Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon doubled up in the second USF2000 race on the streets of St. Petersburg.

He missed out on pole, as Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick second-best laptime from qualifying earned him top spot by 0.0758 seconds over team-mate and race one fastest lap-setter Brad Majman.

Garzon’s best race one laptime put him third on race two’s grid, ahead of Joao Vergara (Velocity Racing Development), Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing), Ryan Giannetta (VRD), Lucas Nanji (Pabst) and Anthony Martella (Exclusive Autosport).

Beswick held the lead into the race’s opening corner, and Escorpioni made one overtake before pulling off another at turn four on Majman who had already lost out to Garzon. Racing was then neutralised due to a turn one crash involving Jay Howard Driver Development by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Cal Peter driving over the rear of Exclusive’s Evan Cooley. Later in the lap, Martella ended his race at turn eight.

The restart was not until lap six, and it did not last long as Exclusive’s Connor Aspley had stopped on track after turn 10 and his car needed recovering. JHDD’s Liam Loiaconi pitted during the next caution period, so was at the back for the lap nine restart.

Garzon was instantly alongside Beswick and swept past on the outside before entering turn one, with Escorpioni following through at turn four. A wide moment at turn five for Escorpioni two laps later allowed Beswick back through, and Garzon began pulling away but could not get more than 1.2s ahead.

The top three held their positions through the race’s second half, and Majman was a lonely fourth. DEForce’s Brady Golan overtook Vergara on the lap nine restart for fifth, with Giannetta chasing them through the rest of the race.

VRD’s Teddy Musella climbed two spots from 13th on lap one, and another two on lap nine. On lap 11 he overtook Exclusive’s Ayrton Cahan for eighth.

Race results (20 laps)

The post DEForce’s Garzon doubles up in USF2000’s second St. Pete race appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Penske Entertainment / Joe Skibinski

Nikita Johnson used a first corner move to take a lead he would not give up in Indy Nxt’s season-opening race in St. Petersburg.

The 18-year-old claimed his and Cape Motorsports’ maiden victory in the championship, and it was a winning start for his team’s partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing.

There was drama pre-race as radio trouble meant Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen did not leave the pits with the rest of the field. He was able to make it out in time to join the race start, when Andretti Global’s poleman Max Taylor led the field up to racing speeds.

He covered the inside line going into the opening corner, while fellow front row starter Johnson went to the outside and had taken the lead before even reaching the apex of turn one.

The field navigated the first braking zones without issue, and HMD Motorsports’ Tymek Kucharczyk overtook Andretti’s Seb Murray and Lochie Hughes for third. Later in the lap, HMD’s Jack Beeton spun then AJ Foyt Racing’s Alessandro de Tullio drove into the rear of Andretti’s Josh Pierson, which led to a caution period.

Racing resumed on lap four of a scheduled 45, and Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe had to hold off Pierson for sixth into turn one.

Two laps later there was another caution-triggering event as Ganassi’s Carson Etter broke his front wing then drove over the top of it and into the barriers exiting turn eight.

The next restart was on lap 10, and Taylor tried reclaiming the lead around the outside of turn one but there was not enough room for him to stay alongside into turn one. Murray fought Kucharczyk twice during the lap, but could not maintain his challenge.

Everyone was setting personal best laptimes, and Taylor was mostly able to match Johnson’s pace until the next caution period when Foyt’s Nicholas Monteiro crashing out exiting turn nine on lap 17.

Murray looked to Kucharczyk’s outside approaching turn one on the lap 21 restart, and Koolen got alongside team-mate James Roe Jr on the twisty stretch between turns two and three. They rubbed wheels, then crashed, and racing was neutralised once more.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Alexander Koreiba and Cape’s Matteo Nannini were deemed to have violated the rules of the restart and sent to the back for the next one on lap 26. This time it took two laps for Johnson to make a 0.9-second gap, with Kucharczyk a further 0.9s back, but Taylor reduced it to 0.7s as the race became a timed encounter that would mean a 42-lap distance.

Taylor set a new fastest lap on lap 33, getting within 0.45s of Johnson, but the leader responded and had a 0.86s margin after lap 35 as he lowered his own pace. The pair continued pushing, and Johnson took the fastest lap next time by. He was now 0.971s ahead, and while Taylor did respond by lowering his own pace, both did on lap 38 and Johnson broke a second clear with another fastest lap. The debuting Kucharczyk, engineered by Tim Neff, was now 4.43s behind.

