Impressive double victory for KTF-talent Rinus VeeKay at Road America
KNAF Talent First car racing talent Rinus Veekay impressed with a dominant double victory at Road America in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series. In both races the 16-year-old driver from Hoofddorp in the Netherlands came into the lead after a tough battle, to drive away from the field and claim two impressive wins. After four podium finishes out of six races, these were VeeKay’s maiden victories in the highly regarded first category on the ‘Road to Indy’.
The American Cooper Tires USF2000 series kicked off their second half of the season with race number seven and eight at the beautiful Road America 4.014-mile road course. “The track reminds me of Spa, with the long straights with very technical corners, absolutely fantastic,” said Rinus VeeKay after his first laps. The layout of the track perfectly matched the KNAF Talent First car racing talent’s driving style as the Pabst Racing driver was fastest in practice and claimed the number three position in drying conditions in qualifying for race number one.
The first race at Road America was an absolute thriller. In the first half of the race there was a great battle for the lead between the top four drivers with numerous overtaking manoeuvres and position changes. VeeKay took the lead on lap number five and kept a gap of one second to championship leader Oliver Askew. When Askew had to go to the pits with a suspension problem, the KTF driver suddenly had a gap of 2.7 seconds to the rest of the field. In the next few laps VeeKay extended his lead to 5.9 seconds at the checkered flag. After four podium finishes out of six races, VeeKay claimed his maiden victory in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series. “It feels so great to win! I’m so happy, also for the team, as this is the home race for Pabst Racing. It was a great battle in the first few laps, and we even touched wheels, but it was very fair, a real fight like you want to have it. When I was in the lead, I could drive away,” said a very happy race winner, still wet after the champagne shower.
But there was no time to celebrate too much, as a few hours later VeeKay had to qualify for race number two. The KTF driver did extremely well by claiming the pole position. The Dutch racing talent couldn’t take advantage of that number one position as the long straight made it possible for two drivers to use his slipstream and overtake the leading Pabst Racing driver. In an attempt to retake the lead, VeeKay was pushed on the grass, but stayed with it. One lap later his overtaking manoeuvre was more successful and VeeKay took the lead. During the race the Pabst Racing driver extended his lead to claim his second win with a 1.6-second advantage over the number two. For the second consecutive time VeeKay went to the top step of the podium and uncorked the champagne.
With his double victory, VeeKay, the number two in the drivers’ standings, reduced the gap to the leader after eight of the fourteen races from 60 to 24 points.
