ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Karol Pasiewicz put an exclamation point on his USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire championship-winning season Saturday by claiming another pair of victories to wrap up the USF Pro Championships Grand Prix of Road America finale.
Pasiewicz, from Lodz, Poland, enjoyed a particularly dominant final race for Olivia Racing by leading throughout the 10-lap contest.
Dutchman Dean Hoogendoorn (VRD Racing) and Canadian Leonardo Serravalle (Zanella Racing) completed the podium this morning, while Zanella teammate Gianmatteo Rousseau, from Panama City, Panama, marked an excellent debut by taking a fine second in the finale after a penalty for Serravalle.
It was enough to ensure a second straight Team Championship for the Florida-based squad.
Bex Cranston inherited the final podium position for Exclusive Autosport.
Newly crowned champion Pasiewicz had narrowly missed out on the pole yesterday, but his second fastest lap during the lone qualifying session proved fast enough to secure the Continental Tire Pole Award for this morning’s opening race of the day. It was his series leading sixth pole of the season.
Just as was the case yesterday, the action was intense from the start with drafting and overtaking all around the majestic 4.014-mile Road America circuit. The weather conditions were conducive for good racing, too, with bright sunshine and a cool morning air temperature.
Pasiewicz regularly swapped positions through the opening stages with Hoogendoorn and Serravalle, who was determined to prove that his pole-winning pace on Friday was no flash in the pan.
Yesterday’s race winner Bex Cranston (Exclusive Autosport), from Greenwich, Conn., also was firmly in contention along with Zanella Racing’s Max Mokarem, from Fairfax, Va., who for the second day in a row charged toward the front from a lowly grid position.
A couple of very brief full-course cautions interrupted the proceedings mid-race, but there was still enough time for a three-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Cranston and Mokarem eliminated themselves from contention with a synchronized spin onto the grass at the exit of Turn Five, and while Hoogendoorn and Pasiewicz exchanged places a couple of times, the Polish ace asserted his superiority by posting the fastest lap with one lap remaining. Pasiewicz took the checkered flag clear of his Dutch rival, who earned another well-deserved podium finish.
Serravalle enjoyed his best result of the year in third, while newcomer Rousseau looked to have earned a fine fourth place before the addition of a five-second penalty for blocking in the late stages relegated him to eighth.
Colombian Pipe Chaparro (DEForce Racing) inherited the position also for a best finish, while Aryan Narola overtook JHDD powered by ECR teammate Indy Andersen on the final lap to snatch fifth.
The grid order for the championship finale was the same as this morning, with the majority of the 20-car field relying upon their second-fastest lap from qualifying, rather than their best laps during Race Two. Pasiewicz therefore lined up on the inside of the front row with his seventh Continental Tire Pole Award. Hoogendoorn once again was on his outside for the rolling start.
This time there was no touching Pasiewicz, who completed the first lap with a huge lead of over 1.7 seconds, which he extended with each circuit until the yellow flags waved with two laps remaining after two cars became entangled at Turn Eight.
The caution allowed Pasiewicz to cruise home to the finish and ended a thrilling battle for second place which saw Serravalle finish ahead of Rousseau. Unfortunately, Serravalle incurred a post-race five-second penalty for blocking which negated what would have been a career-best finish.
Cranston posted another strong charge from 12th on the grid to third after Serravalle’s penalty.
Hoogendoorn had to be content with fourth ahead of Mokarem and Andersen.