Taylor reclaimed the fastest lap on the next tour, and saving up his push-to-pass for a late-race attack. But Johnson had used it sparingly too, so as both hit the button over the final two laps it meant Johnson was still able to win by 0.699s.

Kucharczyk fell a further second behind, with Murray close behind but never attacking, and Hughes finished fifth. A lot further back was Rowe, who had continued to hold off Pierson, and HMD’s Salvador de Alba finished eighth after passing Abel’s Max Garcia on lap 26 (having conceded a place to him in a forceful turn one move on lap 11) then overtaking Cusick Morgan Motorsports’ Juan Manuel Correa on lap 31.

Beeton recovered to 11th, and Bryce Aron was Ganassi’s top driver in 18th.

Race results (42 laps)

The post Johnson holds off Taylor to win caution-filled Indy Nxt opener appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Chris Owens

Andretti Global’s Max Taylor claimed pole almost unopposed for the opening race of the Indy Nxt season in St. Petersburg.

Having topped both practice sessions, Taylor was then quickest in the second qualifying group as the 24-car field was split into two.

His team-mate Lochie Hughes was the driver to beat through the first half of group one’s session, bringing the pace down to 1m06.1041s.

HMD Motorsports’ Enzo Fittipaldi was initially second, then team-mate Salvador de Alba took over the position but was 1.0958 seconds off the pace.

Josh Pierson reduced team-mate Hughes’ advantage to 0.7221s with five minutes to go, at which point Cape Motorsports by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Nikita Johnson was among a group of drivers without a flying lap. Once his first effort did come in, he bettered Pierson by 0.0233s to go straight into second.

Abel Motorsports’ Max Garcia slotted into fourth at the same time, and several others set personal bests while Fittipaldi brought his damaged car back to the pits. He had got loose exiting turn three, tried to save his car but hit a wall that damaged the rear-left of his car.

Hughes lowered the pace to 1m05.9871s a minute later, leading Garcia by 0.4944s, Pierson by 0.5133s and de Alba by 0.6152s. When Johnson next crossed the line, he went from fifth to first as he went 0.0865s quicker than Hughes.

Pierson later also beat Hughes, by 0.0113s, and de Alba improved to 1m06.1391s in fourth. Johnson went even faster next time by, setting a 1m05.5418s, but Hughes responded with a 1m05.4352s. AJ Foyt Racing’s Alessandro de Tullio rose to fifth, posting a 1m06.2881s.

Johnson reclaimed provisional pole by 0.2204s with one-and-a-half minutes remaining, and Pierson improved to 1m05.8319s but remained in third. Hughes similarly found more pace but lapped 0.0957s shy of Johnson’s benchmark in the final minute, and de Tullio was 0.5283s behind in third. Pierson then reclaimed that position, getting within 0.3827s of Johnson.

While Johnson said it took a few laps for the track to rubber in, but remained pretty loose, Hughes say it did not rubber in at all and was very different to pracrtice when he lost running after being pushed into the barriers.

It did not take long for Johnson to lose pole once group two was on track. Taylor’s first flying lap was a 1m06.6478s, and on his next laps improved to 1m05.4337s then 1m04.9993s. His team-mate Seb Murray was closest at first, 0.0676s behind before the gap grew to 0.3807s and later 0.4746s.

Third place traded hands, with Juan Manuel Correa, Myles Rowe and Tymek Kucharczyk all occupying the position in the session’s first half and remaining within a second of the pole pace.

Cape’s Matteo Nannini was next to sit third, but only very briefly as Correa, Kucharczyk and Rowe all then held the position over the next 74s. In his attempt to reclaim the spot, Nannini had a huge crash that began as he exited turn two and led to debris going everywhere. That triggered a seven-minute stoppage and meant his fastest lap was deleted.

Qualifying did restart, and Correa improved at the very end to be fifth in the group. Kucharczyk was third, putting him on row three as each group fills a side of the race’s grid, which the debutant considered “a bit dissapointing”.

Qualifying results

The post Taylor untouchable in Indy Nxt’s St. Petersburg qualifying appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon had a stellar opening day of the USF2000 season in St. Petersburg, taking pole and converting it into victory.

Pole position was only narrowly claimed by Garzon, who pipped Exclusive Autosport’s Anthony Martella by 0.0425 seconds. Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick and Brad Majman were 0.1212s and 0.2673s behind in third and fourth, with everyone else more than half a second off the pace. However a second still covered the top 12.

