BROWNSBURG, Ind. — DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports completed its driver lineup for the inaugural USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires series Wednesday, signing 16-year-old Californian Ethan Ho.
Ho joins Nicholas d’Orlando and Earl Tucker as the team readies for the first race weekend of the new series later this month. Taking the wheel of the No. 71 Ligier JS, he and his teammates have their sights on the series’ ultimate reward: a prize package valued at over $310,000 including a scholarship to advance to the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – the first rung of the popular Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires driver development ladder.
“We had a good first test with Ethan at Barber, he was running solid laps at the end of the day, third quickest in the final session,” said Don Conner, principal of DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports. “I expect he’ll start off strong when we get back to Barber for the second round of the championship.”
Ho’s parents moved with their families from Taiwan to the U.S. when they were teenagers and met while attending Ohio State University. Ho was born in Los Angeles, speaks fluent Mandarin as well as English and holds dual US/Taiwan citizenship.
Ho’s father was interested in racing and cars, competing at track days and the occasional karting event with his son along, and the youngster caught the racing bug at an early age. Ho began racing at the age of seven, contesting regional and national karting events. After a successful karting career highlighted by podium finishes in the 2019 Rotax Stars & Stripes Open (Senior Max), Challenge of the Americas (Junior ROK) and SKUSA Pro Tour (KA100 Junior), Ho had planned to compete internationally until travel restrictions due to the global pandemic changed his plans.
“We’d planned to race the Rotax series in Europe, but then COVID hit and the season was cancelled,” said Ho. “We did a few days of testing and a few karting events, then started looking at what might be next.”
Deciding to stay closer to home, Ho moved into the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in 2020, finishing second in the championship with three podiums and a pole position in six races. He kept his skills sharp by competing in several karting events in 2020 and 2021 as he explored his options, earning a position on Team USA for the Rotax Grand Finals in Bahrain. Ho also gained open-wheel experience, capturing a podium finish in the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round of the 2021 Formula Pro USA F4 Western Championship.
Ho tested a Tatuus USF-17 at the 2021 Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but decided that he was not quite ready for the jump to USF2000 at that stage in his career. Andersen Promotions’ announcement of the USF Juniors series came at the perfect time, as Ho connected with DCA. He posted the third-quickest time in the final session of pre-season testing last month at Barber Motorsports Park and is ready to get the season underway – while managing expectations.
The debut USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires race weekend will take place at Ozarks Int’l Raceway April 21-24.