RACE CONTROL • 71Thompson, mindful of the notoriously problematic Turn One, elected
to take a conservative approach which allowed an opportunist Lindh, who
qualified second, to drive around the outside and assume the lead at Turn
Two. Robb, who started fourth, also snuck past last year’s USF2000 champion,
Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport USA) in the opening sequence of turns,
whereupon Kirkwood’s attempt to regain third place in Turn Five resulted in
contact between the pair and a broken front wing for Kirkwood.
Their battle was then interrupted by the first of two full-course cautions.
Kirkwood’s troubled Indy Pro 2000 debut had ended prematurely in Turn
Three after he had slid almost to the back of the field and then made
additional contact with Parker Locke (Exclusive Autosport seen in New Zealand
over the summer in the Toyota Racing Series see issue 6 of Race Control and
also our You Tube channel for more on Parker), who was fortunately able to
continue unscathed.
One more brief interruption, when Kory Enders (DEForce Racing), from
Sugar Land, Texas, dropped out of eighth place in Turn 10, proved to be of little
consequence to Thompson, who powered away at the restart to finish 1.3238
seconds clear of Lindh. Robb took the flag close behind in third, chased by
Singaporean rookie Danial Frost, who had started sixth for Exclusive Autosport.
Thompson and Abel Motorsports Sweep Indy Pro 2000 Weekend
Onwards to round 2 for the Indy Pro 2000 and it was all Parker Thompson
and Abel Motorsports who ensured a virtually perfect commencement to their