Turn 3 Motorsport & Eastern Racing have sufficient weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway

august 30, 2020

Madison, IL. – Turn 3 Motorsport drivers Danial Frost and Antoine Comeau had an sufficient weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway finishing fifth and eighth respectively in the Indy Pro 2000 Oval Challenge of St. Louis presented by Cooper Tires, although a second win of the season remained elusive for the team.

Frost showed quick pace in the opening tests on Thursday by topping two of the three sessions, looking like a strong contender for the pole position. The 18-year-old’s opening lap of the two-lap qualifying run was the fastest of the day, but a small mistake on lap two placed his average time fourth overall for the race.

Once the 55-lap contest was underway, Frost took over third position and targeted the lead. Unfortunately, the #68 DEN-JET car began to fall backward due to what was later discovered as a broken front wing flap, a fluke that resulted in a fifth place finish for the Singaporean racer.

“We seemed really strong during the test sessions on Friday,” said Frost. “When we went to qualifying, we were quicker than anyone else’s time out of the box on the first warm up and green lap. On my second lap, I came into the first corner slightly too fast, making my rear end step out which is obviously not ideal for a two-lap qualifying session.”

“In the race, we managed to get ourselves up to third spot in the early laps, but then it seemed like we lacked pace the whole race, so it was quite a quiet race for myself,” continued Frost. “I had to try to manage the car as much as possible and bring it home at the highest finishing position possible. We later investigated that our front wing flap had broken, so we lost a lot of our downforce. It’s motorsports, and these kind of things happen and there’s no one to blame for it. The team did an amazing job giving me an outstanding car all week. Sadly, we couldn’t fight for the true position we wanted. Thank you to everyone this weekend. I look forward to a better weekend in Indianapolis.”

Antoine Comeau had the opposite experience of his teammate, taking a bit longer to find his speed on the 1.25-mile oval. By the time the race came around, the Canadian’s efforts to improve paid off; he gained four positions, maintained a quick pace, and bested his peers to bring his #3 ACR/Eastern Racing car home an eighth place finish.

“We had a difficult start this weekend, and while it took some work to get up to speed, the race went well,” said Comeau. “Of course, I’m always striving for a better performance, but overall, it was a good race considering the very competitive field.”

After Round 7, Frost is lying fourth in the championship with Comeau sitting in tenth position. With 10 races still remaining in the season, the team’s goal moving forward is to minimize the points deficit and regain ground in the championship chase.

“Overall, I was very happy with the team’s efforts over the weekend,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “Both drivers did an outstanding job, and Antoine really raised his level of competition in the final practice and into the race. With Danial, we knew we had the fastest car this weekend, but unfortunately, a slight error in qualifying cost us pole. Then with the front wing flap failure in the race, he had zero chance to compete with the lead pack. He did a great job to bring the car home in P5 and get some valuable points for the championship.”

“It’s great to get away from the two ovals with no major incidents,” continued Dempsey. “Now, our full focus is on our preparation for the Indy GP race this week. Hopefully we can keep our title challenge running over the next weekend.”

Next on the calendar for the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is a triple header event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway grand prix circuit September 3-4.