PALMETTO, Fla. – USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire this week will venture north of the border for the very first time since its inception in 2022 with a visit to the famed Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, near Bowmanville, Ont. The tripleheader event will form part of the traditional Victoria Day SpeedFest at the high-speed 2.459-mile natural terrain road circuit, formerly known as Mosport, which most recently hosted an Andersen Promotions event for Pro Mazda (now USF Pro 2000) in 2013.
A strong 21-car field will, remarkably, comprise representatives from no fewer than 11 different nationalities, appropriately reflecting the global appeal of the highly acclaimed three-step USF Pro Championships open-wheel racing development ladder which links the grassroots of the sport to the pinnacle in North America, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. This year’s USF Juniors champion will earn a scholarship valued at $251,516 to graduate to USF2000 in 2027.
Entry List
The championship is finely poised after the opening six races of the 16-race season with Ivan Machado Perez, from Madrid, Spain, currently holding a slender single-point advantage over Lebanese racer Max Mokarem, from Fairfax, Va.
Mokarem, 14, became the third youngest USF Juniors winner when he triumphed for defending series champion team Zanella Racing in the opening race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. Conversely, Machado Perez, at 24, became the second oldest USF Juniors winner when he emerged victorious the following morning for VRD Racing.
Mokarem grasped an early points advantage by winning the final race of the opening tripleheader, although Machado Perez, a dominant champion in last year’s Skip Barber Race Series has overcome the deficit after winning two of the three most recent races at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C.
Finland’s Vilho Aatola lies third in the points table for DEForce Racing on the strength of five top-six finishes.
An impressive Canadian contingent will include Exclusive Autosport’s Cole Medeiros, who claimed his first win at Carolina Motorsports Park, the Zanella Racing pair of Olivier Mrak and Leonardo Serravalle, and Berg Racing’s Alex Berg.
The other primary contender during the early part of the season has been Poland’s Karol Pasiewicz (Olivia Racing), who seeks to rebound from a disappointing weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park where he started second in all three races, after finishing second in each of the first three races in Florida, but could not capitalize on the strong effort.
Others to watch include Denmark’s Casper Nissen (JHDD powered by ECR), Florida-based Brazilian Victor Couto (Zanella Racing), and a pair of debutants in Dean Hoogendoorn, from the Netherlands, who celebrated his 14th birthday on Tuesday and is already a multi-time European Karting champion as well as being a member of the Williams F1 Team Racing Academy, and Edward Kennedy, from Saint-Jovite, Que. Kennedy turned 14 less than a week ago and already has race-winning credentials in the Ligier Junior Formula Championship. Both were too young to contest the opening races of the season.
The Continental Tire Grand Prix of Canada will begin with three 45-minute test sessions on Thursday, May 14, before capping off the day with 30 minutes of official practice at 4:30 p.m. With five other race series on tap, Friday will include a solitary qualifying session at 1:00 p.m. for USF Juniors which will help determine the starting order for a pair of races on Saturday at 9:50 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and one final race at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. All times are EDT.
Live timing for all on-track sessions will be available on the free USF Pro Championships App and at usfjuniors.com. Live streaming of qualifying and the races can be found on the App, website and on the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel.