Round 2 of the USF Pro 2000 is done and dusted at NOLA Motorsports Park, and while the results weren’t quite what our Kiwi pair Jacob Douglas and Sebastian Manson were hoping for, it was still a solid weekend overall.
During Thursday’s testing, Douglas showed strong form in the Pabst Racing car, finishing second and fifth across the two sessions. For Manson, it was a tougher start — he placed 14th in the first session, just over four tenths off the top ten, but made good gains to finish tenth in the second session.
On Friday, the series had one final practice before qualifying. Douglas ended that session in seventh, around seven tenths off his pace-setting teammate Max Garcia, while Manson was just outside the top ten in 12th.
Qualifying saw another strong showing from Douglas, who was one of three drivers to break the 1:30 barrier with a 1:29.9900 lap to secure third on the grid, just two tenths off pole. Manson wasn’t quite able to maximize his tyre performance, finishing the session 12th, only two tenths behind his TJ Speed Motorsports teammate Jace Denmark in tenth.
Saturday morning brought Qualifying 2, and Douglas once again impressed — shaving off nearly four tenths from his earlier time to post a 1:29.6011, earning him a fourth-place start behind pole-sitter Alessandro De Tullio and Pabst teammates Garcia and Michael Costello. Manson, however, struggled in this session and ended up 15th.
In the opening race of the weekend, the Kiwis faced a rough start. Douglas slipped back to fifth on the opening lap, while Manson was caught up in contact at Turn 4, sending his car off track and dropping him to the back of the field. On Lap 2, Douglas lost another spot to Ariel Elkin, falling to sixth.
But by Lap 3, he began his fight back — passing Elkin and teammate Costello to reclaim fourth. From there, he chased down Mac Clark but couldn’t find a way through, finishing the race in fourth. Manson had a lonely run after the early contact but showed solid pace to bring it home in 16th.
Race 2 saw Douglas bounce back with a bold move at Turn 1 on the opening lap, snatching third from his teammate. Unfortunately, he ran wide later in the lap and relinquished the position to Elkin.
Despite hounding Elkin for much of the race, Douglas couldn’t make the move stick and settled for another fourth-place finish. Manson had a cleaner race, picking up two positions to finish 13th.
The final race of the weekend had Douglas starting on the front row thanks to his strong second-best qualifying lap, lining up alongside teammate Garcia, with Manson starting 15th.
A poor launch from Douglas dropped him to fourth by Turn 1, though he quickly began applying pressure to Max Taylor ahead. A few laps in, the Safety Car was deployed for a stranded Mac Clark, neutralising the field until Lap 7, with Douglas in fourth and Manson up to 13th.
At the restart, Douglas briefly dropped off Taylor before mounting a late charge — setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. However, it wasn’t enough to gain another position, and he crossed the line to complete a hat-trick of fourth-place finishes. Manson made more solid progress from 15th, climbing to 11th — just eight-tenths shy of a top-ten result.
After two rounds, Douglas sits fourth in the standings with 81 points, 40 behind series leader Garcia. Manson, following a challenging start to the 2025 season, holds 16th with 38 points.
The series returns to action at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway from May 8–10.
Header Image: Jacob Douglas Facebook