Exclusive’s Evan Cooley, who came sixth in USF2000 last year, was sixth fastest and 2025 championship runner-up Teddy Musella was only 10th on the grid in a new car run by Velocity Racing Development.

Liam Loiacono, USF Juniors runner-up in 2025, set no laptimes in qualifying due to a fuel pump failure so the Jay Howard Driver Development by Ed Carpenter Racing driver lined up 23rd and last on the grid.

Martella and Beswick got ahead of Garzon either side of him on the run down to the race’s opening corner, but Martella spun when he reached it and team-mate Cooley then drove over the top of him.

Others went deep but avoided Martella’s car, while Garzon was alone up front until a caution period was called for as Beswick fell to 12th.

At that point, Garzon led Joao Vergara (VRD) and Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing), up from fifth and seventh, with Majman holding fourth ahead of team-mate Lucas Nanji who had started 11th. After pitting for repairs, Beswick was 20th.

Racing resumed on lap four and Garzon was unvrivalled. He grew his lead on all but three of the laps, and ended the 20-lap encounter 2.5s clear of Vergara.

The top four gradually distanced themselves from Nanji, and further back was a six-car group led by VRD’s Colin Aitken in sixth. Musella was initially in that group, but after some kerb-riding on lap seven he fell to 15th behind Beswick and in a train of cars led by Enve Motorsports’ Wesley Gundler in 12th.

Gundler’s group was approaching the rear of Aitken’s by lap 15, as he faced attacks from behind. DEForce’s Brady Golan looked to get by but contact meant he had to pit, and other squabbles at the final corner led to Exclusive’s Gabriel Cahan and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development’s Wian Boshoff passing Aitken.

Loiacono was now ninth, and Beswick was 12th but had damage and fell to the rear of the field again. VRD’s Ryan Giannetta overtook Loiacono and Aitken next time by, then on the last lap Boshoff and Giannetta cleared Cahan.

Gundler also made an end-of-race move, taking 10th from Loiacono after he had been gapped by Aitken ahead. Musella was right behind him at the finish, and after several laps holding off Exclusive’s Ayrton Cahan, and Golan was a lapped 19th.

Race results (20 laps)

The post Sebastian Garzon converts pole into victory in USF2000 opener appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Penske Entertainment / Chris Jones

Max Taylor led an Andretti Global lockout of the top three places in the first Indy Nxt practice session of 2026 in St. Petersburg.

The track was immediately busy when the 45-minute session began, and the first benchmark was a 1m09.9265s from Taylor.

His team-mates Lochie Hughes and Seb Murray then lowered the pace in the 1m08s, and once everyone was on track five minutes in the name on top was Abel Motorsports’ Max Garcia. He had set a 1m07.891s, edging Andretti’s Josh Pierson by 0.0329s and Abel with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe by 0.0631s.

HMD’s Salvador de Alba bettered Garcia by 0.0542s a minute later, then Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen edged ahead by 0.1277s.

Andretti was soon back on top, with Murray posting a 1m07.0788s to lead Hughes by 0.187s. Taylor was first to lap sub-1m07s, and his 1m06.4078s effort earned him first place by 0.3722s over Rowe. There was a 0.659s gap to HMD’s Tymek Kucharczyk once he climbed to third, but he was towards the bottom of the top 10 before the 10-minute mark.

Hughes lowered the pace to 1m06.1421s, leading Taylor by 0.2391s and HMD’s Enzo Fittipaldi by 0.4345s. Murray improved in fifth, as all but Rowe in the top half of the field improved and Garcia sat in the pits. When Taylor next crossed the line, he put in an impressive 1m05.8011s and Murray went third fastest but was 0.7513s behind.

More drivers pitted, and Rowe was demoted to sixth despite setting a personal best as de Albra bettered him in fifth.

Cape Motorsports by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Nikita Johnson took third place before red flags waved 15 minutes in. Approaching turn 10, HMD’s Jack Beeton had brushed the outside wall with his rear-right wheel and it sent him spinning into the corner. He broke his rear wing, rear-right wheel and suspension with a rearward impact, and the clear-up required a four-minute stoppage.

Taylor made a small gain of 0.0192s a few minutes after the restart, then improved further to 1m05.4236s as Hughes got within 0.4595s of his new benchmark.

