Matthew Brabham scored his first win on American soil with a commanding drive in round 3 of the USF2000 Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship held at the famed Sebring International Raceway.
After qualifying second Matthew unfortunately suffered an electrical problem in race one with two laps to go while challenging for the lead, and just held on to second place as his car came to a stop two corners after the chequered flag. As his two teammates both recorded a faster lap time on their last lap Matthew lined up on the second row in third for race two. Matthew still learning rolling starts managed to hold his position and completed the first lap in third. With his two teammates Spencer Pigot and Trent Hindman setting a fast pace at the front it took Matthew 4 laps to find a way passed Trent for second. At this point Spencer Pigot was 2 seconds ahead, but Matt strung several fastest laps together and closed the gap, a frantic last lap left Matthew 0.079 seconds adrift in a grandstand finish.
Due to his fastest lap in race two, Matthew was on the pole for race three. Again Matthew made a good start and proceeded to pull away from his Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammates. After getting a comfortable 3 second lead Matthew maintained the gap until the finish. Two second places and a race win puts Matthew only 4 points behind Spencer Pigot in the USF2000 Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship.
The Winterfest now moves to the Palm Beach International Raceway at the weekend 11th & 12th Feb, for the remaining three races to decided who receives the $7,500 winner's cheque.
Sebring proved to be a dominate week-end for the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing Team, their three drivers finished 1,2 & 3 in every race, putting the pressure on the other teams to catch up before Round One of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda Championship kicks off on March 15 - 16 at the Sebring 12hr event.
Matthew Brabham:
"Today was fantastic. It was very interesting throughout the day with the changing weather conditions. It really threw a mix into the situation and provided a little bit more entertainment for the crowd and for us as well. To come away with a win in the last race is absolutely fantastic. I can't describe the feeling. It definitely makes a great start to the season and caps off all the testing we have been doing and all the hard work the team has been doing. In the last race, Spencer [Pigot] and I had a dice at the start and that was pretty hairy. Other than that, it was just a really long race for me out in front. In the other races, I was dicing and fighting and they felt like five-minute races. This race felt like three hours and I was out there forever waiting for the chequered flag to come out! Other than that, it was fantastic and I am very pleased."
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