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Durst nearly breaks into top ten, challenging weekend for Hughes and Fitzgerald
Avondale, La. (April 11, 2024) – It was a rollercoaster weekend for Turn 3 Motorsport at NOLA Motorsports Park for Rounds 3/4/5 of the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Continental Tire. After coming away fastest overall at Spring Training on the Louisiana road course just over a month ago, the team struggled to find consistent pace at the front of the field for the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana.
After a pre-event test day on Friday, it was Ethan Ho who put out a quick lap to take third in Saturday’s Qualifying 1, only 0.0088 seconds off P2 and .1 seconds off pole position. Unfortunately, a minor mistake at Turn 14 caused the young Taiwanese-American’s car to pirouette at the end of Lap 3, sending the #68 Fubon Bank / Triple S / KRC / Molecule / JiuZhou car across the track and ending Ho’s podium run in Race 1.
Ho started P10 for Races 2 and 3 but struggled to find the pace to move forward throughout the 18-lap contests, resulting in P12 and P13 finishes in the second and third races for the 18-year-old.
#68 Ethan Ho // USF Pro 2000
Fubon Bank / Triple S / KRC / Molecule / JiuZhou
“I don’t think this past weekend went the way anyone on the team wanted,” said Ho. “While we had a couple of good qualifying runs, the races were less than stellar. Overall, I think it’s important to take away the positives and continue working on the negatives to improve ourselves for the next round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month.”
Danny Dyszelski was left looking for stronger pace at the end of both qualifying sessions on Saturday, but the 16-year-old more than made up for his mid-pack starting position in Race 1. The young American drove his heart out to go from P12 up to P4, overtaking cars – including a late pass on the #7 car of Mac Clark – gaining eight positions, and earning the Tilton Hard Charger Award for his efforts.
Dyszelski was determined to repeat his valiance in Race 2, but the drive didn’t last long as he was struck from behind between Turns 5/6, retiring him after less than two laps of racing. Race 3’s outcome was a middle ground between the first two events with Dyszelski going from P14 up to P9, earning another top ten result to finish the weekend and more championship points to his tally.
#3 Danny Dyszelski // USF Pro 2000
Vera Guitars / Formula Imports / Charlotte Mechanical
“It was an up and down weekend at NOLA,” said Dyszelski. “I enjoyed the track and Turn 3 Motorsport did a great job. I was really happy to bring home a fourth place finish in Race 1 after starting further back. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to race to the front again in Race 2 after being hit early on, but I was happy once again to get another top ten result in Race 3. I’m looking forward to getting to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month and hopefully getting some more strong results.”
Rookie Tyke Durst had his strongest weekend to date after a rough start to the season on the streets of St. Petersburg. The 20-year-old qualified a less than desirable P18 for Race 1 but was intent on moving up through the field during the 18-lapper. Durst did just that, improving seven positions and giving the #33 FHI / Relay Payments / Drive Toward a Cure car an 11th place finish, just shy of the driver’s first top ten.
Durst started P20 for Race 2 the next day and set the goal to put down a faster lap time during that race to boost his starting position for Race 3. Just over the halfway point, Durst came in for a fresh set of tires and went to work on laying down a quick lap time. He was able to do so, finishing the race in P17 and qualifying P15 for Race 3. All was going well for the American in Race 3 who climbed up to P12, until he spun at T14 with just two laps to go, sending him back to a P19 finish to round out the weekend.
#33 Tyke Durst // USF Pro 2000
FHI / Relay Payments / Drive Toward a Cure
“Our weekend in New Orleans definitely didn’t go to plan,” said Durst. “However, we had a good result in Race 1 which showed our potential for the season. What’s important is that we learned a lot about our determination and race craft this weekend. Now it’s on to Indy in May for the IMS Grand Prix and IRP oval race.”
If it weren’t for bad luck, Lochie Hughes would have had no luck at all at NOLA Motorsports Park. The Australian driver struggled to find the pace in testing and qualifying to put the #44 Private Wealth Planning / The McGinley Group car at the front of the field where he was at the series test, and as a result, Hughes started Race 1 from P13. The bad luck didn’t end there; after a dauntless run up to ninth within the first ten laps, the #44 car suddenly lost power in T3, leaving Hughes unable to finish Race 1.
Race 2 saw another steadfast effort from Hughes who powered his way up to eighth by Lap 5, but lingering damage to the car (which was incurred at an unknown point earlier in the race) eventually gave way, once again putting Hughes off track before the race’s end. The 22-year-old was finally able to make a respectable recovery in Race 3, bringing home a tenth place finish and some championship points at the end of the tripleheader weekend.
#44 Lochie Hughes // USF Pro 2000
Private Wealth Planning / The McGinley Group
“It was not the weekend we had hoped for in NOLA,” said Hughes. “It was disappointing to be chasing the pace here all weekend after being fastest in Spring Training at the end of February, but we’ll work hard to make sure we’re back on the top step of the podium in Indy next month.”
Adam Fitzgerald had an adverse weekend from the get-go; the Irishman found solid pace in the pre-event test sessions – putting in the ninth quickest time in Test 2 – but struggled to translate that pace into qualifying, placing him P17 for Race 1. Fitzgerald was going strong in the race, but with only a few laps to go was involved in a three car crash that that damaged the rear of his car and forced him to retire early.
Races 2 and 3 garnered much better outcomes for Fitzgerald; in Race 2, the 20-year-old was able to move his way up to a P13 result and clock in a quicker qualifying lap time for Race 3. Fitzgerald started P20 for the third and final event of the weekend and scrapped his way forward five positions to bring home a P15 finish for the #2 Galway Hooker car.
#2 Adam Fitzgerald // USF Pro 2000
“It was a tough weekend for the team as a whole,” said Fitzgerald. “It definitely highlighted some key areas in my personal performance that need improvement as well. However, it's in weekends like this that you learn the most, and I'll be doing my best to improve for the next round in Indy in just a few weeks time.”
Peter Dempsey
Turn 3 Motorsport Team Owner
“It was certainly not the weekend we wanted as a team,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “We were feeling confident that we would have a better performance heading into the weekend after we tested well here in December and in Spring Training. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t find any pace throughout the weekend. We have to make sure we understand why and learn from this in order to come back stronger at the Indy Grand Prix next month.”
“Danny (Dyszelski) and Ethan (Ho) showed glimpses of pace at NOLA, but we weren’t able to back it up on a consistent basis,” continued Dempsey. “Lochie (Hughes) was very unfortunate with two DNFs. This is racing though; we take it on the chin, it makes us stronger, and we move forward. All focus forward on the events in Indianapolis in May now.”
Up next for Turn 3 Motorsport and the USF Pro Championships is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix race May 9-11 followed by the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park oval event May 23-24.
To stay up to date on Turn 3 Motorsport, follow the team on social media using the handle @turn3motorsport.
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