French teenager Alexandre Baron scored a stunning debut victory today in the Allied Building Products Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Round 11 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Baron, 18, from Narbonne, France, had tested only once before for the Afterburner Autosport team, but took to the USF2000 cars like a seasoned veteran, claiming the Minnesota-based squad’s first-ever pole position and then leading throughout an incident-packed 16-lap race to secure the team’s maiden victory. Championship leader Scott Hargrove qualified second fastest ahead of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Neil Alberico.
Baron got a good jump at his first-ever rolling start, but when he left the door open under braking for the Mario Andretti Hairpin at Turn Two, Hargrove glimpsed an opportunity to dive to the inside and fill the gap.
Moments later, as Baron attempted to maintain his advantage, the two leaders made contact which dislodged the nosecone on Hargrove’s #38 Analytic Systems/Race/Energy/Metal Action/Skip Barber Racing/Bell Racing Van Diemen-Mazda. Alberico, from Los Gatos, Calif., but racing for the very first time on his “home” circuit, managed to sneak past into second place on the exit of Turn One, by which time Baron already had made his escape.
The Frenchman led Alberico by over 2.5 seconds at the completion of Lap 1, with Wyatt Gooden, in a second Afterburner car, third ahead of Englishman Michael Epps (Belardi Auto Racing), who had made a startling getaway from eighth on the grid. Baron’s advantage was negated soon afterward due to separate incidents at Turn Three and Turn 11.
Baron again took off in the lead at the restart, this time with Alberico hot on his heels. The two leaders were never separated by more than a second, but Alberico wasn’t quite able to get close enough to make a challenge and had to settle for second place when the race finished under caution after 16 laps following another pair of incidents farther down the field.
Alexandre “Alex” Baron, #18 13th Avenue (Afterburner Autosport) – First: “I want to say thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and thanks to my team for doing an incredible job. In the race I managed to keep Neil [Alberico] behind me from the start. He tried to close the gap on me but I was able to stay out front and not make any mistakes. My thoughts on tomorrow are to improve the car as nothing is ever perfect and hopefully get another win.”
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