Pierson set a personal best for fifth, then got faster again next time by and rose to third but was 0.8297s slower than Taylor. Garcia, who had headed back on track, jumped to fourth ahead of the improving Rowe with under 20 minutes to go, then Johnson reclaimed third with a 1m05.8925s and Fittipaldi posted a 1m06.1666s to sit fourth.

Taylor still had pace to find, and set a 1m05.2229s before pitting. Fittpaldi became his closest rival not long after that lap was set, but was 0.4788s off his pace, and there were personal bests from Cape’s Matteo Nannini, Murray and Rowe in fifth, sixth and seventh.

The track became far quieter, and Rowe utilised clear to break the 1m06s barrier three times. He rose to fifth, third and then second, lapping 0.3616s shy of Taylor.

Others were also able to string together successive personal bests, and sub-1m06s laps put Cusick Morgan Motorsports’s Juan Manuel Correa and Nannini into the top five and Abel’s Colin Kaminsky into seventh.

Red flags waved again with seven-and-a-half minutes to go as Hughes nosed into the barriers by turn eight. With assistance he returned to the pits sans front wing, and four minutes remained when green flags returned.

Lots of drivers headed out, but some then pitted and forwent the opportunity to improve. Kucharczyk and Koolen went sixth and seventh fastest with a minute remaining, and Murray then took seventh just before the chequered flag. After it flew, Taylor set an unbeatable 1m05.0852s. Pierson jumped from 13th to second, 0.4506s off and 0.001s ahead of Murray.

Free practice results

The post Taylor leads Andretti 1-2-3 in first Indy Nxt practice session of 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon was quickest in the first practice session of the USF2000 season on the streets of St. Petersburg.

He pipped Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick by a tiny 0.0592 seconds, with a second covering the top 14 in the 24-car field.

Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley was 0.1349s behind in third, and there was a 0.3018s gap to Jay Howard Driver Development’s Liam Loiacono in fourth. Just 0.0447s thenh split Loiacono, Joao Vergara (Velocity Racing Development) and Anthony Martella (Exclusive).

There was a surprise addition to DEForce’s line-up, as Brady Golan was at the wheel. The 18-year-old came fifth in Formula Regional Americas last year, and was 18th in his half-season in USF2000.

He has signed with Turn 3 Motorsport to step up to USF Pro 2000 for 2026, which will rule him out of making further USF2000 appearances due to the two series racing on the same dates on IndyCar’s support bill.

JHDD which has partnered with IndyCar team Ed Carpenter Racing, has a four-car line-up in USF2000 and three of its drivers were announced in the last week.

Swedish racer Erik Holm starts his single-seater career with JHDD, having spent last year in shifter karting. The 20-year-old came 13th in the WSK Super Master Series’ KZ2 kart class, and was 37th in the WSK Final Cup the year before. He has also tested a FRegional-based Eurocup-3 car.

Liacono graduates to USF2000 after being USF Juniors runner-up with JHDD. He won five races and claimed two other podiums, and that followed the YACademy Winter Series where he was ninth in the standings. The 18-year-old Australian spent three years in his home country’s Formula Ford scene prior to 2025.

The team’s line-up is completed by Naim Saleh, who takes two steps up the road to Indy after coming third in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series last year. That uses Formula 4 cars, which he also got experience of on home soil in Brazilian F4’s Formula 1-supporting non-championship round at Interlagos.

The post DEForce’s Garzon tops USF2000 practice, gets extra St. Pete team-mate appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Penske Entertainment / Chris Jones

Indy Nxt will have a 24-car grid for this weekend’s season-opening round on the streets of St. Petersburg, as Juncos Hollinger Racing has signed Alexander Koreiba.

The late addition to the field is making a big change in career direction by heading to Indy Nxt, having previously raced prototype sportscars.

Koreiba does have single-seater experience, but only through races in the entry-level Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series back in 2018 and then a United States Formula 4 cameo three years. Since then, he has been busy in LMP3 machinery.

In 2022 he was runner-up in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, he made his IMSA debut in 2023, and two years ago he won Historic Sportscar Racing’s IMSA-affiliated Prototype Challenge in the pro-am class.

“This is a dream come true, and to do it with an organisation of this calibre makes it even more meaningful,” the 28-year-old American said of his Indy Nxt move.

Team co-owner Ricardo Juncos said Koreiba “brings a championship mindset and a relentless work ethic that aligns with our goals as an organisation”.

