Brazilian Bruna Tomaselli finished close to the podium in the first race at Mid-Ohio and claimed another top-10 in race 2.
Bruna Tomaselli's positive season in the Road to Indy's USF2000 continued last weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the young Brazilian scored her first top-5 finish and another solid top-10, consolidating her 8th place in the standings.
Bruna showed confidence since the very early stages of the race weekend, as practice results proved her good feeling with the racetrack: “I felt that we were very competitive in free practice when I had the eighth fastest time. In the first qualifying, I was for most of the session in first position, but in then I ended up with the fourth best time,"- said Pabst Racing driver, who couldn't repeat the same performance in the second qualifying, when she ended 12th fastest after the session was interrupted before she could improve her laptime.
The first race of the weekend saw many battles throughout the field, including Tomaselli and her competitors for the very top positions. As one of the most competitive junior series in North America, the USF2000 once again stood out for the many overtakes and after 20 laps, Tomaselli crossed the finish line to take the fifth place, her best result in the series so far.
"The first race was great. A lot of competition, a lot of pressure. I was very happy to battle for the leading positions. We almost reached the podium." said the driver from Caibí, Brazil.
Starting the second race from the seventh row in 14th, Bruna knew she had to recover through the field to reach her goal of leaving Mid-Ohio in the top ten of the championship standings.
In another action-packed race, the 21-year old managed to cross the finish line in tenth place. “It was another hard-battled race. The most important thing was to come home with the eighth position in the championship" - she commented afterwards.
With 131 points she now sits just six points behind seventh-placed Cameron Shields, with 4 more races on the calendar.
The next USF2000 round will be in Portland, Oregon, on August 29-September 1.
In Bruna's words:
"I was very happy to battle for the leading positions. We almost reached the podium."
Ph credits: USF2000 / WNGSPORTS