There’s still one more day to go but we are showing good signs and I am getting on with the team very well. It’s been a very positive first day.”
Still just 17 years old, Shields visits the states with ambitions of racing in the Road to Indy ladder system for the foreseeable future. He finished second in this year’s Australian Formula 3 Championship and fourth in the Australian Formula 4 Championship, even after missing the final six Aussie F4 races.
McElrea is in south Florida testing with Pabst Racing this week ahead of his ever-important run in the Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout on Saturday and Sunday. A $200,000 scholarship will be on the line for the Gold Coast native, which would ensure his place on the 2019 USF2000 grid.
For Eves, testing at Homestead this week is all about getting back into a normal routine following a stunted Formula 4 United States Championship season.
The former Team USA Scholarship nominee certainly has the talent to compete in the Road to Indy and that should be on display often in 2019.
Colin Kaminsky (P4, 1m25.2696s) and Kyle Dupell (P6, 1m25.6134s) were the only two “veterans” returning to the USF2000 circuit for testing today as they both showed speed at times for Pabst Racing and BN Racing, respectively.
A total of 395 laps were turned by the 11 competitors today, with Yuven Sundaramoorthy banking the most completed circuits with 44 laps to his (rather lengthy) name.
Header image courtesy of Road to Indy.