A few days ago the driver and team got to work with each other on-track in a two-day test that took place on the Miami track that Formula 1 races on. A shortened layout was used, and Koreiba’s team-mate Ricardo Escotto set the pace with his very last lap of the test.

Koreiba was fourth fastest, and Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes in eighth place commented that the new gearbox being used this season has required him to adjust his driving style. He is the highest placed returnee, having come third in the 2025 standings as a rookie.

The post Alexander Koreiba joins Juncos to complete Indy Nxt’s 2026 grid appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Zanella Racing’s Max Mokarem emerged on top in USF Juniors season-opening Grand Prix of Homestead on the Homestead-Miami Speedway roval.

The season got underway on Tuesday, with Ivan Machado Perez setting a 1m23.1037s in practice to pip Victor Couto to top spot by 0.0426 seconds. Mokarem was third, and 0.0222s split the next three drivers.

In qualifying, Mokarem posted a 1m23.3084s to claim race one pole by just 0.0637s over Bex Cranston. Karol Pasiewicz, Couto, Max Cuthbert and Machado Perez were all within 0.181s of pole, and 1.2721s separated first from 21st and last place. Alex Berg was 20th, his team rebuilding his car after a big crash in pre-event testing.

Pasiewicz took second on race one’s opening lap, and fought with Mokarem before a caution period was called as Berg and Pipe Chaparro had gone off. Olivier Mrak went off but rejoined at the rear of the field.

Racing resumed on lap five, and Mokarem held onto the lead. Cranston lost third to a rear-left puncture on lap six, and after fighting Couto there was a big off and then damage for Machado Perez that required him to pit.

Casper Nissen inherited third and went four-wide with his rivals as lap eight began. Brenden Cooley exited the fight by going off af turn two, and Couto took third place. Nissen got back past then Couto returned the favour mid-race before another caution period on lap 13 caused by Couto briefly stopping at turn four. Mrak spun at turn one, leaving Cooley as Nissen’s rival for third again on the lap 16 restart.

Nissen immediately jumped Pasiewicz as racing restarted, but copped a five-second penalty for blocking as the lapped Machado Perez got involved in their battles. Mokarem pulled away, and had a 1.9s gap at the finish on lap 20.

Pasiewicz got back past Nissen under braking on lap 17, and Vilho Aatola completed the podium after Nissen’s penalty. He had spent many laps fighting Cooley.

The second qualifying session was on Wednesday morning, and Machado Perez beat Aatola to race two pole by 0.2543s. Mokarem was 0.3754s behind in third, and failing to improve late on so filling the next spots were Nissen, Couto and Pasiewicz.

Machado Perez was mostly unchallenged early in race two, then Mokarem latched onto his rear on lap four. He got ahead a lap later, and the lapped car of Cooley got in the way of Machado Perez’s efforts to reclaim the lead. On lap seven he put a wheel off in defence against Pasiewicz, and then a three-wide moment allowed Nissen past both.

Machado Perez got back past on lap eight, and was soon looking at Mokarem’s gearbox again. He used the oval banking to get alongside twice, but Mokarem had the inside line for turn two so stayed ahead.

It was four-wide into turn one on lap 13, and Machado Perez lost two spots once more as Aatola now got involved. There was side-by-side action again on lap 15 and Mokarem forced Nissen. Machado Perez overtook Nissen a few corners later, and Pasiewicz spent a few laps pressuring before pulling off his move for second.

As Machado Perez pulled away, a four-car fight for second formed. Pasiewicz held on, 0.0856 ahead of Nissen who finished side-by-side with Aatola and Couto. Nissen and Couto then got 10s penalties for avoidable contact, promoting Aatola and Mokarem to third and fourth.

The second-best laps from qualifying two and race two’s fastest laps were used to set race three’s grid, putting Machado Perez on pole again by 0.2224s over Nissen. Pasiewicz missed out on the front row by 0.0255s, and Mokarem lined up fourth.

Mokarem went off on lap one, and took third into the first braking zone of lap two as he and Couto passed Nissen. A turn three off on lap three cast Nissen to 11th, but a caution period running from lap seven to 11 brought him back into play.

Machado Perez fumbled the restart, and had Pasiewicz and Couto stuck on his gearbox as Mokarem flew past on the outside to lead before lap 12 even began. Leonardo Serravalle and Cole Medeiros also flew by, with Machado Perez now fourth ahead of Couto, Mrak, Pasiewicz and Nissen.

Mokarem held off Serravalle until the latter was spun by Machado Perez at turn three on lap 14, then he had a gap to the group disputing second. They were almost four-wide starting lap 15, with Mrak and Nissen ahead of the damaged Machado Perez. Pasicewicz and Couto cleared him across the next two laps, then he flew off track.

Nissen overtook Mrak at turn two on lap 18 of 20, despite going off which let Pasiewicz past both. Next time by there was a similar fight, and later in the lap Cranston went around both for third. By trying to stay alongside, Nissen turned it into a six-car fight he ended up at the tail of as Cranston and Medeiros got into third and fourth.

Up front, Pasiewicz reduced Mokarem’s lead from 1.34s to nothing in the last two laps. He took the lead on the inside through the banking on the final four, but then left just enough room for Mokarem to get past on the inside of him later in the long bend. They were side-by-side at the finish, and Mokarem won by 0.0094s.

Cranston won the fight for third, but a 10s penalty for avoidable contact applied post-race lifted Mrak onto the podium.

Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Max Mokarem Zanella Racing 33m21.6795s
2 Karol Pasiewicz Olivia Racing +1.9022s
3 Vilho Aatola DEForce Racing +3.9331s
4 Olivier Mrak Zanella Racing +5.4317s
5 Bex Cranston Exclusive Autosport +6.3782s
6 Brenden Cooley Exclusive Autosport +7.2004s
7 Casper Nissen JHDD by ECR +7.6031s
8 Leonardo Serravalle Zanella Racing +7.6748s
9 Victor Couto Zanella Racing +8.0436s
10 Max Cuthbert JHDD by ECR +8.7949s
Pole: Mokarem, 1m23.3084s
Fastest lap: Cranston, 1m23.6649s

Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Ivan Machado Perez VRD x PPM 28m06.7039s
2 Pasiewicz +3.5372s
3 Vilho Aatola DEForce Racing +3.6603s
4 Mokarem +5.0385s
5 Cole Medeiros Exclusive Autosport +7.5194s
6 Cranston +7.6459s
7 Elias Vignola DEForce Racing +8.4811s
8 Serravalle +9.2143s
9 Mrak +10.9528s
10 Nissen +13.6228s
P: Ivan Machado Perez, 1m22.9097s
FL: Nissen, 1m23.3548s

Race 3 (20 laps)
1 Mokarem 32m29.3361s
2 Pasiewicz +0.0094s
3 Mrak +4.1927s
4 Cuthbert +4.4031s
5 Medeiros +4.4747s
6 Nissen +4.9982s
7 Couto +6.2224s
8 Cooley +6.2437s
9 Alex Berg Berg Racing +7.3994s
10 Pipo Chaparro DEForce Racing +7.4070s
P: Machado Perez, 1m23.1324s
FL: Cuthbert, 1m23.4043s

Championship standings
1 Mokarem 82   2 Pasiewicz 75   3 Aatola 53   4 Mrak 53   5 Machado Perez 43   6 Nissen 41   7 Cranston 38   8 Medeiros 37   9 Couto 36   10 Cuthbert 33

The post Mokarem wins twice at USF Juniors’ season-opening GP of Homestead appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Christian Cameron set the pace in USF Pro 2000 pre-season testing on Homestead-Miami Speedway’s road course this week.

The 15-year-old American was driving for TJ Speed, landing a slot at the two-day test only the previous week, and is yet to source the funds required to race in USFP2000. In the last two years he has come 10th in USF Juniors and 11th in USF2000.

There were four test sessions on Tuesday, and Jay Howard Driver Development by Ed Carpenter Racing’s duo of Andres Cardenas and JT Hoskins led the way in the first. A 1m20.8648s put Cardenas on top by 0.1687 seconds, with the pair not improving on those laptimes in later sessions.

Pabst Racing’s Jacob Douglas was 0.5561s behind in third, and Frankie Mossman (Velocity Racing Development), Cameron and Sebastian Manson (Turn 3 Motorsport) were also within a second of the pace.

Manson was quickest in session two. He set a 1m21.2349s, pipping Mossman by 0.0546s. Douglas was third again, 0.3361s off, and team-mate G3 Argyros was fourth. Cardenas did not record any laptimes.

It was even closer at the top in session three, as Mossman’s 1m21.5729s earned him first place by just 0.0477s. Cameron racked up lots of laps and was second fastest, and VRD’s Teddy Musella was only 0.1105s off Mossman in third. Manson was 0.4098s back in fourth.

