Douglas storms to maiden USF2000 pole in Portland

By: Velocity News
September 2, 2023

New Zealand’s Jacob Douglas claimed his maiden USF2000 pole in commanding fashion at Portland International Raceway this morning.

Douglas put in his best time on his eleventh lap, a blistering 1:12.2536, to top the field by nearly three-tenths of a second.

“I’m super glad to be able to get the pole for Pabst. The car was amazing, and I managed to piece together a really good lap with some consistency,” he said.

“I knew that on the first set of tyres that all I had to do was piece it together, and we’d be out at the front, and that’s what we managed to do.”

Pabst Racing teammate Max Garcia will start on the front row next to Douglas, while Simon Sikes qualified third for a Pabst Racing 1-2-3 on the grid.

“It’s really good to have those guys around me,” Douglas adds. “Last year, I think the leader got hit all three races, so it’s good to know that my teammates are around me, so I’ve got a bit of protection.”

The opening race of the three-race weekend begins at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday and will be shown live on the USF2000 website.

“The aim is to get a good start, lead into Turn 1 and just put our head down and hopefully check out for a nice, quiet race at the front. That would be ideal,” he says.

Douglas’s second-fastest lap in qualifying means he also holds provisional pole for Race 2 unless another competitor can overcome that time during Saturday’s race.