ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – A pair of hard-fought USF2000 Presented by Continental Tires races saw Eddie Beswick and Anthony Martella, representing Pabst Racing and Exclusive Autosport, share the spoils of victory in The Andersen Companies Grand Prix of Road America Presented by Elite Engines.
Beswick, from Sydney, Australia, edged out Pabst Racing teammate and Australian countryman Brad Majman early this morning, while Martella, from Woodbridge, Ontario put a string of disappointments behind him later in the afternoon to secure a well-earned second win of the season.
Majman once again finished close behind in second place as Martella’s teammate, Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., completed the podium.
Second-generation racer Oliver Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., also played a starring role for VRD Racing, finishing third this morning and then rising from last place on the starting grid to a magnificent sixth in Race Two.
After knocking on the door several times, Majman finally earned his very first Continental Tire Pole Award during the first of two qualifying sessions on Friday. He was joined on the front row of the grid for the opening race of the weekend by Cooley. Beswick and Wheldon shared row two.
Perfect conditions greeted the 24 starters for this morning’s race at 8 a.m. CDT, with a clear sky and cool temperatures ensuring a fast-paced race.
The initial start was clean with Majman able to maintain his lead and teammate Beswick working his way to second place before a couple of incidents farther around the first lap ensured a brief full-course yellow.
At the restart, with two laps in the books, Majman was virtually a sitting duck as Beswick took advantage of a massive slipstream on the lengthy acceleration up the hill and was comfortably in front as the leaders entered the braking zone for Turn One. Try as he surely did for the remainder of the distance, Majman was unable to redress the balance so he had to settle for second place. However, he did gain the consolation of a new lap record.
In fact, no fewer than 15 drivers posted times faster than the previous mark of 2:08.8197 set by Danny Dyszelski in 2023.
Beswick’s margin of victory was a scant 0.2879 of a second. The one-two result for Pabst Racing allowed the team based locally in Oconomowoc, Wis., to move ahead of Exclusive Autosport in the coveted Teams Championship standings.
An equally intense battle for third place saw Martella crossing the finish line inches ahead of Wheldon, although Martella later was assessed a five-second penalty for blocking on the final lap on the uphill run to Turn Six, which relegated him to ninth in the final results.
One of the drives of the race was produced by DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon, from Neiva, Colombia. The championship points leader qualified a disappointing eighth before falling almost to the back of the field after making a mistake at Turn Three on the opening lap. Garzon then worked his way steadily forward before gaining two positions on the final lap when teammate and Florida-based Brazilian Joao Vergara and Exclusive Autosport’s Ayrton Cahan, from Santa Fe, N.M., tripped over each other at Turn Five.
Also impressive was Liam Loiacono, from Sunshine Coast, Australia, who started last for JHDD powered by ECR following a crash in practice which prevented him from taking part in the first qualifying session. Loiacono then drove through the field to a strong 11th-place finish to earn the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
The grid for the second race of the day was set during a separate qualifying session on Friday afternoon in which Majman again turned the fastest lap to claim his second successive Continental Tire Pole Award.
Vergara started on the outside of the front row but was unable to keep pace with Majman at the start, with Martella and Cooley jumping from third and fifth on the grid to second and third.
The order was frozen for a short full-course caution following a three-car incident on the second lap, but once the race was resumed, it was clean and green until the checkered flag.
Majman continued to hold onto his lead at the restart, but as the leaders began their sixth lap, Martella pulled alongside his rival on the outside line at Turn One and bravely stuck to his guns to emerge with a lead he had no intention of relinquishing.
Majman tried his hardest but, for the second time in just a few hours, had to be content with second place. Still, it was enough to move a little closer to the points leader Garzon, who posted another sensible drive to finish fourth – along with claiming the fastest race lap.
Cooley was sandwiched in between Majman and Garzon at the finish with Beswick in fifth and only just ahead of Wheldon, who drove a spectacular race to vault from 24th on the grid. Unsurprisingly, Wheldon also picked up the Tilton Hard Charger Award.