Seven of the 16 drivers testing recorded their personal bests in the day-ending session four, and it was also when the test’s fastest laps were set. Cameron’s 1m20.8493s became the benchmark time, and he was narrowly faster than Mossman and Musella who did far less running but were right on the pace. Mossman was 0.0173s shy of top spot, and Musella by 0.0988s.

Leonardo Escorpioni (Turn 3), Jack Jeffers (Exclusive Autosport) and Manson were split by 0.0595s in the next three places, all within a quarter of a second of Cameron, and a second covered the top 12.

Cardenas was back on top the next morning, but came 0.0705s short of matching his personal best from session one. He was also only 0.0504s ahead of Mossman and 0.0781s faster than Douglas. Argyros and Musella were separated by 0.0009s in fourth and fifth, both less than 0.118s off Cardenas, and 0.8826s split first and 14th. Douglas and Escorpioni were two of the four drivers who posted personal bests.

It was a similar story in session six, topped by Mossman. He set a 1m20.899s, 0.0324s down on his session four pace, and he denied the improving Argyros first place by 0.0265s.

Once again, multiple drivers needed less than a 0.1s gain to be quickest. Douglas and Escorpioni trailed Mossman by 0.0807s and 0.0868s respectively, Cardenas was 0.224s behind and Manson pipped Michael Costello (Turn 3) to fifth.

Cameron, Jeffers, Evan Cooley and Anthony Martella (both Exclusive) were the only drivers on track in session seven. There was a 0.4213s gap between Cameron and Jeffers in first and second.

Test results

The post Christian Cameron fastest in USF Pro 2000 pre-season testing appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon set the pace in USF2000 pre-season testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The lastest additions to the 2026 grid, announced before testing, are Eddie Beswick at Pabst Racing and Wian Boshoff at Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development.

Beswick, 20, hails from Australia and won the title in his home country’s national Formula Ford championship in 2024. He also made his USF2000 debut that year, joining Exclusive Autosport for the street races in Toronto, then joined the grid full-time in 2025 as Synergy Motorsport’s sole driver.

While Beswick was usually in the top 10, facing new tracks each round and being part of a small outfit made for a hard rookie campaign but he still came 10th in the standings. The importance of experience showed in Toronto, the only circuit he did know, as he finished second in race one there.

Boshoff is embarking on a second season with SFHRD, having come 17th in his rookie campaign. He missed the final round, and four 10th places were his best results. The South African also raced in Indian Formula 4, where he was ninth in the points table.

There were five test sessions at Homestead across Monday and Tuesday (although six were scheduled), and Jay Howard Driver Development by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Naim Saleh topped the first. They set a 1m19.6016s to lead Velocity Racing Development’s Joao Vergara by a tiny 0.018 seconds, with Garzon 0.0889s behind and just 0.0001s ahead of Saleh’s team-mate Liam Loiacono.

Gabriel Cahan (Exclusive Autosport) was 0.354s back in fourth, and a slim 0.0574s split him and Colin Aitken (VRD) in ninth.

Ryan Giannetta (VRD) lowered the pace to 1m19.4150s in session two, edging Aitken by 0.0936s. Vergara and Loiacono were less than 0.18s behind, and Garzon was fifth.

Garzon moved to the front in session three, posting a 1m19.0521s. He took top spot by 0.2304s over Aitken, and Gabriel Cahan (Exclusive Autosport) moved into third overall with a 1m19.4137s lap. Pabst Racing’s Brad Majman was 0.4092s behind in fourth, as only 11 of the drivers recorded laptimes.

Session four the next day was the fastest, and Garzon set a 1m18.3373s that would not be beaten. Six drivers lapped sub-1m19s, with Loiacono and Vergara 0.108s and 0.1396s off the pace-setter with two very late efforts. Giannetta was only 0.1797s off the top in fourth, and Garzon had a 0.298s gap to Aitken in fifth. Saleh was sixth, and a second covered the top 11.

Garzon broke the 1m19s barrier again in session five, which he topped. His 1m18.8116s put him 0.5271s clear of Vergara, and Lucas Nanji (Pabst) trailed by 0.6016s in third. Cal Peter (JHDD by ECR) was the only improver.

Test results

The post USF2000 field complete pre-season test at Homestead-Miami Speedway appeared first on Formula Scout.