Summarize

Julian van der Watt did everything right at the weekend’s United States Formula 2000 races at the twisty Road America road course in Wisconsin over the weekend, but lady luck was elsewhere indisposed and the Cape Town driver’s efforts came to nought at the hands of his rivals errors. Van der Watt delivered a strong performance throughout practice and while he only qualified eighth, Julian did not use his second set of tyres, keeping those for the first race instead.

“We were looking good for a great weekend at last - I had the pace and we’d kept the good rubber for the races, while most of the guys ahead of us used them to qualify,” Julian explained. “Unfortunately one of the cars on the grid ahead of me brake tested the guy behind and pushed him into me and I ended up brushing the wall and dislodging my front wing. “I tried to continue but it was futile and I was out.

“The second race started well enough — I qualified fifth and was running in fifth when the safety car came out after two other cars crashed and somehow I was  somehow hit from behind under safety car conditions and I was eliminated again. “It’s frustrating to have now been taken out of three races in a row by no fault of my own, so I’m definitely hoping for some better luck, so hopefully crossing the border to Canada to race at Toronto in three weeks will bring some of that…”