Manson Delivers Career-Best Finish in Wild Grand Prix of Indianapolis Weekend

Costello adds top-five finish as Escorpioni, Costello, and Golan move inside top five in championship

Sebastian Manson in the #22 Turn 3 Motorsport USF Pro 2000 car

Indianapolis, Ind. (May 13, 2026) – Turn 3 Motorsport’s five-car lineup competed at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis this weekend, battling changing weather conditions and chaotic on-track incidents to deliver career highlights and key championship points in the second round of the 2026 USF Pro 2000 Championship presented by Continental Tire.

Sebastian Manson (#22) delivered a standout performance in Race 2 at the 2.439-mile, 14 turn road course with a well-earned fourth-place finish after starting third, both marking career best starting and finishing results for the Kiwi. Teammate Michael Costello (#2) also came away with a solid result in race 2, adding a fifth-place finish to earn valuable championship points.

Despite a challenging weekend filled with incidents and changing conditions, Leonardo Escorpioni (#4) and Brady Golan (#44) remain inside the top five in the drivers’ championship standings, while Tyke Durst (#3) fought through a challenging weekend to gain experience and regroup for the next round.

Race 1 Recap

Race 1 was marked by unpredictable weather and strategic tire calls following rain throughout the night and early morning hours on Saturday. After a successful qualifying had him starting P6, Manson was forced off-track at Turn 7 on the opening lap, causing the first full course yellow of the race and opening the door for Golan to pit for slick tires in anticipation of a drying track. The risky strategy bumped Golan up to a sixth place finish after starting fifteenth, making him the top finisher on the team in Race 1.

Costello started third and remained near the front of the field as changing conditions forced teams to gamble on tire strategy, staying out on rain tires until pitting for slicks just before the halfway point. After setting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 14, Costello looked poised for a strong finish before being forced off track at Turn 7. The competing driver later received a post-race penalty for the incident, while Costello was ultimately classified 18th after his race ended early.

Escorpioni put together several strong on-track battles throughout Race 1, remaining on wet tires deep into the race as changing conditions made track position difficult to gain. After finally making the switch to slicks under caution, Escorpioni continued to fight forward before late-race contact compromised his run, ultimately leaving him classified 12th.

Durst also battled the changing conditions while staying on wet tires through the opening portion of the race. After pitting for slicks, a mistake exiting Turn 2 sent him off track and unable to continue, resulting in a 17th-place classification.

Race 2 Recap

Race 2 saw Manson continue the strong pace he showed throughout the weekend after qualifying a career-best third. Despite dropping positions early in the race, Manson fought back through multiple restarts and late-race battles, reclaiming positions in the closing laps to secure a career-best and well-deserved fourth place finish.

Costello started 10th and steadily worked his way forward through a chaotic race filled with incidents and full-course yellows. As the race transitioned to a timed finish, Costello continued to push forward, ultimately overtaking cars in the closing stages to secure a strong fifth-place result and valuable championship points.

Escorpioni made early progress through the field, climbing into the top 10 before contact with the #27 car of Christian Cameron sent him off track and flipping into the grass, resulting in significant damage and ending his race early. Despite the setback, Escorpioni was still classified 16th, while the competing driver received a penalty for avoidable contact.

Golan once again found himself battling through incidents and changing race circumstances, running as high as 12th before contact forced an unscheduled pit stop for repairs under caution. The Texas native returned to the track and fought through the closing laps to salvage a 12th-place finish.

Durst endured another difficult race after becoming involved in an opening-lap incident at Turn 1. The contact ended his race almost immediately, forcing an early retirement and resulting in an 18th-place classification.

#22 – SEBASTIAN MANSON

Mansons TCLM / Maramarua Beef / Ted Manson Foundation / Express Plumbing

“I’m really happy with the progress we made throughout the weekend,” said Manson. “The team worked hard all event long, and it was great to come away with my best qualifying and finishing result so far in USF Pro 2000. I felt like we took a big step forward with the car and continued improving every session. Now the goal is to keep building on that momentum and carry it into the oval next weekend.”

#2 – MICHAEL COSTELLO

Proguard Automotive / EDA / Hope for AL

“Indianapolis was a bit of a roller coaster in emotions from qualifying in the top three to getting crashed into in Race 1 back to a great recovery drive in Race 2,” said Costello. “Considering everything that happened, I’m happy with the weekend and that we were still able to come away with valuable championship points and keep ourselves in the fight. I’m excited for Indianapolis Raceway Park in a week and hopefully grabbing that first win of the season.”

#44 – BRADY GOLAN

Marina

“Overall, it was definitely a challenging weekend with a lot of changing conditions and on-track chaos, but I think we did a good job staying composed and maximizing what we had,” said Golan. “The team worked incredibly hard all weekend long, especially through the cautions and strategy calls, and I’m proud of the effort everyone put in. There are still plenty of positives to take away, and we’re still in a strong spot in the championship heading into the oval race next weekend. I’m looking forward to getting back on track at Lucas Oil and continuing to build from here.”

#4 – LEONARDO ESCORPIONI

Data Pioneer Solutions / Qwilt / Peer 1 / Mensalize

“We had a pretty difficult weekend at Indy, and unfortunately not much seemed to go our way,” said Escorpioni. “I’m very thankful for the team and all of their hard work throughout the weekend, as they never gave up and kept fighting to get us back in the race. We’ll take what we learned and move forward, and I’m confident we’ll come back much stronger next weekend.”

#3 – TYKE DURST

FHI

“It was a heartbreaking event to say the very least,” said Durst. “We showed real pace and good potential heading into qualifying and the races. I made the decision to take a risky option and only really use one set of tires in qualifying. While the pace was decent, we never got the draft which is so crucial at Indianapolis. This led us to start P14 in Race 1, and from there the races were even more devastating. In Race 1, I made a simple mistake and lost laps. We were hoping we’d have an opportunity to make up for it in Race, 2 but we didn’t even get to the apex of Turn 1 before other drivers took us out. It’s very frustrating that the only positive we can take from this weekend is the pace. I’m really looking forward to June.”

DAVID BUDRES – TEAM MANAGER

“I know that we didn’t get our ultimate goal of winning our first race in Indianapolis in the Month of May this weekend, but I thought we had the team, drivers, and pace to do it at times,” said Budres.  “We got kind of unlucky in Race 1 with the changing conditions and being on the wrong end of the strategy call which is a bit disappointing, but we were able to bounce back in Race 2 with Sebastian (Manson) and Michael (Costello). Seb took a great step forward and Michael regrouped well with a championship drive from the back of the field which was great to see. He kept himself in the title fight, and I feel confident that we will be good looking ahead to the rest of the season.”

“Brady (Golan) had a great weekend as well,” continued Budres. “He earned his third top-six finish of the year, and being fifth in the championship standings is huge. It’s a bit disappointing to lose the lead in the team championship, but to be sitting third, fourth, and fifth in drivers’ standings is pretty awesome. I’m very happy with the team who worked hard throughout the entire weekend. It was a long day Thursday, and the rain Friday night through Saturday morning threw a wrench in plans, but we worked through it. We are looking forward to racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park now. We still want our Month of May win in Indy, and I think we have a good chance to get it done there with good cars, drivers, and a great team.”

With two rounds complete in the 2026 USF Pro 2000 Championship season, Escorpioni, Costello, and Golan sit third, fourth, and fifth in the drivers’ championship standings, respectively, while Manson’s career-best finish helped strengthen Turn 3 Motorsport’s position in the team championship battle. The team will return to Indianapolis next week for the first oval event of the season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, a venue where Turn 3 Motorsport has traditionally found strong success.

To stay up to date on Turn 3 Motorsport, follow the team on social media using the handle @turn3motorsport.

For more information or images, please contact Mandy Dempsey at turn3motorsport@gmail.com.

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